Miscellaneous

I finished the applique block I was making for Mrs. Yamaguchi. I must say, I had a lot of fun making this and almost think this might be worth making for myself (but I know I have other things I'm making for myself and before I start this something else will come along to tempt me.)

I like the colors, I like the symmetry of the design. I like the lollipop flowers.

Someone asked about pre-shrinking the freezer paper. I really know nothing about it but when I bought the applique kit at the Long Beach Quilt Show, the person doing it explained that freezer paper shrinks when heated so unless it is preshrunk you aren't going to get the exact size you need. Another reason was that she recommended (insisted) that one needs to use a double sheet of freezer paper to make a sturdy template and unless the papers are preshrunk, they will produce bubbles between them. It makes sense and yes, I think the double paper makes for a very sturdy template that doesn't lose its shape when ironing edges around them (plus the dampness of the ironing starch.)

Another comment from the gadget post was that someone sure wished that there were needle threaders on sewing machines. There are! The Calico Quilter wrote that she has one on her Juki sewing machine and I have one on my Brother sewing machine too! My Brother machine isn't even top line and I must say it is a life saver~! (It also has a thread cutter that is very nice but doesn't get a workout when I'm trying to make Leader/Enders).

Today I'm making a border for my Tessellating Cats. This is an experiment so I'll let you know my results when I get closer to finishing...