Thinking of Applique

My knee's been bothering me lately, and I thought it might be serious, like a torn ligament, requiring surgery. So I went yesterday to see my oseopath, who easily fixed it up. I go back in a couple of weeks for another treatment. So I'm feeling a lot better than I have been. And I don't have to be so careful on stairs! Isn't that nice?

Must've been some treatment, because I came home with a big realization. My applique project had reached a bit of a stall, because I couldn't figure out how to get my sketches into patterns and cut out for handsewing. Yesterday, I did some searching on the internet, where you can find out almost anything, and now I finally know how I'm going to progress.

Basically, I have to trace my paper patterns onto freezer paper, then iron these pieces to fabric and cut them out. Sounds simple enough, I just hadn't thought of it before. So now, I have to get to work tracing. This seems like a waste of time to me. If I had known this before, I would have worked up my patterns directly onto freezer paper. Oh, well, live and learn.

I still haven't chosen fabrics for this project, either. Yes, I have the background all cut out, but not the applique fabrics. I might do this on Saturday. Oh wait, I'll be picking blueberries on Saturday!

I'm also a little bummed out at how long all this takes. I think it could be several years before I see these finished blocks sewn together. Then there's quilting and finishing, too. I'll have to focus on my "a little every day" thought.

If All Else Fails. . .

My faithful, trusty 30 year old Pfaff is out of commission. Unbelievable! I feel pretty lost when I can't access my sewing machine. I have backup machines, but they just aren't as good as my Pfaff. One of my friends at work was no longer using their machine, so she gave it to me. Just gave it to me, because she thought I'd use it more. What a treat. It's better than my other backup one, so I'm using it for a couple of weeks. One of these days, I'll have to buy a new one.

We've also had a sick kitty cat here, so we've been looking after her, poor girl. She's made another comeback, so she's good for another while. On top of that, a traffic ticket, and a few appliances have broken down recently. We're wondering where we picked up this bad karma. And wondering how we can turn this around into better luck. All somewhat discouraging.

So I thought the best thing to do under the circumstances is to start a new quilt! One aspect of my stash collecting has been a tiny black print on white background. Mostly white, with only a little black, so it still reads about 95% towards white. I'll cut these into blocks, and then applique bright coloured flowers on top. Maybe add some green leaves, maybe a vine and leaf border. This should keep me busy at least until my machine gets repaired, or perhaps for the next couple of summers. I like to sit outside summer evenings and do some handsewing, but so far this summer, I haven't had a project to work on. This one might get me going in the right direction.