Do You Hear The Buzz? "Crafted Applique New Possibilities" Blog Hop

What's that buzzing noise coming from QBL over the past 19 days? It originated from Lara over at Buzzin' Bumble and her new book "Crafted Applique: New Possibilities"! And it is loud and well deserved! Last fall, Lara told me she was writing a book about applique and asked me if I would be willing to be a part of the hop. Ummm. . . well, yeah but I'm not into applique. Love the look. Don't love the fray, hand sewing, attempting to get blanket stitches or satin stitches just so. . . not my jam. BUT, like I said, love the look and what can be achieved (or what others seem so very capable of achieving). What if this new technique Lara has could change all of that? I'm in, what do I have to lose?! :) Oh, and make sure you read to the end, Lara has generously offered to give a book to one of my readers! YAY! Deets for the giveaway are at the end of this post!

Turns out, not only did I not lose anything, I have gained SO much!! Lara sent me a copy of the book. I immediately ripped the package open and started reading. You guys! I could not put it down. If this works like Lara says, it will open up an entirely new world!! And open up a whole new world it did! As I read through the book, one thing was clear, I was making the Cecropia Utopia project. Hands down, no questions asked and don't try to talk me out of it! LOL I told Lara I had to make it. Lara did say you don't have to do that project, there are lots of pieces. It's not a quick make. . . I do not care! Must make! :)

Picture courtesy of Lara

I gathered up the required supplies and went to a print shop and had the pattern blown up 200% as indicated. I'm ready to go! Then I started picking out fabric. . . This was the hardest part by far!! Of course I went off the reservation when it came to colors ;) Then I decided I was going to use the scrap pack that I purchased from Cherrywood Hand Dyed fabrics. Took me forever to figure out what colors. But wait. . . am I making a pillow? Something else? And then something happened. Something awesome! I started looking for the perfect background fabric. And then things got out of hand. . . How out of hand? Take a look, for yourself and see just how out of hand and how this book obviously changed my view of applique.

Feast your eyes on Purple Haze!!

Purple Haze is 60" x 27" of applique, ombre and quilting eye candy :) I will do a separate post on the quilting. There was much learned in the process. I did some bobbin work on it and honestly, will likely add more but this post is not about that! This post is about how Lara's new technique truly rocked my world!! Lara describes the process in great detail and does an awesome comparison of products. As a matter of fact, I got so confident that I jumped right in - I did not do a 'test' anything. I figured Lara had done that for me so why not go for it? LOL That bee? Yup, taken from Lara's blog! How cool is that? I had done the moth, dragonfly and butterfly (both were created by printing out the quilting motifs from Judi Madsen's book Wide Open Spaces) and was feeling quite confident in my new found skill. That's about the time when Sandra (MMM Quilts) suggested a bee. . . you know silly, as a nod to Lara. I went looking at clip art and then went DUH! Why not use the bee from Lara's blog?? :D The flowers were cut from a fat quarter of Laura Gunn fabric. I cut every flower out of that piece - it is fabulous fabric and the flowers looked watercolor painted but when I added just a bit of black over some of the gray lines that were there - total fabulousness happened!!

I am now seriously addicted to applique!! The possibilities!

OK, let's talk turkey, people. I started with the moth. I told you I jumped right in! As I worked through the pieces, it became clear that there were some errors. I was able to work through the errors but I did let Lara know. She now has an errata page on her blog. If you decided to make one of the projects in the book, make sure you check out this page for any errors that might have gotten through the editing process.

See those 'white dots' in the black on the lower part of the wing? That's sparkle from the thread that I used to do the bobbin work :)

I did not let the errors stop me! I was able to cut one of the pieces that was left off the pattern from the diagram of the entire wing. Not a problem. As I worked through the pattern, one thing became clear, AQS Publishing missed the mark in two ways with this book. First, they got a little too zealous with the editing of this book. They took out instructions that were necessary and changes were made that introduced new errors (the fabric list for the moth is a prime example) into the mix. I know Lara feels badly about the errors and has taken steps to make sure that you have everything you need to complete the projects in the book. Again, check out the errata page she has on her site to see if the project you chose to make is on the page. The second thing, IMHO, is the decision they have made to no longer include CDs with files of motifs or patterns with their books. I have several of their books that include CDs. They are invaluable! Case in point, I used the butterfly and dragonfly motifs included on the CD for Judi's book to make the awesome applique butterfly and dragonfly. I also printed those motifs out at different sizes and used them to mark the quilting on this quilt. I personally don't see the CDs as a nice to have; I see them as essential companions to the books for which they were included.

How about some more pictures?? :) Blow them up, look at those edges! NO fraying. Makes me smile!

After I had all of the pieces attached to the background, I sandwiched the quilt and started quilting. How fun is that?? I chose to go around all of the applique with mono poly thread. Do you have to? No. Definitely not. BUT, I knew I was going to do bobbin work so I had to have some outlines on the back of the quilt. There was a method to my madness ;)

Want to know what I love most about this book? Once you read this fantastic technique, the only limitation is your imagination! Lara teaches you this simple easy way to achieve amazing results and provides awesome projects for you to do but the best part is that with all of her instruction, you can use this method to make your dream applique project! I don't know about you but I truly appreciate books in which my own imagination is inspired to new possibilities. This book provides this in spades! Need more proof of that? . . . check out what happened at my house yesterday. . . .

I "picked" some Kaffe  Fasset flowers from various KF prints and put them on a piece of batik. This is just the top. I haven't quilted it. . . yet ;)

I told you, I have totally been bitten by the applique bug! Lara, you are a genius!! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your amazing blog hop!

Now, time for the giveaway deets!! 

Lara is giving away a copy of her book to one lucky reader of my blog, international entries are welcome! Already have this amazing book? Lara is so generous, if you have already bought the book and you win in this drawing, she will refund your money!! 

Leave me a comment about your experience with applique. Love it, hate it, love/hate it, intimidated by it? Share your thoughts! Please include your email address if you are unsure about whether or not you are a no-reply blogger. That's it, one comment, one chance per person.

Can't wait to get your own copy? Lara has them for sale on her site. You can buy it from AQS. You can buy it on Amazon although they are currently sold out.

Giveaway will be open until midnight on May 24th. I will announce the winner on May 25th! Easy peasy!

Also, go check out all of the wonderful posts that have gone live to date. You can find the schedule on Lara's blog. Oh, and did I mention ALL of the bloggers on this hop are giving away a copy of the book??? Start hopping!! :)

I'll be linking up with Finish it up Friday.

Now go forth and go APPLICRAZY!!!