Learning Applique

I've been practicing.

I learned some new and fun stuff at last week's quilt show in Cincinnati, and I continue to be totally psyched about perfecting this applique technique.

The reason I want to learn it so bad is that I have an ancient UFO that has bugged me for years. I love this quilt, and it is so close to being finished. That pesky applique panel at the top of the quilt has had me stymied for years - I will guess 15-20.

Here is the pattern, copyrighted in 1998, for heavens' sake! So my 20-year guess is off a bit, isn't it?? So maybe it's more like 15. Geesh.

All those rows were so much fun to make, and even after all this time, I still love the colors and fabrics I used to make them. It is really pretty!! I have come so close on several different occasions to omitting the applique panel. I just could never allow myself to be defeated by it, though.

Part of my reluctance to throw out the panel is that I have started on it. My apologies for the shadow here, but I think it is sufficiently shows my (limited) progress.

So, here is a flower component which appears twice in the panel. I worked on them today, and feel relatively successful. Take a look:

So what do you  think? Am I getting the hang of it? If I continue to do this applique business, I will invest in some fabric glue. The expert I watched at the show did what she called "glue basting," and that would be a whole lot easier, I think. Getting these pinned the way I wanted was tricky.

I sure do enjoy it, and I am so glad I watched the quilt show expert for as long as I did. She gave such good instructions, along with some wonderful little tips and hints. I referenced her in a post from a few days back. If you click here you can read about it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!