APPLIQUE PAINTBOX-I LOVE APPLIQUE

IN WHICH I POP MY HEAD BACK 

INTO THE BLOGOSPHERE

I have been a busy little bun working on my projects and thought I would bring the world  up-to-date with my doings.  The Wren block from Sandra Leichner's Naturalist's Notebook is finished.

I am happy with the result. Batiks are difficult to capture with a camera but you can get a sense of the color variations in the fabric.  I searched for a long time to find some "perfect" background.  This is called Garden Splendor by R Kauffman.  The fabric is a pretty sharp white so I have tea dyed it to tone down its brilliance.  The writing is mostly french gibberish but the effect is perfect-writing in a naturalist's notebook.

I have begun work on block #2-The Goldfinch.

The bird and the leaves are already stitched down but the petals are basted as I am still reviewing them to see if their color is right.  This block has lots of background embroidery and detailing on the bird, leaves and flowers.  Here is a photo of the pattern so you can see what is going to happen.

Pretty challenging!

I have developed a bit of a rhythm over the past couple months for working on my projects.  I am participating in 2 BOM programs.  I talked about Helen Godden's  Feathered Friends quilt last post.  Each month she releases a new block depicting an Aussie bird to be painted and then quilted.  The other BOM looks like a rainbow of color!  There is some piecing so I have to concentrate on this part and the rest is applique.  The BOM is from Morning Glory Designs.  She releases a new pattern each month which is posted and available for download during that month.  Here is a drawing of the quilt :

and a link to the site:

https://www.morningglorydesigns.com/free-block-of-the-month.htm

Here are my versions of the first 3 blocks:

I love the color, the way the diamonds and squares form up, and the movement of the applique.

Helen Godden's new birdie block was released today tho I am on hold for now as the printer ran out of ink (what a racket!) and I ordered a couple new colors of paint.  Here is the finished Feb block:

And March block:

I just cannot say enough good about this project.  It is so fun to mess around with the paints and then do the quilting!  Helen has videos with instructions on the painting process and another on the quilting process.   I am learning about the paints which are Jacquard Luminere and about different FMQ stitches.  Link at:

http://shop.helengodden.com/index.php?route=common/home

So anyway, back to rhythm.......The BOM's come out the first of the month and both are completed in a week or so apiece which gives me then 2 weeks to work on the major and challenging Naturalist Notebook which is a very time consuming and intense project.  I am pretty happy with my project line up-there is lots of variety in materials, style, difficulty, and color.  I also do some FMQ practice during the month as this has morphed from being the terror of my creative life to being a favorite thing to do.

FROM OUR WALK ON THE WILD SIDE:

Signs and sings of spring in the Missouri woods:

AND NOW........YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN!

This artist makes temporary works of art out of natural objects.  His vision of the world is awesome.  If you want to see more of the beauty made out of our ordinary world, check out his webpage at:

http://www.jamesbruntartist.co.uk/

See the charming outer ring of rock people!

HAPPY QUILTING TO YOU UNTIL 

WE MEET AGAIN!  

PURPLE, BIRDS, AND FLOWERS ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!

I am linking up with:

Slow Stitching Sunday, Bambi's Blog, Making Monday,  Em's Scrapbag, Esther's Wow, 
Let's Bee Social, Whoop Whoop, and Finish or Not!, Off the Wall Friday.