In Baltimore Style, Part 1

On Thursday, July 21, eight of the In Baltimore Style students met to set their applique blocks. Wait til you see!!!!

First are a couple photos of students hard at work. It sort of looks like a sweatshop! (Okay, it was really warm in the room--machines, irons, laughing...you get the picture!)

In the background here you can see my quilt top.

And here is part one of the parade of quilts. Please note that not all the tops are finished, but you can see how wonderful each will be.

First, Kathy F.--just look at the vibrant colors she used. Kathy was a beginning appliquer at the start of this 9 month journey! A few months ago, I was walking through the shop to get to the classroom and I saw a totally awesome fabric on top of the shelves. I fingered it, drooled a bit, but decided I didn't have anything to really do with it. Lo and behold, that same day, we were choosing setting fabrics for Kathy's quilt. It was fate: It was exactly perfect with Kathy's blocks. I just love spending someone else's money! Great job, Kathy!

Pat S. chose beautiful reds and blues for her masterpiece. Her tiny circles are done in polka dots, so we chose a different dot for her cornerstones. Isn't it amazing how these blocks are transformed by fabric selection? Pat is a master appliquer--her work is meticulous.

And last, for tonight, is Sandy. Sandy was also fairly new to applique when she started this class--and she has done a fantastic job. Sandy is setting her blocks with a dark navy and is then going to use a blue and white floral print as the final border. I am so proud!

You can't imagine how fulfilling it is to see these blocks come together into tops. All the ladies worked so hard and now they get to reap the benefits of those efforts. Tomorrow you will see.....the rest of the story! You won't be disappointed.

Hugs,

Sharon

P.S. I just finished listening to Borderline by Nevada Barr and am doing A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick next. I'm reading a horse related book.

P.P.S. For those of you interested in a great tutorial on backstitch embroidery, please visit Cinderberry Stitches (on the blog list at right).