I have been mostly stitching on my Civil War Block of the Month quilt. It is a queen sized quilt and I had it machine basted and I am hand quilting it. I have been finding it quite heavy on my lap at times - so I am taking a little break from it and did a little stitching on my Dear Jane yesterday.
I haven't worked on any appliqué blocks for quite some time. Mostly working on pieced blocks. This block was first pieced and now I am stitching on the melons. As I was starting yesterday I was thinking I should have made the outer seams of the block a little wider because the appliqué will quite often pull in a block or background piece of fabric. Right now the block measure exactly 5 inches - hopefully it doesn't shrink up with the appliqué.
Years ago I made a folder to hold appliqué and hand stitching projects. I think if I realized at the time how useful it would be and how much I would use this folder I would have used nicer fabric! But it is one of the most efficient and useful ways to store my stitching work in progress.
It certainly is unattractive fabric. I think I made it around 1996.
It is like a big book and the pieces of my stitching are held between the layers. It really works well - it has handles for carrying and a pocket for putting small items. I usually store the little baggie of pieces on the pocket.
The outer fabric is some old upholstery fabric I bought at some thrift sale and the inner fabric is corduroy. I have a little piece of felt that really holds the little pieces of fabric. When the pieces are not yet all stitched together I usually put a thin 8x10 piece of cardboard on top of them before I close the book - other wise the pieces will stick to the top as well and then I'm picking them off the top and my nice layout of pieces is a mess.
My little stitching corner for the past couple of months. Jenny's chair!! She was thinking it was her spot! Poor Jenny - she's had enough of me! Although she has been going out with a dog walker quite regularly since I haven't been able to walk her and I think she loves Gord and Leila more than me now! Ah well. Soon I hope!
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