The Appliqué Book - Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Welcome to 42 Quilts! I have the privilege of telling you about The Appliqué Book: Traditional Techniques, Modern Style by my friend, Casey York. This is  an amazingly well curated group of modern appliqué quilts made by quilters from all over the stratosphere of modern quilting! And I happen to have been lucky enough to be included in that group!

Lookie! My quilt is on the cover! Yippee!

My project for the book is called Belle the Squirrel, circa 1975! If you've read my blog or follow me on Facebook, you'll know that I love all things 70s! I love the sheer abandon of those quilters during that era - it is so inspiring to me! And that was the inspiration for Belle. 

Here's a little of the backstory behind the quilt. As soon as Casey invited me to submit a quilt for the book, I knew I wanted to make a squirrel quilt. A squirrel design had been percolating around my mind for some time before that, and I knew this would be the perfect venue for my idea. Belle is based loosely on a 1930s Nancy Cabot block I found in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Appliqué.

Belle's inspiration!

I took this inspiration and began sketching until I got to where I not only liked the shape, but I could actually appliqué it with minimum struggle! It's very easy to draw appliqué shapes that are too difficult to translate into fabric. Those projects often turn into UFOs! But this rendition of Belle is easy to do with a turned edge or with a fusible web.

A finished Belle - one of 42!

Once I had the shape where I liked it, I broke out the tail into a separate piece. This allowed me to pair two fabrics together to make a more interesting squirrel than just one piece of fabric would be. Although that could make an intriguing quilt if done with the right fabrics! (hmmmm.....)

I used a wide variety of bright solids and accent prints for the blocks. The squirrel bodies and backgrounds are all solids. The tails are mostly prints with some solids thrown in for fun! Mixing and matching the tails and bodies was the most fun part of the process! 

To applique, I prepared the shapes with freezer paper and sewed them down using thread to either match or contrast, depending on my mood! I used a loose zigzag stitch, not really caring how "perfect" the stitches were - just as my 1970s counterparts would have done! (For more on my freezer paper method for preparing appliqué shapes, you can check out my book, The Modern Appliqué Workbook!)

Once all 42 blocks were done, I set them in an old-school straight set with 2" sashing. To modern it up a bit, I used gray for the sashing and used the same gray for the outer border, which looks like sashing because it's the same 2" wide as the inner sashing. You could certainly add a traditional border to the outside of this if you wanted the quilt bigger. (It's 80x93 as shown.)

Here she is!

Belle the Squirrel, circa 1975

The fabulous quilting was done by Kelly Cline of Lawrence, Kansas. I can't tell you how fabulous she is as a quilter and as a friend! Our collaboration on Belle couldn't have been a better one! She worked so hard to make Belle shine! I don't know how many thread changes she went through, but it was all worth it in the end! 

Belle quilting in progress.

I knew in keeping with the 70s vibe of the top, no ordinary quilting would do. I told her to quilt it like the sashing wasn't even there. Her result was to echo quilt around each squirrel and then add in circles (acorns, if you will!) around the echo quilting that spill off the block into the sashing and into the block next to it. It really is amazing to see! Once I have the quilt back in my possession, I'll blog more about the quilting with better pictures showing it!

So there you go! There's the inspiration behind Belle the Squirrel. Now for what you've been waiting for! The question you must answer in the comments to enter for a chance to win a copy of The Appliqué Book! So here goes: What is your favorite decade for quilting? Leave your answer below. 

And remember, in order to win, I have to know how to get ahold of you! If you don't have your email address in your profile or comment as anonymous, I won't be able to get the book to you, so please include your email with your comment if you think I won't be able to find it! I will draw for the winner on March 25. THE CONTEST IS OVER! JANIE IS THE WINNER. THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Good luck, and honestly, many will enter and only one will win, so you might as well head over to Casey's website and just purchase your copy now. If you win, then you have a gift to give your quilting bestie! 

Here's the schedule of blogs participating in the tour. Head to these sites each day for more info about the book and more giveaways!

Mon. March 14:
Casey York | http://studioloblog.wordpress.com
C&T Publishing |http://www.ctpub.com/blog/

Tues. March 15:
Jenna Brand | http://jennabrand.com/ (coming soon!)
Adrianne Ove/Pink Chalk | http://www.pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/

Wed. March 16:
Jenifer Dick | http://42quilts.com/
Pati Fried | https://seehowwesew.wordpress.com/

Thurs. March 17:
Shannon Brinkley | http://www.thebottletree.net/blog/
Bari J. | http://barijdesigns.com/blogs/blog

Fri. March 18:
Debbie Grifka | http://eschhousequilts.com/blog
Beth Vassalo | http://plumandjune.blogspot.com

Mon. March 21:
Latifah Saafir | http://www.latifahsaafirstudios.com/blog

Tues. March 22:
Lynn Harris | http://thelittleredhen.typepad.com
Kevin Kosbab | http://feeddog.blogspot.comModern Quilts Unlimited | https://modernquilts.mqumag.com/category/blog

Web. March 23:
Allison Rosen | http://withinaquarterinch.com/
Cindy Lammon | http://hyacinthquiltdesigns.blogspot.com/

Thurs. March 24:
Rossie Hutchinson | http://www.rossiecrafts.com/blog
Generation Q | http://generationqmagazine.com/

Fri. March 25:
Betz White | http://betzwhite.com/blog
Casey York | http://studioloblog.wordpress.com