Appliqué at the National Quilt Museum: Part 1

As I (Teri) have previously posted, I had the honor and privilege of visiting the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky, earlier this month. It has always been on my bucket list, and hopefully, it will not be a one-time visit. I was enthralled by the exquisite examples of needlework on display. All the quilts were stunning, but not surprisingly, I was especially drawn to the appliquéd quilts. This week and next, I will share a small tour of the current exhibit; we hope you will be as inspired as we are. So many new ideas are buzzing in my head now.

Enjoy!

The ruching in this quilt is amazing.

               

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There was nothing about this quilt I didn't love—the detail was incredible!

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So many circles!

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The sweetness of the quilt touched my mother-heart.

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Color is everything—changing the colors and value gives a whole different look to the block.

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If you ever have the chance to visit the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, it will be well worth your while. Their collection is an amazing representation of the artwork in this field. Stop back next week for a couple other displays on exhibit during my visit. Prepare to be wowed!

 

April Showers

The Woolie Postage Stamp Mystery Stitch Along is well underway! This week we revealed the fourth block in the series, April Showers. 

April is that time of year for many where the spring rains bring a bounty of color after a dreary winter. We wanted to showcase the month of April (rain and all) and the hope for flowers that it brings.This block has it all—wool, beads, silk ribbon, and a beautiful butterfly button to anchor a spring bouquet. Our wool kit includes all the embellishments you will need for your block, and we have a separate thread kit available  with two sizes of pearl cotton and three flosses.

Embellishments are included with the
wool kit. Butterfly button colors will vary.

Wool kit and Weeks Dyeworks thread kit

We do love working with silk ribbon and thought it would be perfect to tie the bouquet and make the knots for the pansies. To tie the bouquet, here is a little tutorial showing you how we did it.

Start with about an 18" piece of silk ribbon and fold it in half.

Gently pin it to the bouquet stems at the center.

Back-stitch the ribbon with matching thread on both sides
of the bouquet as shown.

Tie the ribbon and place a couple of tack stitches in the center.

Arrange the right side of the ribbon by folding the end up and gently
place a pin at that fold.
Make tiny tack stitches and the top of the fold to secure.

Trim the end to the correct length and position the tail where you desire
and make a few small tack stitches at the end. 
Follow the above two steps for the left side.

Attach your butterfly button where you tied the ribbon.

The tulip stems are made with a Hungarian braided chain stitch using a #5 pearl cotton. You can see a tutorial on this stitch on our In the Garden—Cornflowers post HERE. The umbrella handle is made with a #3 pearl cotton using a chain stitch and then doing a back-stitch in the chain links.

We hope you love this block as much as we do. You can download the digital version of the block for free for a limited time using the code APRIL. If you would like to buy our wool and embellishment kit that comes with a printed pattern and/or the thread kit, you can find them in our shop HERE

There are eight more designers to come with some beautiful blocks. Here are the first 4 with the links below so that you can visit their sites.

January-Calico Patch Designs

February-Traditional Primitives

March-Rusty Crow

April-Through the Needle's Eye

Won't you start being a stamp collector with us?