Framing the Gardens of a King blocks

Yesterday was productive and I started working on the applique blocks that will be in the border of the Gardens of a King quilt. I'll share pictures of those blocks soon! The quilt pattern is designed by Missie of Traditional Primitives and I am one of her pattern testers!  The quilt will finish at roughly 63: square. All this week Missie will be sharing her work with readers and on Sunday, November 9 she will reveal her finished quilt! If you are interested in purchasing her pattern you can contact her via her blog. For now I'll share some more of the pieced blocks I have made using Missie's English paper piecing technique that uses freezer paper and starch rather than thread basting!

Today I'll share two more Gardens of a King blocks. They are a good example of how a block can be made to look very different when colours and values are changed. In addition depending on how the block is oriented the effect can be very different! All of the fabrics I'm using are small scraps leftover from other projects. The first block was one of my earlier blocks and I struggled with the four compass points so they are rather rounded. The second block is much better. You learn as you go!

These blocks are a rough looking on the edges but that will change. Each block will be reverse appliqued to the background fabric. I prepared the background fabric and then used my Roxanne Glue Baste-It to tack the block to the background fabric. This is the background fabric, front and back, prepared for applique. I used freezer paper and my Starch Brush to turn under the seam allowance in the circle.

   

I've been stitching my blocks with Superior's The Bottom Line thread and the stitches virtually disappear! However, the thread is very fine so if you use it make a knot that it is large enough that it won't pop through the fabric. I've been wrapping it around my needle six or seven times in order to get a knot that will hold.

See how nice the blocks look once they have their background? They'll look even nicer when I give them a press! Missie is using an assortment of background fabrics in her quilt but I've decided to use a single fabric. I think that when the blocks are stitched together it will create negative space that I can fill will some interesting quilting. Plus I don't have to think about fabric choices if I use only one fabric and that has a great deal of appeal....the no thinking thing that is!

If you haven't visited the Blogger's Quilt Festival organized by Amy's Creative Side I would encourage you to do so. There are so many beautiful and interesting quilts on display and if you need some inspiration it is a good place to have a poke around! I've entered 81 The Giant Monstrosity in Home Machine Quilting and Cherry Blossom in Original Design. In addition 81 is a Viewer's Choice finalist. You can vote for your favourite quilts in each of twelve categories until the end of day on November 7th.

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H