About Me

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Bigfork, Montana, USA
Bigfork Bay Cotton Company is a full service, brick and mortar quilt shop, as well as a retail/wholesale pattern business. You can view our pattern line on our website, but on a more personal level, we'd like to invite you into our shop and share with you the joy of quilting in our corner of the world!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

SOME OF MY APPLIQUE BLOCKS

Here are my first few blocks. I love Daiwabo fabrics and have been collecting them for a few years now. It was going to be either Daiwabos or Cherrywoods (my other obsession). I decided to go with the Daiwabos, obviously. Now the decision is to stitch around the applique with a blanket stitch or a tiny zigzag. I'm leaning towards the zigzag for a couple of reasons....the main reason being that all the stitching is on the applique, rather than on the background. This is important because then the applique/fusible/background provides enough stability that I don't need a stabilizer underneath and I won't get any puckering. Plus, the zigzag is more forgiving if i wander a bit...since the thread will match the applique piece, if I wander on the background it will really show. Of course I will be using AURIFIL 50 wt thread....there is nothing better. Period. Plus, I love their wide range of colors. I think that sometimes I will try to match the applique, but sometimes I might use a shade or two lighter or darker, or use the color next door, to add a little depth.

Did I tell you that there are 25 blocks, PLUS 25 border blocks? Yikes. If I had nothing else going on, I would try and get this done by December, when I have a spot reserved with an amazing longarm quilter. I'm going to give it a shot, but I know it is a really, really long shot. All that stitching is going to take a long time.....

By the way, I am using a new fusible. Well, it's not really new, just new to me....
SOFT FUSE, by Stacey Michell is wonderful. It is the best fusible I have used. We now have it on the bolt, and it is 36" wide! At $9 a yard, at that width, that's a bargain! Give it a try if you see it...I think you're going to like it!




























1 comment:

Flathead Quilters Guild said...

These are beautiful! Nicely done!