So Many Stitches

Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

I have been working on this applique quilt top for a while now. It keeps getting put aside as a piece another QOV top or make another baby quilt for a friend. This top/quilt has no deadline. Sometimes that is a lovely thing. Sometimes a deadline will help motivate me, as it does others. I'll finish it someday, even if it's years from now.

I enjoy making these ruches roses, but I must admit I don't really enjoy making the leaves. Each ruched rose takes approximately 200 stitches. Each one can easily take an hour to make before stitching it to the background fabric. The instructions for making a ruched rose can be found in American's Heritage Quilts published by Better Homes and Gardens, 1991.

I think I am more a piecer than appliquer at heart though I love appliqued quilts--Baltimore Album quilts, Hawaiian quilts. I enjoy using the rotary cutter to "mass" cut pieces which I can't do when I do applique. There's that cutting and sewing that quilts and surgery have in common. Don't have to finish a quilt in one sitting, as I do any surgery. That makes it much more relaxing.