Quilt Decor, Stonefields Paper Flowers Appliqué Prep + Hexie Basting Preferences

I have a happy little snippet of renovation progress to share today!  Behold, my in-progress laundry room.  Can you tell a quilter lives here?

Limestone Mosaic Installed Over Laundry Sink

From a distance you might think it's wallpaper, but it's a honed limestone mosaic tile.  It was a splurge but I was helpless to resist (and my husband was foolish enough to send me to the tile showroom unsupervised).  The tile crew installed this on Thursday and it still needs to be grouted.  That brown paper is covering up and protecting my soapstone counter (same color as the dark gray/black squares in the mosaic) and a laundry sink directly beneath the window.  The window trim is only primed right now; it will be painted the same color as the crown molding and the cabinets once the tile installation is complete.  The painters also taped plastic over the window glass.

The tile installers pointed out to me ahead of time that the mosaic pieces are imperfectly cut and the points don't all meet up precisely, but I knew that already from the sample board in the showroom.  Surprisingly, this doesn't bother me -- it's kind of like an old patchwork quilt made out of stone.  I will see this mosaic wall every time I come into my house through the garage and it will make me smile.  💗

 

Imperfections Up Close, Mosaic Installed But Not Grouted

The installers planned and laid out the whole wall on the floor before they started installing.  

This reminded me of how I used to lay out and arrange quilt blocks on the floor before I had a design wall for this purpose.  

Tile Layout Prior to Installation

Careful planning and preparation ensure a successful tile installation, just as careful planning and preparation ensure successful appliqué!  -- Segue!

I've started prepping my next Stonefields appliqué blocks, 28 and 29 "Paper Flowers."  I'm using Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Stems, which are a heat resistant plastic version of the metal "bias bars" that I also own.  There are so many different ways to make stems; I just grabbed what I saw first in my supply closet.  I am also using one of my Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Ovals templates (for the first time, I believe) because I checked and discovered that I had one just the right size.  These work exactly like the circle templates I shared in my last post.  (This post contains affiliate links to products that I personally use and enjoy).

Choosing My Weapons: Perfect Stems and Perfect Ovals

Quick note to self: I followed the package instructions and used my zipper foot to sew close to the edge of the plastic stem guide, but I might not do it that way again if I remember.  I think I'd rather figure out how far from the folded fabric edge I needed to stitch to get a tight fit when I insert the plastic stick after sewing, because the plastic stick was annoying and the zipper foot yielded a tube with a loose fit to the stick (by design, Bernina zipper feet keep your needle a smidge away from the zipper teeth to ensure that the zipper pull can travel freely up and down the zipper without getting stuck in your seam).

Turning Scraps Into Stems with my Perfect Stem Template

I'm doing my flowers differently, though.  They are asymmetrical blob-like flowers that look deceptively simple, but all those deep inside "V"s will actually be trickier to stitch than would flowers made up of individual petals.  I'll be needle turning these edges as I stitch them down, and the challenge will be in creating smooth outer curves and crisp inner points with no thread whiskers sticking out.  I made a plastic template for the flower shape, did my best to position it on my fabric such that I'd have bias grain on the deepest curves, and traced around the template with my blue Sewline mechanical ceramic lead pencil.   

Prepping for Needle Turn Appliqué

There are meant to be three flowers on each block, but I'm prepping both blocks at once.  The orange and purple print flowers will go on the three darker stems on the right, and the dark pink fabric from the photo above will be for one of the stems grouped on the left in the photo below.  Interestingly, my instructions tell me that pattern designer Susan Smith deliberately positioned her flowers differently on the two blocks she made for her quilt, so the intent is not to perfectly replicate the layout of the flowers as they are drawn on the pattern sheet.

Making All My Bits and Pieces Before I Begin

I hope to get both of these blocks prepped and hand stitched in the coming week.  Annoyingly, the itchy tickle I felt in the back of my throat yesterday has progressed into a painful sore throat accompanied by uncontrollable sneezing and rivers of bubbling snot, which may slow me down even more than my usual snail's pace.  Bernie went to the store to get me some gelato or sherbet or something; hopefully that will help.

Meanwhile, I meant to share this photo when I talked about removing the hexagon template papers from my rosettes:

Thread Basted (Left) vs Glue Basted (Right) with Papers Removed

In making my hexagon rosettes, I briefly experimented with glue basting the fabric edges around the paper templates rather than thread basting them.  I am glad I went back to thread basting now that I've decided to remove the paper templates as I go along.  Because I am only tacking the fabric at the corners of each hexagon and never stitching through the paper template, the paper can be easily removed and the thread basting remains in place to hold the unsecured folded edges on all of the outer hexagons.  On the rosette that I stitched from glue basted hexagons, not only was it more difficult to remove the glued-on papers, but only a firm pressing with the iron is holding those outer creases where they belong.  The no-thread-basted rosettes have a greater likelihood of distortion of those outer hexagons if humidity relaxes the pressed creases before I get around to sewing the rosettes to my quilt border.  No more glue basted hexies for me!  Any time I saved by glue basting (which didn't seem that much faster than thread basting anyway) was definitely offset by additional time struggling to get the papers out, without even considering the time it would take to get the template papers out again and use them to re-press those folded edges if they don't last until sewing time.

And that's all you get from me this evening!  I'm off to mix up my next dose of Alka Seltzer Cold fizzies and take a hot shower.

I'm linking up with some of my favorite linky parties:

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

FRIDAY

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework