i am going to wait for the fabric kit for beloved beauties and I think this time I will do it by machine as I will be studying this year. For other Aussies out there you can get Ricky Timm's Stable Stuff from the Punch with Judy online shop and you can get Elmers glue from Officeworks. I ordered it online on Monday and it was here Tuesday and I live in the country!
I am still finishing last years BOMS so I do not mind waiting. If I am a month out that will mean I do not have to try and fit in finishing a quilt over the Christmas break and summer holidays. Happy sewing everyone
Rondie

Barbara, your block is beautiful. Thanks for the description of your technique.

We got a very unusual 8" of snow Sunday and I've had an extra long weekend. Here's what I did with it"

1. I used C&T Wash-Away Applique' sheets since I did not have Stable Stuff and did not want to wait. It was very easy to print the pattern on 4 sheets, tape them together and have my pattern.
2. I cut out the pieces--this takes a while.
3. It was very easy to fuse the pattern pieces to the back side of my fabrics. This takes a while.
4. Now it was time to carefully cut the narrow seam allowances on all pieces and the vine. This takes a while.
5. I used a water soluble glue stick, ala Margo's instructions, to turn under the seam allowances. Thought this would be the most difficult since I don't like to play with glue but once I relaxed and started to get nicely turned edges I was fine.
6. I used Roxanne's Glue Baste It to place the pieces on the background. My background was light enough that I could see the pattern underneath without my light box so I did not need to use it.
7. Instead of Mono-Poly thread I used Masterpiece or Aurifil depending on the color I needed. I used the same zig zag stitch that Margo described and like the slightly folk-art look of the thread stitching. From 3 feet away it's invisible anyway.
8. I learned I can be taught new tricks. While I can do very nice needle-turn hand applique' it takes me a long time. So while this took more than 20 hours it would have taken weeks to do by hand.
Thanks to Sue for this wonderful new pattern and to Margo for her ever helpful tips. The PDF classes were invaluable to me.

Jo Jo, WOW, Wow on the center block, you did a great job in design and construction.

Margarita in Today rainy Auburn, CA

Your Christmas poinsettia in a heart is absolutely gorgeous!!

JoJo, It's absolutely gorgeous!!!! I love the blue heart -- it makes the block sing! I'll have to remember that. And the leaves around your poinsettia are wonderful -- what fun fabrics you've used! And your corner miters look perfect! You should be very proud of this! Big hugs, Robin

It's beautiful Jo Jo! Your fabrics area stupendous together.

Jo Jo,

I love what you did with your center medallion! And, I really like the addition of the mistletoe! All tie up with a big red bow - very nice! I'm STILL working on designing a flower to replace one I didn't care for. Since it is also the flower that I'm chosing for the joint of each swag, I need to like it, and I don't want it to be too difficult. There's 24 of them in that border!

Dawn

Thanks so much for all the compliments. It definitely stretched my skills making this block, but 2011 is my year of trying new techniques and not allowing the fear of not totally understanding a technique to keep me from trying it. I've always felt I should completely understand a technique before ever doing it on a 'real' project. This meant I rarely tried new techniques, which is not good.

The center of the poinsettia was going to be 1/4 inch circles but it ended up not looking that good so instead I put a random amount of french knots using 6 strands of floss. I like it much better.

I learned a lot about border fabric and what to look for after the fact! My border fabric was a quandary because I could match the stripes or I could match the interior designs -- but not BOTH. It was frustrating that I could not match both the stripes AND the interior designs in a yard and a half of fabric! Plus, add in that this fabric was designed to be very free-form -- meaning that the stripes are not uniform in size (the same stripes were both thick and thin), and I made it much more difficult on myself by using it. In the end, I decided that it was more important to match the stripes as much as possible and allow the interior designs to fall where they may. My left brain isn't that happy with the compromise, but I can live with it.

Originally, I was going to use black fabric for the heart, but that was the fabric that was ruined after I washed it. The blue fabric has been in my stash for years and kind of just jumped out at me when I was trying to choose alternates. I think it made it happier looking.

Other firsts was the piping. Margo's instructions were right on and I even sewed from the back to add on the setting triangles which was soooooo weird feeling, but it did allow me to perfectly sew by following the thread that was used to sew the piping on.

I am a terrible machine piecing person....so I will make sure I keep measuring. Thank you Margo,

Janice you might want to try my test!! http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569415726bHNKHF

Try the test and see what works best on your machine. Remember that it doesn't really matter what your seam allowance is! What is more important is what your block measures after the seams are stitched!! That can even be affected by the thickness of your thread as well as the thickness of your fabric!

Try it with a finely woven fabric like a batik, and use a fine thread (I especially like piecing with MasterPiece by Superior) to take your measurements. Then try it with a thicker thread like King Tut. See if there is a difference! You may need to switch to a "scant" quarter inch seam allowance!

With as many little pieces as Sue tends to have in her designs, it is extremely important to measure your finished blocks as you go, and make corrections to get the right size.

Did I read a comment about using a "scant" quarter inch seam instead of a normal quarter inch seam? If so, where did it say that? If that is true, is the entire Ruffled Roses pattern set up for a "scant" quarter inch seam? I only ask because my sewing machine has two settings for a quarter inch seam, and I want to make sure I start using the correct one. Thank you

JoJo,
Your Christmas center block is exquisite! The design is lovely...you are so creative! I'm excited to see where you'll go with the rest of the quilt.

JoJo, it is just fantastic. I love the white berries....and as I said before, I love the way you did the leaves. I can hardly wait to see what you do with the rest of your quilt. I am still working on mine. I'm really enjoying doing it. If life would stop getting in the way of my sewing, I would have it finished by now.