2nd Border Prompt for Bramble Blooms QAL {BBI}

Are you ready for the next prompt in the Bramble Blooms QAL? So fascinating to have others along for the journey and see where people end up, even when we all start at exactly the same place! Life is full of interruptions around here as usual, especially now that my husband is feeling just good enough to be antsy, though still not quite good enough to be back at work. We're getting there! This post ended up being miles too long. Consider yourself warned. Just too much information that I keep thinking someone might need.

Back to the reason you dropped by today! For this specific phase of the BBI Medallion quilt, the challenge is as follows: Put together a border that includes adding 4-patch, 9-patch, 16-patch or even larger patchwork blocks. You can set your blocks side by side {continuous block layout} or 'on point'. This border can be any width you like. It does not need to have the patchwork blocks throughout--use as few or as many patch blocks as you think will look good! Totally up to you if the blocks are improv. style or traditional-look.

The first Bramble Blooms quilt top is done!

That's it. Now go forth and create! I deliberately used these style blocks as they are a simple, time honored use of unexciting fabrics and also, they adapt well to the make-do look. If you're wanting a little more information, maybe stick around for a walk-through of my own Bramble Blooms creative process. I'll attempt to thoroughly bore you and ultimately, share some border guidance tips and tricks as well. To be perfectly clear, I'll be happy with any and all of your quilts that deviate from the prompt. Your creativity should always supersede whatever guidelines I suggest throughout the duration of this series.

GETTING STARTED WITH BORDER #2:

Most of us started with a pre-determined fabric stack that we specifically set aside for BBI. At this point in the project, you'll probably be noticing a specific color in that stack that hasn't been used very much. Unless the quilt is adamantly demanding a specific color for the next go-round, try starting with the left-behind color {or colors}. You might not even have to spend a lot of time auditioning, as we know the fabric in the initial stack already looked relatively good together. All the remaining pieces have the potential to fit into this quilt somewhere. In fact, this could very well be your last opportunity to include it into the quilt.

Starting with the patchwork blocks

Now, you can dither for a while and possibly overcomplicate things, or you can just dive in and test out a couple patchwork blocks. For the purposes of this prompt, these are blocks made up of equal sized squares, usually sewn up in units of 4, 9, or 16, depending on what size the finished block is intended to be. 

 

I generally start with some basic questions such as: Do I want smallish blocks or larger ones? How many squares needed to make this block hold its own in the border? Is a 4-patch too simple? Can I make a 9-patch block work out properly in an on-point layout if I only use two colors? Hmm.. I'm not sure that I want to use every single color in the blocks. Will a 16-patch be too busy for this particular quilt? Do I want scrappy or something more controlled merely using two or three fabrics? And on and on. It's all very stream of consciousness and you'll find yourself automatically narrowing down your preferred look in no time at all. Don't worry if you don't have all the answers. Just go with your gut.

THINKING ABOUT MAKING AN 'ON-POINT' LAYOUT:

Eventually you find yourself with a tentative plan. For me, it was this: Scrappy look border using only 2-colors {pinks and creams} in the blocks, but many different fabrics. A 16-patch traditional cut block with a finished size of 8". On-point setting. Mixed fabrics in similar tones of rusty browns for the setting triangles. Still considering whether there is enough larger fabric pieces to cut out enough setting triangles. Might have to consider doing something else?  

A quick check in with the chart below {from my quilt book 'Great Sets' by Sharyn Craig} and I could see for sure that the diagonal measurements would work. No doubt your plan will be totally different, as it should be.

A helpful tip for determining a pleasing width for an on-point border: The blocks in the on-point border shouldn't be much larger than the width of your previous border. They can be smaller, that seems to look great. Any larger and the border tends to get a little awkward looking {proportion-wise} very quickly. Of course this is just an opinion, not a rule or anything! My decision to sew up 8" blocks means that I am making the patch blocks exactly the same width as the previous border. The diagonal measurement {using the on-point layout} will then be 11 3/8". It feels like a good balance to me, but of course your discriminating eye might want something totally different.

A quick chart for diagonal measurements

Armed with this knowledge and a tentative plan, I cut out and sewed up a handful of 16-patch blocks. Just enough to do a good, solid auditioning. You can absolutely cut out and sew up all the patchwork blocks you think are needed. Dive right on into the deep end if you're ready. Go for it! Sometimes that's what our instincts are shrieking at us to do--to have confidence and own it. 

Other times, we'll find ourselves with the feeling that hmm... ' I'm not sure yet. Maybe it would be good to leave space for those variables that might possibly need adjustment?' Listen to that. Do not ignore! Even if it's the smallest niggle. It invariably means that our subconscious has picked up on something that hasn't been quite realized yet. We still have to forge ahead in order to get anywhere, but maybe with a more cautious commitment. Often it simply takes auditioning the blocks. That's all. We have to actually see it with our eyes, not just our imagination, and then we'll be feeling confident in our choices once again. The plan is ON!

A quick chart for cutting setting triangles

If you've made up your mind to do the on point layout, reference the chart above for help with cutting out corner and/or setting triangles. I use it all the time. Or you can check out this blog post at Spruce Crafts for further information. No one should ever be afraid of an 'on point' layout.

If your fabric choices are running low from the ordinal BBI fabric stack? You clearly have to address that. Dig around in your stash fabric for more options. Don't shy away from expanding on the chosen color palette if needed, going lighter, darker or brighter. You might need to go shopping. Or, may I suggest deliberately making everything a bit scrappier? 

For instance, making the uncomplicated choice of adding corner triangles to all of the patch blocks, instead of only cutting out larger setting triangles, has a lot of advantages. These advantages include making the math easier by virtue of squaring up all of the blocks, being able to cut into much smaller {previously unusable} pieces of fabric, and not least, easily making a limited fabrics and/or color palette stretch even further. Giving your quilt more depth and interest. How? One seemingly out of place fabric looks very wrong, two--kind of questionable and three or more--like it was purposeful. Do the purposeful and 'make-do' like you mean it!

Starting to audition setting triangle fabrics & color

WHEN THE PLAN STARTS TO FALL APART:

If the plan starts to fall apart, like mine did, don't worry. Working improv. is a process full of seeds of inspiration. You just never how they will present themselves. We tend to look at our plan 'failing' as a problem needing a solution. In reality, it's our brains way of saying, 'Hey, something else might look a lot better!' It's our instincts kicking in. Many of us like to say, 'The quilt is talking to us'. Don't worry, it always lets you know before it's too late to make proper adjustments and it hardly ever yells.

In the case of my Bramble Blooms, it was the color choices that started looking wrong first. It just crept up on my awareness. Here I was, busy adding fabrics and 16-patch blocks to the design wall and then, the quilt started saying, 'Yuck! Things are starting to look really mushy. Why is my lovely applique border starting to disappear?'  Ugghh. Not gonna let that happen! Being me, {we all have our default}, I threw some dark fabric up on the wall between the borders. The thought was, 'Ok, that clearly defines the edges of both borders. Problem solved!' Right? {I'm all about the coping borders as a first run at fixing those borders arguments.}

If I was deeply invested in the on-point layout, there could have been new patch blocks made out of different colors and probably cream fabrics used for the setting triangles or whatever.  Any number of choices are possible at any given phase in a quilt. You gotta remember, there are normally always way more than one or two ways to resolve things in a satisfactorily manner. It's not like you're trying to find a single grain of brown rice in a bag full of white rice.

Maybe a coping border will make it all better

CONSIDERING MAKING A CONTINUOUS PATCH-BLOCK LAYOUT: 

On to the continuous block layout. Because why not? It might have been in your plan from the beginning, but I just sort of stumbled on it for my own Bramble Blooms. I admit to being fairly tunnel-visioned about using the on-point layout. At first. It just seemed obvious that it had the potential for infinitely more room to use the leftover pink, cream and rusty brown fabrics in my stack. Sometimes we get an idea in our head and it crowds out any other thinking. Don't mistake what I'm trying to get across here. That resolved version {with the inclusion of the darker coping fabric} would probably have resulted in a satisfactory looking quilt. It wasn't wrong. 

Still, the prompt did mention two options. Of course I was curious! I went ahead and auditioned the patchwork blocks the other way--in a continuous border formation. Uh oh. No one was more surprised than me. The whole quilt lightened up and gave me the sort of instant warm glow that makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. Darn it. Cannot ignore the warm and fuzzies no matter how much I wanted the on-point layout!

This layout is the one for me afterall

And that's exactly how good, personal-to-you changes happen. You just switch plans midstream because the quilt has spoken. And it speaks to your heart. In order to make the 16-patch block border fit properly to the larger quilt, I only needed to add a single extra row {not a full block} on the left and right side borders. This made it possible for the cornerstone blocks to fit exactly in pattern with the every-other pink/cream patchwork look. See the picture below? Ta da! It seemed serendipitous. Always a great feeling.

Looking at the corner blocks in the correct pattern formation

It was a simple matter to measure the outsides of the quilt and count out how many more blocks were needed. Then I took a few minutes to mourn the lack of using the rusty, tan fabrics in the stack and second guess myself. Is this really how I wanted to continue? Which very quickly led to a lightbulb switching on. Hmm...  How about cutting out and sewing up similar, but darker, cornerstone patchwork blocks? 

And then I looked at them like this...

Which is how those came to be. As you can see, the red in the cornerstone blocks is much more distinctive looking than the lighter pink and ties back into the centerpiece very nicely too. I loved the red squares echoing the X lines from the previous border, a very unexpected result. Once I noticed that, I couldn't 'unsee' it. Uh oh. How to get the pattern to work out properly in the border surround?

The close-up view of the cornerstones 

As you can see from the close-up picture above, there is an odd, awkward looking area where the dark red squares meet up with the lighter colored pink ones. The pattern is interrupted for sure. I could have perhaps flipped the borders on the top and bottom, but do I honestly care? 

The weighted look to the corners just make me happy for what it does for this particular quilt. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone else! The echo of the X blocks there in the corners, subtly creates energy and encourages the eye to move around the quilt. I also like how the pink squares form a diagonal line across the corners of the quilt, at the juncture of those corner blocks. Is there any part of this look/feel/vibe that I am willing to give up in order to 'abide by the plan or stick with the pattern formation'? This is what improv. does for us. It frees us from the have to's and gives us permission to think outside of the box. Be curious. Let yourself be surprised!

The completed BBI quilt!

Okay, here's all the tips and tricks you've been searching the post for. Hopefully one of these suggestions will resolve an issue for you and your quilt.

TIPS FOR FITTING A CONTINUOUS PATCHWORK-BLOCK BORDER TO THE QUILT:

Improv. comes with its own challenges and one of them is making new border lengths fit to odd quilt measurements. Do not be discouraged. There are several different ways this disparity can easily be overcome. For the best fitting borders, always measure the sides of your quilt and plan on attaching a border in the same exact size, pinning well before sewing together. 

• Add an extra row {or two} onto the length of a short border. Does not have to be the full size of a block.
• Remove an extra row {or two} from the length of the too-long border. Does not have to be the full size of a block.
• If the border length measurement is too long to match up with your quilt, by less than the width of a single square in a patchwork block, go back and sew some extra large seams. Spread it out over the length of the border--doing it to several seams. Don't sew the extra large seams side by side or the 'fix-it' will be a little more obvious. Usually moving the needle over one or two spots will be enough to take up the extra length necessary. Keep measuring your border until the length has been corrected.
• Can easily split the difference if the overage on a border length is only 1/4" or less. Trim 1/8" {or less} off of each end of the border length. Nobody will even notice.
• If perhaps the border length is 1/4" too short, simply pin the quilt and border together at the middle points and gently stretch to make up the difference. Warning: Anything more and you're likely to have a wavy border and a sloppy looking quilt!
• Add precisely measured Coping Borders to make your patchwork block border fit perfectly. A little more work, but sometimes it feels important. See tutorial here for guidance with that.

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TIPS FOR FITTING AN 'ON-POINT' PATCHWORK-BLOCK BORDER TO THE QUILT:

These are similar to the tips that were given in the first border challenge, but I will list them here for continuity:

• Sew an extra block to a border of pieced blocks and chop off the extra. Very utilitarian. 
• Add little narrow strips of fabric between each pieced block to stretch the row in order to make the length fit with the quilt. Add wider or narrower strips at the very ends of the pieced blocks, as needed, to finish up and get to the correct border length.
• Deliberately piece less blocks than needed. Add on extra fabric at both ends of the border length until you have the correct length.
• Make quite a few less pieced blocks than necessary, then arrange them tight together at one side of each border, say at the left side of each border moving around the centerpiece. Sew on a long piece of fabric to only one side of the blocks, making up the extra till it fits the centerpiece measurement. Do this similarly for every border length. There will be pieced blocks on every side of the quilt, but the arrangement will convey a certain symmetry.
• Sew all of your blocks in a row {per border side}. Then add in a precisely measured coping border cut for the express purpose of fitting perfectly between the centerpiece and your newly pieced border length. See this tutorial for guidance with that.

JUST A COUPLE MORE PICS FOR THE VISUAL LEARNERS:

When the on-point blocks have corner triangles

Sometimes the on-point border layout is easier to play with if you can add corner triangles to the patchwork blocks, instead of trying to wrangle large setting triangles. The square-in-a-square blocks are just easier to move around and find a 'make-do' solution if/when the quilt measurements aren't being particularly cooperative. If you feel uncomfortable with these make-do solutions, that's okay. We're all wired differently! Just be prepared to do a lot more math and pre-planning before you end up with a finished quilt top. 

The cool thing about improv. is that it's wonderfully receptive to 'fix-it' solutions. Consider it a 'work around' for dealing with the side effects of flying by the seat of our pants. The more of it you attempt to do, the easier it is to find the coping strategies that make sense with the way your exceptional brain works. As long as your quilt lays flat and you're satisfied with the look? Who cares about the details?

Another border idea

Along with the tips and tricks mentioned above, a 'mirrored' block arrangement can often be a really fast and easy solution to the on-point border arrangement.--for those times when you don't want to spend time figuring out the math for setting triangles. It's not cheating, it's improv.! And it doesn't take very many blocks set 'on-point' to give the quilt the same kind of energy. 

It usually looks better to arrange blocks in unequal amounts per corner. In the picture above, there are two blocks on top and three at the left side, not counting the corner block.  With this arrangement, I would add fabric to finish out the needed length of the border, keeping the pieced blocks relatively spare. You can repeat this look at the lower bottom right of the quilt only, {reversing the unequal block positions as to sides for the mirror}. OR you could do every single corner. An arrangement like this definitely needs to be auditioned, as it can make all the difference in the world where the last block falls alongside the previous border. 

So happy with the cozy look to this

WRAPPING IT UP:

Okay, that's it. Let's go get creative! This will be the end of the prompts for Bramble Blooms I quilt. Getting this top together will hopefully give a better idea of how the process will work with Bramble Blooms II as well. This first quilt sets the tone for rest of the series. It establishes a common color palette and/or elements that we will change up and tweak here or there as we move along on our adventure together. 

The idea is that we start with a base of ideas and let our innate creativity expand, flourish and grow from that particular place. As each quilt progresses, we will try to push a little bit more, drawing from our well of experience with the previous Bramble Blooms {whether the experience feels successful or not}. We will probably not LOVE every single quilt that we make in the series, but hopefully we will end up with at least one quilt that rocks our foundations. Wowsers, did I really make that? Out of a stack of fabric that I'd grown so tired of? 

Wrapping this us, please remember that this is YOUR quilt. If you feel that it needs another border or two, then absolutely feel free to continue on with your journey.  Look for a Link Party for all the completed Bramble Blooms quilt tops towards the end of April. Shortly after that post will be the start of Bramble Bloom II. Looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful progress!

Bramble Blooms QAL--The Applique Centerpiece

Are you ready for the next BBI QAL prompt? It's pretty much what you'd expect: Add simple floral applique to your centerpiece background. That's it. Easy peasy! There are a couple options here. No doubt there are patterns at home you can browse through to borrow applique elements for this exercise. Or, you can do something much more fun and interesting. Learn how to implement it in a freehand, free-spirited way! Whatever you do, try to keep the final applique relatively uncomplicated so as to not spend unnecessary hours attempting to get the pieces sewn down. We want this stage to be finished up in approximately a month or so--six weeks if the holidays interfere too much. 

Also, keep in mind that this is the first element being adding for the purposes of series work. Make sure it's something you might be interested in expanding on, repeating, or playing with in a slight revision. I am assuming you have, at the very least, a rudimentary knowledge in basic applique skills or are interested in pursuing the details on your own.

If you think that I'm being a bit bossy about the applique having to be 'floral', let me explain. This is not a 'mystery' QAL per se, it's much more of a nudge toward getting comfortable with improvised quilt-making. By narrowing the choices, it's serving to provide gentle guiderails for the less experienced. Trying something new and out of our comfort zone can be a bit terrifying. Our mind often reacts with stress and/or complete overwhelm. When I suggest make something with a 'floral' look, then it immediately eliminates literally thousands of ideas you don't even have to contemplate anymore.

Neglecting to give you the blueprint for this quilt isn't me being difficult. This is me helping you learn how to be open to the process of figuring out what might come next--after this phase is totally finished up. Then you can more readily {and organically} react to what came before. I don't want to enable anyone to plan too far in advance! Also, floral applique is a rather lovely way to find that cozy, comfy feel so many of us seem to admire and aspire to. Lets get to it, shall we?

Example of some of my applique doodles

The definition of Improvisation {Improv.} according to Wiki: The activity of making do or doing something not planned beforehand; using whatever can be found. 

So... Freehand Applique? Any takers? I'll walk you through the steps of how this happens over here at Quilty Folk. Often, the very first thing I do is get out a notebook and start doodling. No, I'm not a trained artist. However, there is something really fascinating about the way the brain communicates with our hands. It's important to trust this instinctive thing that helps give us a visual to our thoughts. With barely any practice, you'll be able to draw up wispy little doodles of the ideas and elements percolating in your very own head. After making this a regular habit, you'll be able to do this quite unforced. 

You're the only one who thinks like YOU do, so it makes sense that these drawings will most reflect that--no matter how naive or primitive they might initially appear. If you're having trouble conjuring up ideas, maybe browse through quilt books, quilt magazines or even Pinterest. I personally find antique quilts to be some of the very best inspiration!

This is the one that gets to shine this time

Choose out the favorite drawing to turn into a quilt or perhaps a portion of a quilt--in this instance the center of a medallion quilt. Now it's time to somehow make these little doodle shapes become the right size and proportion needed! It's not nearly as difficult or scary as you might think.

Free Cutting Applique Shapes: At times, it's easiest to pick up a pair of scissors and just start free cutting. Use scissors and do that mind/hand thing just like you did with the doodling. Uh huh. You'll be surprised at some of the results, especially if the intended outcome is a simplistic shape. I have massacred many a stack of fabric scraps in pursuit of the perfect leaf, berry or flower! And it's easier than you think once you get the hang of it. 

Free cut leaves can be cut straight from random widths/lengths of rectangular sized scraps and berries are super easy to cut from rough cut squares. No, they won't be exactly identical to other elements in the quilt, but the shape will be similar and the human touch will definitely shine through. Flowers are a bit more complicated, but with practice comes a lot of interest and personality. Don't practice on your 'good' fabric unless you have a lot of it and don't particularly care about waste. And don't be surprised when your scrap bin leaves end up finding a place in your quilt after all. They can be fairly charming at times!

Trying to figure out proportion

Making Paper Applique Templates: The other method that I use quite a lot is to cut paper templates first--before cutting and/or wasting good fabrics. Can you tell that my frugal side takes over sometimes? Referring to your doodle picture, {I'm using notebook paper primarily as it's cheap and the lines can be helpful}, draw each individual shape over and over until you get something decent. Surprisingly, this CAN happen as you're only copying at this point. I promise it gets easier and easier with practice, and eventually you'll get to the point of only having to draw a shape one to three times before getting it right!

If it's a tricky shape {or a larger size} and you're worried about proper proportion, here's a good tip. Cut out paper squares, rectangles etc. in the approximate, intended size and place them onto the made background fabric. Step back from your design wall or floor and take a look. Keep going until you think the proportions are within the desired range, then try drawing the wanted {planned} shape onto those same papers. You're still copying a pre-determined shape, but now you have a box to keep it inside of. Sometimes that feels helpful and other times can be annoying. You'll want to take the papers off of the background of course, before drawing. For very large sizes, I've used everything from freezer paper, butcher paper, light weight cardboard and even the back of gridded Christmas paper! 

Drawing, cutting and more drawing

When there is finally a shape that seems satisfactory, go ahead and cut it out in paper shape. Don't worry about seam allowances at this point! Also, remember that this shape doesn't have to be identical to the one in your doodle. In repeated drawings, your hand/mind connection will make constant little adjustments and revisions to make it ever more pleasing to your discriminating eye.

 Place all the shapes onto the background fabric in as close to the right spot as possible. Move shapes side to side and up and down until everything looks fine. Be sure to step back and look at it with some distance too. Sometimes there will be a small adjustment needed that's not immediately obvious when looking at close range.

The paper template audition

If certain shapes are bothering you {for whatever reason} then it might be necessary to make small tweaks to them. Use your scissors judiciously at this point. Sometimes it's better to keep a shape that almost works than permanently ruin any hope of ever achieving it again! If something needs to be made a little bit larger or smaller, then washi tape might be your friend. Extra paper can be added behind to stretch a design, careful folds can be introduced, another triangle can be taped into just the right place.... Play until you can relax and smile or take a break and come back later with fresh eyes.

Making adjustments to paper templates

Choosing fabric for applique: Probably want to get your fabric choices sorted first. For a centerpiece in a medallion style quilt, look for slightly bolder, darker, brighter or perhaps lighter fabric blendings than might be used in the rest of the quilt. Doesn't have to be more than a degree or two, but you want these applique elements to 'pop'. You want them to matter. Using all medium value prints just won't pull off enough of a look-at-me vibe here in this spot! Look through your fabric stack and deliberately use value changes to your advantage. Might be a good idea to dig deeper in the stash if there seems to be any lack. 

Occasionally a fabric will seem to be way too obnoxious to be added into a marinating stack of fabric, but will work really, really well here. I often lay fabric options right over the top of those paper shapes still resting against the background fabric. You can kind of scrunch the fabrics around or fold them into smaller pieces to get an idea of how they might look in the proportionate size.

I much prefer the scrappy look for applique. Lots of different fabric use for leaves and flowers especially as I love the subtlety of 'similar but different' and the opportunity for highlighting minor value changes. It can effortlessly add lots of spark, energy and soul to a quilt by mixing things up. In this case I used three different fabrics for the stems. If the quilt seems to need specific areas of calm, then try a single-fabric use for all the stems or whichever element needs to be more in the background.

The method for which you intend to apply your applique might determine the fabric you choose for applique too. Many people will recommend using Batik fabrics as they are very resistant to fraying. Ughh. They are horrible to hand sew. Don't use painted on fabrics either unless you are applying your applique by machine. Soft, supple fabrics, upcycled fabrics, wovens--all of these will feel and handle ridiculously better if sewing by hand, and the time spent stitching will be cut in half.

In the picture below, you can see my first choice fabrics cut out in the designated applique shapes and sort of thrown onto the background fabric. All of these are cut out with a seam allowance included, so of course after sewing, they will shrink slightly in appearance.

Getting the shapes cut out into fabric

Three common methods to transfer paper shapes onto fabric:

Draw your paper shapes directly onto the backside of the chosen fabric {ball point pen is perfectly fine} and cut out, adding a scant quarter inch extra for seam allowance. Remember to use the reverse side of the template when marking the template lines so the applique shape will present the right way!

Another common way to transfer the template is to draw the paper cut-out shape onto the top of freezer paper {dull side}. Cut freezer paper out exactly at the marked lines and then iron over the top of the appropriate fabric. Don't slide the iron back and forth, but try to cover the shape with the iron and hold still for a moment. Pick up and move the iron again if needed. When the freezer paper is sticking to the fabric, then you can cut out your fabric shapes, once again adding the scant quarter inch extra for seam allowance. Gently peal off the freezer paper and use over and over again, if necessary.

The third way to transfer a paper template, is to draw the paper shapes directly onto what's called 'template plastic ' sold in sheets at JoAnn Fabrics etc. Carefully cut out your new, more long-lasting templates and proceed the same as with the paper templates.

Option of smoothing the look of applique

You can simplify applique shapes: Occasionally you will find that an applique template is just the right size and proportion, but maybe a little too complicated for your skill level. Or maybe it's going too take up time spent sewing that you're not wanting to commit to at the moment. Perhaps you want a naive, prim look. It's easy enough to smooth out the sharp, trickier edges with a pair of scissors, either directly on the paper template or the cut-out fabric shape itself. This goes for applique templates you've borrowed from other patterns, or even ones you've made yourself. There is no shame in simplifying the look of any applique design. In fact, altering templates in this way can serve to heighten a cozy vibe or quickly personalize a look.

Fine tuning the applique representation before sewing: In the picture below, I still haven't positioned or pinned things in the exact spot for sewing. Before doing that, I often take a deeper look. Is it doing what I want or need it to do? Matching up to what I had envisioned in my head?  Here, I was questioning the look of that first flower stem fabric, which I still didn't like. You probably didn't notice, but this is my 2nd choice fabric. Sometimes you have to actually see it cut out in the true size, then place it in the intended spot, before you say 'meh!. That won't work either.'*sigh  In this case, I went back to the first choice and called it good.

Looking at a stem in different fabric

Making Simple Straight Grain Stems: My basic rule of thumb for making straight grain stems is to cut out the intended width x 2, plus a quarter inch extra. These particular stems ended up being cut out at 1 1/4" x whatever length was needed. Each long, rectangular fabric unit is then folded in half with wrong sides together. Sew those wrong sides together with a very scant seam {move your needle over if possible}. Next, iron the thin tubes of fabric flat, making sure the seam ends up in the middle of the back side. 

You can skip this step and cut out stems with seam allowance only {like how you sew flower shapes etc.}. The trouble is, inevitably, long straight applique pieces want to ripple and warple even with good pinning. Sewing a tube of fabric helps stabilize things and give off a sharper appearance. I will endeavor to explain a simple method for making bias stems at a later date.

Figuring out how add another color

Letting your intuition do its thing: Improv. works best when you pay attention to the little niggle of feeling that says 'You know, this could probably look a lot better'. It's not usually some majorly complicated thing. Many times, in fact, it's a relatively easy fix that involves more of something or less of something. Perhaps one of the elements simply wants for a slight value change or hmmm.. a completely different color or print of fabric used altogether? Tiny adjustments can have a big impact. Play a little but don't ever think you have to start completely from scratch. If you're willing to cut up a little bit of fabric, do a little 'trial and error', you'll no doubt find the answer.

As to my centerpiece, a bit of contemplation helped me understand that the overall look was clearly too bland. It needed a spark to lift the look. Rifling through my fabric stack didn't conjure up anything exciting, and so back to the stash totes I went for inspiration. Finally, I pulled out this much lighter, kind of blue-ish green fabric that didn't feel specially complementary to the original fabric pull. Funny how it seems to work fabulously in this setting though! In the picture above, you can see where I cut out little triangles and tried placing them at the base of each flower. Hmmm... that's better, but still not quite right. What else could I do?

Finally getting the look I want

I left the composition up on the wall and ignored it for the evening. Much, much later in the night, the thought casually popped into my head that many natural flowers have little, barely-there leaves up near the base of a flower. Replicating that look could hopefully {fingers crossed} make a little, much needed sort of magic start happening. Just a miniscule addition and now the whole thing resonates incredibly better. 

Playing with minute changes to an applique element

Another thing you might have noticed that I tinkered with, was the pink motif at the base of the flowers. I kept cutting out slightly different, but similar shapes until finding the ones that had the just the right energy. One of the shapes was basically the same size/shape, only in reverse! Such a simple thing, but it helps to keep playing until a quilt says 'enough'! And there is definitely a time to stop and move on. No sense in driving yourself crazy!

When everything looks just right color-wise and design-wise, then it's time to position the applique exactly where it needs sewing. Pin in place and stitch the bottom layer first, then the next layer, and so on till it's all finished. 

BBI templates all ready to go

Feel free to apply the applique to your quilt in any manner you like, be it hand sewing or machine sewing. I use a form of needle-turn applique as I love the slight imperfections that seem to organically happen, but you do you. Lots of good tutorials and options floating around on the Internet these days. Also, I have the templates converted to pdf's for anyone who doesn't have the time or energies to dive into Freehand Applique right at the moment. Please request these in my email at audkateaster at gmail dot com, NOT in the comment section. This QAL is generally free to all, but I respectfully ask that you consider dropping a couple dollars in the tip jar if you are specifically wanting the pdf's. Hopefully this will be set up by next week if my un-techy self can figure things out!

Yes, it's a rather lengthy post about the process of Improv. when it comes to applique play. It's kind of my passion! Such a wonderful way to add lots of personalization and the also the charming benefits of the human touch to our makes. You did want to know how to do things the 'Quilty Folk' way, right? 

Next up {after some normal quilty posts}, will be another prompt in the QAL. Which incidentally, is the first border to our medallion design. For those just joining up, please send an email when you have posted your start to this QAL. That email is the only way I will add you to the link list of participants. If you're not especially interested in being included in the link list, but want to follow along with the QAL regardless, that's perfectly fine too. I get it! Stepping outside of our comfort zone and sharing our work at the same time can probably feel somewhat brutal. Ughh  Don't know how many times I've winced when pressing the 'publish' button. As per usual, sometimes I'll need a couple days to respond. 

**There are still comments on posts where I am unable to link back to the person or specific blog. Sharon from Pflugerville and Chel Smith from Texas--Sorry, I don't have a way to contact either of you. Please email if you want to join the link list. Sorry, don't have a clue how to make the commenting easier for everyone without opening the blog up to mountains of spam.