For the Love of Applique

About a year ago, I took my first applique class. I am fascinated by the Baltimore style of applique and it was my dream then and still is now to make a quilt in this style. I learned a lot in this class. Gabriel was a great teacher who took some extra time with me as I was the only novice in a class of experienced stitchers. She was actually the one who encouraged me to sign up for the class.

We were exposed to many different styles and methods of applique, not only to be made aware of them but to also help us determine the method that best suited our individual needs. My ambition after taking the class was to take one of my painted still life designs and to try to adapt it to applique.

The design I had in mind was featured in the November 2005 issue of the decorative painting magazine, Paint Works...

and I called it "F" is for Fruit because it was painted on a reproduction tin plate that had the raised letters of the alphabet embossed on it's rim.

Because I love working with wool, I decided that was probably the best way to go for this first attempt. I took out my ever-growing stash of wool and decided on the appropriate colors for each element in the design. I cut them out, chose a background fabric and was on my way.

I affixed all the elements to the background fabric using Steam-a-Seam 2.

Here is a closeup of my original painting. Can you notice any similarities? (Humor me here).


And next is the completed stitched rendition. From the outset, I wasn't sure how it would turn out and approached it as a trial run. I was pleased with the results and decided to turn it into a throw pillow.

I thoroughly enjoyed recycling my design and it worked up effortlessly using the wool. My next attempt will be using fabric and the needle turn method of applique.

Happy stitching!