Welcome to the newest Cyber-Sew on The Quilting Board. This site will help guide you while you create an appliqué quilt called "Affairs of the Heart." The quilt is from the book, "Affairs of the Heart" by Aie Rossman, published by AQS. This will be a sew-a-long. You will make blocks and keep your blocks. No swapping is required.

This group will be for support, encouragement, and friendship all while we are making our blocks. The main thread will be for questions, comments, and chat about what we are doing. Remember that we quilters are nice, generous and friendly people. No flaming will be tolerated. I will be here as the schedule maker (aka: host) and PatriceJ will be our moderator.

Posting of pictures of completed blocks is encouraged. Threads for pictures will appear under the heading "Affairs of the Heart Cyber Sew". Look for the Block numbered thread of the picture you are posting.

In order to participate in the cyber-sew, you will need to purchase the book. There will be no sharing or posting of the patterns as they are all copyright protected. Here are several links to sites where you can purchase this book. I'm sure there are lots of other sites, or perhaps your LQS will have it.

http://www.americanquilter.com/books...il.php?id=6517

http://www.amazon.com/Applique-Maste...3974979&sr=1-1

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...eart&x=63&y=16

This quilt, sewn as per the book, finishes up at 62" square. Some quilters may wish to make a larger quilt. By enlarging the block size, you can make your quilt larger without having to design more blocks. The block patterns in the book finish at 7" square. If you decide to enlarge the blocks, you will need to also enlarge the sashings & inner borders.

The book shows the appliqué method of needle-turn. Some quilters will want to do this. Others will maybe choose to use the freezer paper method. Others still, will want to machine appliqué theirs. Whichever method you choose to do, your quilt will be lovely!

There are 36 blocks plus sashings and borders. We will make one block a week beginning the week of June 5, 2011. A schedule can be found below.

Come on and join in the fun! There is plenty of time for you to gather everything you need for this project. We won't be starting until June.

If you are joining us or even contemplating making the quilt, please let us know by posting to this thread. Tell us about the quilt you are planning to make. Are you going to do hand appliqué or machine appliqué? What color background do you think you're going to use? What kind of fabrics? Are you going to make it the original size, or enlarge it?

I'm sure we will all have fun. I know we will all improve our appliqué skills!

Thanks for stopping by. See you soon!

I will get the ball rolling by posting that I am going to make my AOTH the original size using machine appliqué, in black for the background and batiks for the colors. I thought I'd couch Ricky Timms' Razzle Dazzle thread in pink for the embroidered places.

By the way, we will probably be refering to the Affairs of the Heart quilt as "AOTH". It's so much easier.

While I was preparing for this announcement, I realized that 14 of the blocks are not symetrical. You will need to flip the pattern over to the back for the correct alignment if you are planning on using fusible for machine applique.

The blocks that need to be flipped are 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 27, 30, 32, and 33. Hope this will help.

i am doing the original size with the black background. i will probably use as much of my stash as possible.

Congratulations! I am among the first to find this! WooHoo! I am anxious to get my book!

I haven't gotten to the part about size yet, but I am planning to use a black background. Other decisions will have to wait until I get my book!

awesome. welcome aboard.

Mine's going to be brights on black I think. The book is here, the black is in my stash, so I only need to find enough brights. No idea what size blocks yet! I plan to do it all by machine, possibly with the embroidery module if my idea works out.

Ah Hah, I found you all.

Thanks for doing this, its going to be awesome.

Decided to use a Lemon background with all different shades of blues, however I may change my mind and use some lovely batiks I have which are in varying shades from lights to darks.

Going with the original size

I''m in too - I shall be using a black background, because I have never done a quilt that dark, and I love the way colours pop with black behind them.

I am enlarging my blocks by 142% to bring them up from 7in to 10in. I have cut my background squares right across the width of fabric, so they are more or less 11in square, to give me a little 'wiggle' room for trimming down to 10.5in ready for sewing together.

By doing this, I estimate my quilt will end up about 84in square, and will therefore fit my bed. I don't have a lot of room for hanging quilts, only one place really, and I regularly change my quilts according to the seasons in that space. Plus to enlarge a block means that it's sometimes easier to make than a smaller one, and there isn't much more work involved.

I will be making my quilt using the needle turn method, and taking lots of pics along the way, both front and back, to give you all an insight on how I do mine. If anyone wants it, I will try and give some info on how to needlturn and get round the corners, and even how to do the relatively simple embroidery that decorates most, if not all blocks.

I have posted the first block in the thread for it, just to give you an idea on how mine will look. The thread for the first one is here:http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-95416-1.htm#2398791

You might like to look at this site too: http://cherylquilts.com/affairs_of_the_heart.htm
This quilt was machined, with satin stitch around all the pieces. The maker also changed her border and it's considerably different to the original in the book, which is more gentle curves and swirls than the one in this site. But if you are unsure about the blocks, there are some good pics of the blocks below the quilt, so do scroll down to see them.

I'm guessing that my plan to use the embroidery module to make the blocks WILL work, judging from the photo of her sitting at her embroidery machine with the block hooped! Not such an original thought after all, LOL.

Her quilt is fabulous, and I love that border too, but won't think about that for a LONG time yet!

quiltswithconvicts,just wanted to say i LOVE the quilt in your avatar!!!! beautiful!!!!!
dar

WooHoo! We are off & running with this quilt. Lesley is going to be a big help, I can tell. She is so talented & I really appreciate her help & enthusiasm. I also expect that Patti will be here helping out, too - another talented and sweet person.

I haven't started sewing a single block for you as I have a couple of other projects that I need to get finished & shipped off. You can see one of the projects on Lacelady's PDA, page 400. I am having to force myself to work on it. It is so boring - the same thing over & over. This is why I really like samplers!

I'll be keeping in touch. Will check back in after work.

Thanks, Dar. Are you thinking about joining us in making the Affairs of the Heart quilt? There is plenty of time to gather your supplies as we won't be starting until June 5.

Think about it & let us know.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Kathy, nice comments.

Yippee!! And we are off and running! I'm going to do this one. I'm thinking about a dark olive type green background (I think the colors will still pop) and then use fabs that are in the autumn color range with some creamy lights thrown in to make it pop. I'm considering using the blocks on point to enlarge the quilt but not the blocks. I haven't gotten to thinking too much about the borders yet...but we'll get there! You know how all these decisions change in the "doing". I also haven't decided on the technique yet either.

Kathy..are we allowed to post a pic of the entire quilt here or maybe the cover of the book so people can see it without going anywhere else?? And THANK YOU for organizing all this..the schedule looks very doable!

I am still in. Got my book and my black fabric came in.Doing black bg and brights. Enlarged same as Lesleys.I also will be doing needleturn Applique.

I'm in! I just started working through the Penny Haren applique quilt with the group on this board and am really enjoying that. The Penny Haren schedule wraps up in August, so I think the timing is perfect. There will be a little overlap, but not for too long. I plan on doing needle-turn, which is a different technique than the Penny Haren quilt and I want to learn how.

I plan to use unbleached muslin as a background and warm-color batiks. These blocks are so pretty, I think I want them on my bed - I have plenty of time to play around with the size to get that right before we begin. Will order my book today!

What fun! Thanks for putting this together.

Oooh, new converts, welcome Jolo and Obsessed.

Hi, welcome Lara!!! I was looking at that Penny Haren thread. I might have to try that one AFTER the AOTH. I bet you'll do a great job on this quilt after doing the "pieced applique"! Your colors sound really pretty...

I put a link in my bit on the first page, Patti, to that quilt which has been machine done, it also shows the blocks clearly, so that will give people an idea of what is involved. I know the border is different, but other than that, it looks very close to the book.

I just looked at another one when I Googled, and the maker hadn't added the embroidery on hers - I have become accustomed to the designs in the book, and now that un-embroidered one looks half dressed to me! LOL.

AAAHHHHHH....half naked quilt blocks....:shock:!! Perish the thought!!

i will try to get the book and see if i think i can do it

Ok, I am seriously thinking about this, I might be biting off way more than I can chew as my appliqué attempts have been messy,lol, to say the least, but perhaps this will be what I need to improve.

Since I am just beginning to think about this, not sure what color theme I'll be doing yet, but I will be doing machine appliquéif i join, probably the "invisible" one, not sure what it's called, the one you use the Templar. Is anyone going to use this method?

Well, I guess I'll order the book and go from there.
Thanks for the nudge.

i'm contemplating..i am interested in learning needle turn. i love applique. am holding new grand baby in left arm and typing with right...sorry for no caps

I'm in!
Got my book already!
Now, to figure out colors...haven't decided that yet, but will have to figure something out.
I will enlarge the blocks since some of the pieces are small and I don't like small pieces to applique. Of course it will be machine done, my hand sewing is REALLY bad!

Welcome, Candi and Lucymae, congrats on that new grandbaby, we will forgive the lack of caps, LOL.

I will be happy to try and take pics of how I do my needleturn for those who haven't tried it. As for machine applique, I think the best advice would be to put stabilser behind as you stitch - I have a huge roll of tearaway stabliser I bought on ebay ages ago - it will probably last me the rest of my life, but it was a LOT cheaper to buy it in that quantity. Also, with the machine stitching, I think I would either fuse the pieces on, though that would result in a stiffness that would be good for a wall hanging, but not so good in a lap or bed quilt.

If you want to fuse, but want your quilt to remain soft, then I recommend using Elmer's School Glue. It will hold your pieces in place whilst you machine their edges, (iron to set it), then at the end of the day, you will be able to soak the quilt and the Elmers will be removed. Make sure it's the School Glue, not any of their other products.

I just wanted to add a note. This is a fabulous quilt. I made it a few years ago for my daughter's college graduation quilt. It has now been in 8 quilt shows and won 6 ribbons. The biggest being juried into AQS Knoxville 2009. The quilt took me 5 years to make and I did it completely by hand. I have seen it done several different ways and it is always a fabulous looking quilt. Have a lot of fun, and don't get discouraged, one block at a tme!!!

Wow, thank you for telling us about your quilt, and congratulations on all those ribbons. Do you have any pics of it that you could post for us please?

Thanks for all the info Lesley. Must get me some of that Elmers School glue as well. I have also ordered some template plastic and a special pen for marking the template so I can cut out my shapes.

Now going to look at how this baby is quilted as I want to QAYG

I have pics somewhere, I will try to get them up tonight.

Lesley, thanks for the welcome and help.

Barbarajane, congrats on all the ribbons. Would love to see a photo.

Butterflyspain,
I would love to get more information on quilting this as you go, if you have a source, please share.

If I join this challenging endeavor,I'll be looking at using a machine appliqué method where you use starch and heat-resistant template, as well as glue to turn the edges under for machine appliqué. I took a class for tis technique last year, but didn't practice it much, it IS time consuming, but with my limited needle skills,I can achieve neater results with it than fusible appliqué, lol. And since this is to be done one block at a time, perhaps I'll have patience for it.

Ok, Ill be getting the book this week and hopefully I won't loose my faith in myself doing this, lol.

Oh my gosh, how I would love to do this because I love floral things, but it may be over my head. I'm not sure though, because I love to do machine applique. Still thinking ...

No, don't lose faith in yourself before you have even started Candi - we will all be here to cheer you on, whicever method you choose. I made the Jane Stickle quilt last year, and when I started, I almost doubted my ability to do it, but its done and dusted now, and I am really pleased that I made it to the end.

This one has only 36 blocks in it, and the schedule is based on making one a week, so it should be withing reach of anyone who wants to start.

Barbara Jane, thank you, it would be nice to see those pics if you can find them.

Barbara Jane, would love to see pictures of your quilt! Congatulations on the ribbons!

Barbara jane I second that, looking forward to seeing a picture.

Candi, this was something we decided to do when doing the Dear Jane Quilt. There are several methods to choose from, the one I and quite a few others chose to do is really based on when you have made your block you then add the batting, leaving around 1/4 all round extra on the batting. Then you hand quilt it. when you get to the point of putting on your sashing you add the sashing as normal, sew all your rows of blocks together being careful to align all the blocks then you add your backing material. I will use the spray baste and pins to hold it in place, then you quilt in the ditch to hold the backing on.
There are other ways whereby you can add the backing and then quilt and then sew each block together individually, at least that way you have the design on the back of your quilting design.

Hopeyou understand if not perhaps I can direct you to a tuturoial.

Elle

Lesley, thanks for the encouragement. I am always in way over my head, so I guess I'll stick to my usual and dive in. lol

Elle,
Thanks, very clear, I am going to look into the method where I add the backing too so that when I am done, all I need to do is just add the washing and rows together. Thanks for the idea.

Ok, I am getting excited,can't wait to get the book and start planning this
:P

rapraprap, taptaptap - that's fingers rapping on the table and toes tapping with impatience. Still waiting for my book. heavy sigh. Not that I would actually start immediately. (Too many "must do" projects right now) but......

Poor Martina - so sorry yours hasn't arrived yet - surely it can't be much longer. Where did you order it from?

Ok, I'm in too. Oredered my book and it should be here this week. (fingers crossed) I will also be doing mine with a black back ground, and most likly batiks.