Thread: Penny Haren's "Pieced Applique "... 1 block a week begins January 2011

since I am a newbie, I did some practice blocks just to try to understand what was being written.

I will probably dive right into using the good fabric. The foundation blocks don't look hard and I bought a lot of fabric that I am anxious to cut into!

hugs, Jupiter

Originally Posted by Obsessed

So, in the book she says to practice making foundation blocks *before* you start cutting your fabric for the project - meaning that we should make our first foundation blocks from scraps from our stash. Is that what you all are planning to do, or are you going to plan out a few of your blocks and make foundation blocks that you will use in your project?

It seems wasteful to make foundation blocks we aren't going to use - the foundation blocks themselves don't seem all that complicated. But then again, it's not like I'm an expert quilter who couldn't use the practice!

What will you do?

So which one did you do, was it hard, was it fun, did it turn out great??? Inquiring minds want to know!

hugs, Jup

Originally Posted by hlponyfarm

since I am a newbie, I did some practice blocks just to try to understand what was being written.

Originally Posted by Jupiter

I will probably dive right into using the good fabric. The foundation blocks don't look hard and I bought a lot of fabric that I am anxious to cut into!

hugs, Jupiter

That's how I feel too - that the foundation blocks don't look too hard - and I want to feel like I'm getting started on the real deal!

In other news... I'm having a fabric crisis and rethinking my choices... I **may** be posting new fabrics sometime soon. (Don't worry about my poor little batiks, I've already thought of a new use for them!)

Originally Posted by Jupiter

So which one did you do, was it hard, was it fun, did it turn out great??? Inquiring minds want to know!

hugs, Jup

Originally Posted by hlponyfarm

since I am a newbie, I did some practice blocks just to try to understand what was being written.

Yes! Let us see!

Definitely.......would love to see!

I'm having a crisis of sorts as well. I now have 17 half yard cuts of fabrics I would like to use. They all are coordinating turquoise and brown. I'm anxious to get started but am wondering how we will determine which fabrics to use in which blocks, which colors to use for which foundation blocks etc. Lets get started already :)

Once I decide on some fabric.....I plan to look ahead and layout certain fabrics (and label them) for certain blocks. Of course, you can always change your mind on a few, but for the most part, the decision part will be done and I can move on to learning the applique part.

I'm having a hard time deciding on the fabric though. I guess that is why I plan to lay it all out before we start. Which fabrics to use for which pattern is always my little hiccup in quilting. LOL

Originally Posted by BATIKQLTR

Once I decide on some fabric.....I plan to look ahead and layout certain fabrics (and label them) for certain blocks. Of course, you can always change your mind on a few, but for the most part, the decision part will be done and I can move on to learning the applique part.

I'm having a hard time deciding on the fabric though. I guess that is why I plan to lay it all out before we start. Which fabrics to use for which pattern is always my little hiccup in quilting. LOL

Oh, I've already planned out each and every block using my batiks... that was my in-flight entertainment during my trip last week. (My husband thinks I'm insane and couldn't understand why I was sketching all the blocks in my notebook and labeling them when I 'could just use the pictures in the book when it's time.') It hasn't stopped me from having a fabric crisis though! Maybe I'll make the first few blocks in both sets of fabric and see which one I like better... :oops: :roll:

First let me say that this info/idea is 'on the run'. I may think better of it later on, but for now....

Looking through the book, Penny says it take 8 fabrics. I looked at the fabric list at the beginning of each block pattern, and she calls them by 8 different names:

Gold Print, Gold Fabric
Orange Print, Orange Fabric
Green Print, Green Fabric
Black Print, Black Fabric
(that makes 8)

I am planning to compare my fabrics to the ones she is using to determine which are darks, medium, and lights. Then I am going to name each of my fabrics by one of her names...(what she calls "orange print" may actually be blue daisy print for me, but I am going to call those daisys "orange print"). I only have to figure this out once, then pin a name tag to each of my fabrics, calling them by her names. When I make a block, I won't be trying then to figure out which fabric to use. Penny will have it all figured out for me.... I hope! lol

Gotta run. Grocery store is calling my name.

hugs, Jupiter