Seasonal stitching

It's true, this time of the year starts to bring lots of rainy, gray days to my neighborhood, but it also brings crisp, bright, beautiful fall days. Both kinds make me feel like quilting! I think I'm a pretty seasonal quilter, but my seasons don't always align with what's going on outside! This time though, my creative urges and the weather are going hand in hand.

I was inspired by these lovelies that I picked up on a recent mini-shop hop with a friend. I've been eyeing them for awhile, just waiting for inspiration to strike. Most of these are Woolies Flannels from Maywood Studio, but not all.

When it's dark at 5:00, I want to curl up on the couch for the night with some hand stitching. This time around, I was in the mood for needle-turn applique. I wanted blocks I could work on a little bit at a time with simple shapes. I do have a plan! But I'm not in any rush on this one.

I originally thought I would do the whole thing in flannel - but not having worked with flannel before, I was unsure how the whole applique thing would work out. After some good advice from friends and a google search about flannel applique nightmares, I decided it would be better to keep the flannel just for the background squares and use cotton fabrics for the applique. **Best tip I've learned: PREWASH your flannel in hot water and dry to get any shrinkage out the way before you spend all the time on your project!

After tracing my shapes on to the right side of my fabric, I've cut them out 1/4" outside of my drawn line. I like to use this applique glue, Roxanne's Glue-Baste-It, that you can usually find at your favorite LQS instead of pins. A couple of drops does the trick and saves my fingers from many extra pin pricks.

Here are a couple that are finished. I think I need 56 blocks for the layout I have in mind. Doing a few each night, they are actually going together quite quickly.

Hope you're feeling inspired!
Happy fall stitching,

Tonya