He's a she! LOL They named her Charlotte at the pound and we just kept it. Poor little thing was there about a month before we adopted her and was starting to lose her hair. That was about 8 years ago and look at her today- lots of hair and still shedding but not from stress. She's definitely a cutie! Everyone always says that she looks big but it's just an illusion because of all the long hair (she only weighs a little over 7 pounds). She's my baby since I don't have any children. She's not available but we do have a 120 pound labrador that I would love to send off but hubby is not going for it!

I love back-basting and do it in conjunction with Jane Townswick's unit applique method for everything I applique.

I've tried to back-bast teeny circles and didn't like the results; I wound up using a hole punch to make template plastic circles and gathering the fabric per usual for pre-prepped circles. (Gather fabric, tie off, trim, throw it in a teacup full of water, press dry, clip and remove template, applique.) WIth circles that small, it was easier not to precut larger circles to gather up. I used a sticky-sided template, stuck that onto the fabric, gathered it and then cut the tiny bobble away, leaving a small irregular circle in the large piece of fabric.

It was possible to use the back basting tracing on the reverse of the fabric to position the tiny suckers, though. I put three pins through the fabric from the back on the edge of the traced circle, then dropped the pre-made shape into the middle of them and sewed it down.

If I'm lucky, here's a photo of the work in progress:
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Catlinye, Great job in selecting and positioning your leaves. The outer edges with all those little divits look really good. You must have the patience of a saint. I also like the color selections for the grapes. What is the project you are working on? Besure to post the completed block for us all.

Having takes courses from Karen Buckley, I am familiar with the template/gathered/starched/ironed method. Before learning her method, I did circles by hand. Way back, I did Robert Callaham's "Grandma's Country Album II" and one of the blocks had 88 - 3/8" berries - all needle turned.

Thanks for all the advice on making them, though. I was just curious about the back baste method for making them. Guess I'll just stick to my old method. You know the old dog and new tricks . . . .

Sue Z Q: The name of the Edyta Sitar I am working on is entitled "Applique Affair". Just love her designs. I have about 18 of the 25 blocks completed and then the applique border to do.

Funny story: While at the local market, I was introduced to a fellow quilter's cousin. When asked about my current project, I mentioned the above project. The cousin related that Edyta lives near her and I think she said she was also member of her guild. And my friend also has taken a course from her at the Lancaster Quilt Show.

Question: Did your Daddy call you Sue Z Q? Mine did. Haven't heard the name for some time!

Thank you cleodaisy. I need to gather some resource sites. I have quite a few books and dvd's. And I agree with thepolyparrot regarding using the yo yo method to do circles. I bought one set of Karen Kay Buckley's "Perfect Circles" and I want to get the larger set one day. The circles on my current project came out perfect.

A guild member demonstrated how she does circles and I will do them like this from now on...she uses HEAVY DUTY aluminum foil, places the fabric circle cut bigger than plastic circle template...creases foil all around circle and then places a very hot iron on it for about 10 seconds...use heat proof plastic or xray film (shes uses this all the time). Don't worry if the plastic circle crinkles alittle bit, it can be used again...extreme heat must set edges because they don't loose the edge....so easy and can do so many at a time...

Suz - Thanks! I will post the block when it's finished; it's almost done (two leaves to go, plus embroidering some tendrils for the vine.) It will be the sides of a fabric box; the top is a variation of a miniature wreath block Ellie Sienkiewicz taught at Applique by the Bay a couple years ago, and I'm more or less making it up on the fly.

Oh! Something else I've seen done for tiny circles is to use ultrasuede; just cut them out and stitch them down, no need to turn the edges under (Ellie loves ultrasuede for tiny pieces, that's what made me think of it.)

The serrated leaves are my own technique. You make a first pass and stitch the edges down with gaps between the stitches where you want the serrations, then make a second pass and draw the fabric back with stitches in the gaps.

Your piece is so pretty. I love the way you fussy cut the leaves. I have several of Jane Townswick's books. My first attempt at a large quilt was from "Artful Applique". Her lessons are so nice to follow.
cleodaisy