"A quilt is a letter to those who look at it."
Have joined in the fun? Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works is hosting a BOM. Different bloggers are creating blocks for this BOM. You can read more on Jackie's blog. Sherri created the first one. Here is my version of her block.
With Passion,
These birds were done by Beverly. The pattern is from a pattern called Graceful Baltimore by Denise Sheehan.
Here is Jane's version of one of the Hop To It blocks.
Look what Betty is working on! A Cathedral window bursting with color.
Susan is working on a tiny wool project from Primitive Gatherings.
Susie is working on some really pretty flowers.
And finally, look at Christie's beautiful batik butterflies. 
Celtic knots that is. I taught a Celtic Knot applique class this past Saturday and I had to work on some samples to show in class. The different blocks show some of the tight curves and mitered corners.
It is fun to look for different fabrics to use in Celtic knots. As you can see from original fabric, Sherbet Pips, it looks quite different cut on the bias.
Here is a photo of the pattern just in case you want to try your hand at being Knotty. You can see one of my finished projects using knots here.
What is really neat about this BOM is that she is offering three different blocks which are for different applique skill levels. The other two blocks use the butterfly in the pattern but they are much more intricate. My block was the "easy" block.
I got the free BOM patterns for my Buttons N' Blooms quilt (above) a couple years ago from Apple Blossom Quilts. After I made this quilt I then taught it as a BOM in an applique class. It was a fun quilt to do.
I thought I would share a few photos of our soon-to-be garden. The photo above is a rotting tree with moss. I just thought it was so delicate looking.
I have some seeds planted which have already sprouted. I plan to have a fall garden this year. We are really excited to finally have this space. I don't know why we waited so long except we had planned to sell last year but have decided to stay here about five more years.
Here are some shots of my yard work. I would rather do yard work than house work when the weather is nice.
This is the other side. The grass just took over the flower beds. The Iris beds in the backyard look terrible. They will be next.
I noticed this garden spider and it's web when I went to rinse the clay off the tools.
Take a look at this monster. I was trimming some plants and felt stinging on my elbow. It was this mad looking caterpillar. It stung for a while.
Yesterday I went to a couple of our quilts shops. Several of them are holding a shop hop. I will not make it to all of them. I did buy a few pieces of fabric which are in the washing machine as I write. I also bought this sweet pattern.
If you live near the Triad of North Carolina you can join in the hop too. Here is a link to read more about it. Three sewing machines are being given away. http://sewwelcome.com/atthehop/default.asp
One more Hop to It block done. Taking the different photos during different times of the day sure does change the look of the fabrics. I used freezer paper for all the leaves. For the stems I used a Clover 1/4" bias maker. Perfect Circle makers by Karen Kay Buckley were used for the centers of the flowers. For the yellow part of the flower I used Templar plastic, no melt plastic, and painted the edges with Magic Sizing. Then I ironed the edges around the plastic. So as you can see I like using a variety of applique techniques. What is your favorite way to do applique?
