Wow Chay, gorgeous blocks and only 99 to go!

ohhhhhh, i'm really wishing i had ordered white kona now!
why did i order cream???:(

chay, your blocks are loooooooovely!!!:thumbup: keep up the good work!!

Can't put in smilies .... lost what I typed 3 times :( ah well :rolleyes: lets see if this works - I love your blocks Chay and makes me more confused about what to do..... Civ War...Kaffe...Civ War... Kaffe... ahhhhhhhhh maybe tear daisy petals off flower to decide?? perhaps should do a Hannah in Kaffe and DJ in Civ War??? decisions.......... :D

I have a bin full of Civil War and Reproductions, so you know what my blocks will look like. Background will be different ecru colors in different patterns (also have a bin of this color). Really want to complete DJ for our bedroom. Having hubby paint the room a green to match the quilt.

Cream can be used for anything, if your pocket book can do it, go with the snow white if you are doing brights.:)

It's a hard decision!! My compromise is to make a Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt in 30's fabrics, my other love - AFTER I finish the DJ, unless I'm so burned out on small pieced blocks that my eyes are rolling back in my head.

An interesting lesson I learned from this quilt is that my hand sewing got a lot better as I went along. I did all the machine pieced blocks first and left any that had hand applique till the end. There are a LOT of melons in this quilt and my first ones were terrible but as I did more my hand work got better. I like applique on top, not reverse applique, so that's how I did my applique pieces.

Good luck making your decision!

I found that back basting was a good way to handle the small applique pieces on this quilt.

Sandpat, can you tell me more about your back basting technique?

I don't know how Sandpat does this, but there is a good tutorial at this site:
http://sentimentalstitches.net/instr...-hand-applique

I personally skip a lot of this :rolleyes: I mark my background with washable blue marker or thin white lead pencil [Fons& Porter] depending on the shade of fabric. I mark the piece to be appliqued the same way [using ott light under the piece and plexiglass - or I put a battery operated tap light in project box for cheap lightbox]. I match the marks and either pin it down.... or when I get real lazy I simply pinch it down with my left thumb/forefinger while I place some stitches with my other hand. Be careful this only works with small pieces, unless you are real careful!! Then I pinch a little ahead on my applique piece on the marked line and needleturn. I will post pics a few weeks from now.

You might have to commit me, but I am committing to DJ.
 

I have been thinking about joining for days. I have so much on my plate, but I keep hearing Dear Jane calling me. So I am all in. I have been looking for something special to submit to our county fair and DJ is perfect. I am new to the Quilting Board so I will need your help navigating.