Sunday, November 3, 2013

Applique with Karen Kay Buckley!

One of the classes I took last week at Quilt Festival was "Garden Medley Applique," taught by Karen Kay Buckley. I have been a huge fan of her work and her glorious Perfect Circles for quite some time, so it was a super treat to actually take a class with her. And it was a great class! I came out feeling so inspired and confident with some great new techniques.

Our class project was a little flower.

Garden Medley applique class project

We didn't have enough time to really make a lot of progress on it, but we did have the opportunity to practice the various techniques required to complete it, with the main focus on preparing the applique pieces.

While I still love me some needleturn applique, there are times when I want to have stronger consistency in the look of my applique from piece to piece. Her method, using heat-resistant template material and starch, really results in crisp, consistent pieces that also make the actual applique part of the process a breeze.

I'm so excited about really applying what I've learned that I've dug out a kit I bought back in 2008 from SewBatik for the "Blooms All Around" quilt (a pattern by The Rabbit Factory).

Blooms All Around preparations begin

All of those flowers in the border offer a great opportunity to really put all of the techniques she shared to work, including marking placement, using Perfect Stems, preparing curved shapes, and getting consistent pointy-points (which has always been my applique nemesis!).

Blooms All Around fabrics

My fabric is ready to go and my templates are made, so I'm gonna start prepping some applique fun!!!