0 Replies to “Episode 104: Applique, baby!”

  1. Nice! Sort of looks like my first needle turn applique project which is often proudly displayed in my living room. You get practice with “innie” and “outie” angles, curves and straight stuff. Did you machine applique this one? I really love the fabrics. Of course, the leaves are my favorite as they seem to be batik. That’s what I always use for applique as it seems to fray least of all and I can use all the help I can get in the fray department.

  2. Hi Frances, I enjoyed the latest podcast – I listened while finishing the knitting on a pair of fingerless mitts that DH can wear while using his camera. I have also been quilting – I did the Modern Mystery Quilt on the AQS website this fall, and have been taking the Designing Modern Quilts class by Weeks Ringle on the Craftsy site – I am learning a lot about color so far. But what I really wanted to comment on was your reading. I finished all the Miss Read books a few years ago. I really enjoyed them – it was a time in my life when my Mom was going through her final illness, and my psyche just couldn’t take any of the modern “dysfunctional family secrets revealed” novels. I really enjoyed the gentle, funny village life that Miss Read writes about. (A far cry from the recent Casual Vacancy village life – which I also enjoyed reading, but my psyche is not so tender right now). Have you ever read any books by Angela Thirkell? She is another British author who wrote from the late 30’s into the 50’s. Her novels are set in Anthony Trollope’s fictional Barsetshire (I think I heard you say you are a Trollope fan). The first book in the series is called High Rising, and the main character is a widowed novelist with a school age son who is smart and rascally. The books were more or less written in real time, so describe Barsetshire life through the war years. The main characters tend to change in each book, but we also catch up on old friends. I just think you might enjoy them if you can find them – they are mostly out of print. I am also looking forward to reading the new Barbara Kingsolver novel. Thanks for podcasting, and I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.

  3. Hi Frances, haven’t listened to your newest episode yet,but it’s in my playlist and I’m moving along! Jaye asked me to tell you that Leah Day’s FMQ Sampler class is 25% off on Craftsy, just got an email this morning and signed up right away. πŸ™‚ Happy Thanksgiving guess you won’t be a Thursday girl next week! πŸ™‚

  4. Hey Frances,
    Always love your podcasts, so keep up the good work. Nice, nice job on your first applique attempt. I don’t do much of it myself, but when I do, it is enjoyable. I use the blanket stitch and have not tried the zigzag one on applique. Also, I love using shades soft fuse. I just finished 2 baby quilts for a set of twins and sent them to NC. Now am working on some holiday tablerunners. Love your knitting too. I am finishing up on scarfs for my 3 daughters and will start on some knitted caps for sons-in-law and grandkids.
    All this while watching our house being built! Soon I have got to get busy making king sized quilts for the beds. Ugh!

  5. I am half-way through this lovely podcast. Call the Midwife gets better and better, I felt ,as you got to know the characters. I have heard the book is very good, too.

    I actually like the #20 foot for machine applique for the Bernina. It is similar to the #0 but it is fully open-toed and lets you see where you are going. Sometimes you have to take the stitch width down for tiny points (if you wanna!) and it helps to have that open toe.

    Happy Thanksgiving – I love this festival of food and thanks.

  6. Sorry I am not a big commenter, like someone else said, I am not often near a computer when I listen, often through my phone. Even with with a keyboard it is so tiny I get frustrated.

    I just finished catching up on 101-104, and loved them all. You hsve inspired me to try applique by machine soon. Right now I am working on a plaid lap quilt I have always wanted to make one of those too. It also marks the milestone of me going out of my comfort zone of either log cabins or crazy quilts, which don’t require much precision.

    I am finally confident enough of my cutting and piecing skills after making a few floor rugs out of 4 or 5 inch squares, and finally having my corners match more often than not, and the squares I cut are pretty accurate, so I used the squares I have been squirreling away and designed a scrappy block which has a 4 inch square in the center then I had to figure out what size strip I needed to frame it so I could then put 3 inch sqaures around the frame and then there will be sashing with cornerstones. Cornerstones are another first,and they will match the frame around 4 inch square. So far it is going well and I have only had to fix 1 seam. Keep up the good work on your applique, it is so pretty.

  7. Really enjoying hearing you talk about applique! I’ve never tried it myself, and it’s great to hear a beginner’s perspective.

    Also, just wanted to say that for the record, I enjoy the “ramblings” you do! Even the knitty stuff! In fact, I’ve never been a knitter, but after hearing you (and Tanesha) talk knitting in your podcasts, I signed up for a knitting class! I’m super excited to give it a try! πŸ˜€

  8. Frances! You are a GREAT podcaster. I love your rambliness and the fact aht you talk about your life. Don’t run yourself down or compare yourself ot other podcasters and keep on podcasting.

    I talked about going around a circle in one of the tutorials (#2, I think). I know those tutorials are pretty wordy, but I did talk about it. Perhaps read it over and tell me if it makes sense.

    Read the Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. It is a really great story and a wonderful ending. I also liked another of her books called The Rose Garden. Lovely books with a slight twist.

    Thanks for the blog shoutout to all of your lovely, intelligent readers. I am always looking for more readers. πŸ˜‰

    I’ll comment on your blog if you comment on mine!

    1. Just went to the library and put a hold on a Kearsley book. I recommend “The Midwife of Hope River” highly as a recent read. It is set in 1930s West Virginia and was excellent.

  9. Loved the podcast. No surprise there as I always do. Call the Midwife! Great show and book. I think I heard it mentioned on Tanisha’s podcast, was it her? Anyway I started watching the show and was immediately hooked. I put the book on hold at the library and had to wait longer than normal. That’s a good sign as it means other people are equally enjoying the book and/or show. I’m not finished with the book yet but I am definitely enjoying it. Now, in my case, I had a midwife for each of my children as they were all born at home, but that’s another story.

  10. i haven’t had a chance to listen to your latest podcast yet–but nice applique. i like doing hand-applique at the (many) school meetings i have to attend–or even when i meet with friends–helps me concentrate! but i really wrote in to say i just read The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eisdorfer–really good read–i finished it in a few hours ‘cos i couldn’t put it down. and the author is your neighbor! she works at the bookshop at your college. (hmmm…i hope i got everything straight–Univ of No Carolina at Chapel HIll, right?) and i just finished your book, the Abigail one–good read–i liked the character of Abigail a lot πŸ™‚

  11. You made Eric very happy on a day when he was having a self-described meltdown. Thanks!

    Can’t appliquΓ© for diddle; it’s something that I just do not have the brain space for right now. Now if Jaye wants to come to the East Coast and teach/hold my hand, that might be different πŸ™‚

  12. Because of a hard drive crash, I am two podcasts behind. However it would be remiss of me to not to jump in here to say (in case you haven’t heard) that Craftsy has all their online classes on sale for $19.99 or less through Monday November 26th. No I don’t work for them but that sounds like fun.

    Craftsy? You listening? When not sewing I am an instructional developer and narrator…call me….

  13. Frances, I too want Christmas to be a spiritual holiday (what is birthing in ME? is a favorite meditation this time of year) anyway, it has caused so much friction in my not laid back family. I have tried and tried and am considering boycotting the command performance this year. I can’t afford it. Or I don’t want to afford it. They have enough stuff. They don’t remember year to year what I get them anyway. It’s just stuff, and I tried to let them know, donate to some cause for me, or to expect that from me. Did not go over at all. Mom said she couldn’t afford to donate, but what did I want? Like really didn’t understand the concept. The consumption thing drives me bananas. For one thing, I don’t eat sugar, grains, or dairy. So no cookies, pies, desserts, nothing like that. I’m fine, I feel better, so that’s what I’m doing. They pout about me not eating their cookies. I play along or I am out of the family. And I’m seriously considering this, as yes, it DOES mean that much to me. Clearly you see I am slowly going crazy with this holiday, and am eagerly awaiting your success so I can learn to do this!

  14. Annie smith’s Ultimate Applique book is great. She uses a raw edge machine blanket stitch. Tons of patterns too. Very good recourse.

  15. Hi Frances, I second KellyV’s vote for the open-toe foot for applique. I took a class from Maureen Noble who co-authored Machine Quilting Made Easy and Machine Quilting with Decorative Threads and learned lots. Another tip I learned from a Sewing With Nancy show was to vary the width of a zig-zag (or other) stitch, for example taper it down as you go to a point on leaves. Applique is lots of fun!

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