Hospitality Table Block

I am on to the next block in the Bountiful Life quilt.  This one seems a little less challenging than the previous one!

Here you can see I have already started working on the left stem, with a little help from my little snowquilter.  But let's back up a bit and go through the process.  Inquiring minds want to know!

I started this block with the stems.  I made very narrow bias stems with the Clover bias tape maker and appliqued them to the background.  

Next I moved to the leaves.  Lots of leaves!  If you look closely you can see I changed the style of the leaves so that they did not have stems.  I think it looks cleaner and it's a whole lot easier!  

In order to keep track of what goes where, I number the leaves and their corresponding location on the pattern.  I cut the leave patterns out of freezer paper right on the traced pencil line and iron them onto the right side of the fabric.

I then mark around the outside of the leaf pattern with a marking pen or pencil.  My favorite is the Clover White Marking Pen.  It goes on clear and dries white.  When ironed the white marks disappear! Wonderful!

My other favorite for lighter fabrics is a Berol Karisma Graphite Aquarelle pencil.  Unfortunately they no longer make these pencils, so they are like gold to me! They are water soluble pencils which are great for making applique and quilting patterns.

Once the shape is marked, I trim closely to the marked line.  This line will be my guide for turning the edge under as I applique.  I remove the freezer paper template (which can be reused quite a few times!) and place my leaf in the spot I want it appliqued.  A few pins or basting and I am good to go!

You can also see in several of these photos the blue water soluble pen outline where everything should go.  With the amount of applique on these blocks I found it was much easier if I traced out the placement.  This was a great suggestion from Kerry at Simple Bird Applique!  

That's enough leaves for now.. Now onto the needle turn applique!

I hope this has helped some of you that have asked me what process I use.

Happy Stitching!

Deb