Jingle BOM: Applique Block 4 is Finished

Jingle Applique Block 4

Done!  This is Applique Block Four of Erin Russek's Jingle BOM.  After those tiny pomegranate leaves, everything else should be a piece of cake!  Of course I'm not caught up with this block-of-the-month project yet.  I still need to catch up with Applique Block 5, the center medallion applique, and Pieced Block 5.  I've made all the templates for AB5 and for the medallion, chosen all of the fabrics, and I'm working on prepping the shapes for both of those simultaneously.  I haven't even thought about PB5 yet; it was just released the other day and my obnoxious firewall won't let me download the instructions!

Meanwhile, I've been: 

• Shopping for school supplies and wondering where the summer went. 
• Enjoying a visit with my sister, her husband, and my niece and nephew, who are from New Jersey (they don't like you, either).  ;-)
• Planning Anders' 10th birthday celebration. 
• Plotting to surprise the boys by taking them to the new 3-D Percy Jackson movie when they think they are going to the dentist!  They've both been working on a new story assignment for their blogs, and hopefully those will be posted by midweek. 
• And now, at 5 PM on Sunday, I am switching gears from no-tech hand applique sewing to high-tech machine embroidery sewing! 

Enjoy these last few hours of your weekend, everyone!

Of Itty-Bitty Applique Leaves

Ta-Da: Tiny Pomegranate Leaves!

 Jubilation!  I figured out how to successfully turn the edges of the tiny leaves on my pomegranates, and it wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be in my mind.  I used the same starch and press method I've been using throughout this Jingle BOM project, but I switched to a mini iron and a tinier turning allowance.  In case anyone else out there is struggling with this, here's what worked for me.

In the above photo, you can see how small this leaf is supposed to be, and how small I'm making my turn under allowance.  (You can also see that I chose very ugly nailpolish for my last manicure.  Mardi Gras, anyone?)  My template is out of that heat resistant plastic stuff, and the penny is just there as a size reference.  The only thing that makes the tiny leaves more difficult than the larger leaves is that you can barely hold onto them while you're starching the edges into position and the template wants to scoot around on the tiny scrap of fabric.  I should mention that I made sure each leaf was cut with bias edges along those concave curved edges.  So, first I fold those pointy ends to the center of the leaf, apply starch solution with a damp stencil brush, and press with a mini iron until dry, one end at a time.  (I found that the mini iron was much easier to work with for such tiny pieces).

Both Pointy Ends Starched and Pressed Towards the Center

Once the ends were pressed in, the template was held in position in the center of the fabric a bit better and did less sliding around.  Next, one end at a time, I wetted the edges on either side of those points with starch, used the tips of my fingernails to miter in a sharp, pointy corner, and then dried that into place with the mini iron.

Both Pointy Corners Mitered and Starched

Now that template wasn't going anywhere without my permission!  With the template "locked" into position at both ends, it was pretty easy to coax those convex curves into position.  Again, I used a damp brush to apply the starch (if you are too heavy handed, the corners get re-wet and start coming apart) and then I used the tips of my ugly purple sparkle nails to drag the fabric into position over the edge of the template, once side at a time, and pounced on it with the mini iron to dry it in that position.

First Curve Finished...

All Edges Turned!

Now you can see why that tiny turning allowance is so important.  When my turn under allowance was bigger, the fabric edges would be "glued" together with starch solution and not only did this create a big bump on the back of the leaf, but it would also make it very difficult to remove the plastic template.  In the above photo I have a couple of pleats where my curves aren't perfectly smooth, so I wetted them slightly with my damp starch brush and smoothed them out by just running the edge of the leaf against the bottom of the hot iron.  Once I was satisfied with the leaf, I allowed it to cool completely, gingerly opened it up to pull out the template, and then I eased the edges back into place and gave it a final press from the back side with my mini iron.

Success!

Isn't it adorable?  I suppose it's putsy, but it works.  When you get to the end and you have this tiny little leaf smiling up at you (yes, it's smiling) it's all worth it.

Block In Progress, With Mini Leaves.  Bliss!

I got five of the eight leaves needed for this block prepped between loads of laundry yesterday afternoon, and found time to stitch the first two mini leaves into position last night.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out, and I'm glad I stuck with it until I was happy with my results.  This block should be finished within the next day or two, and then I'll be moving right along to the next one!