One Note Wonder

 I'm kind of not a one-note-wonder.  I don't like gadgets that do just one thing either with quilting or cooking.  My kitchen drawers are not filled with stuff. In this house it's all about improvising.  And if I had a dedicated, organized, large room with lots of storage for quilting I might indulge in stuff but I don't so I don't. 

Have you heard of Applipops?  Probably you have so you can skip this blog post.  I heard of them a bit over a year ago but saw them as an expensive gadget that did one thing and so resisted.

BUT last week I caved in.  Several reasons.  First, I hand applique and have cursed my needle many times when doing circles that don't end up perfect. I'm not much of one for absolute perfection but an imperfect circle is a spider on the wall...something that's not supposed to be there so it sticks out. (When I FINALLY one day finish my Liberty of London circles don't look too hard at them.) Second, they ARE a one note wonder.  Not much else you can do with these except make circles. And third, I am in the middle of a 'challenge' with our retreat group and I will confess here I'm not enjoying it one bit.  Not even a little.

The challenge was to give each of us a piece of focus fabric we wanted used in the blocks they would all make for us.  Unfinished, just 8.5 inches, finish at 8.  Small squares.  Now, you would think that's a no brainer but for me, who prefers applique to piecing I got just two pieces from people that were big enough to use as background for applique.  I had to purchase something that came very close to one of the girl's, I had to ask for a bigger piece from another.  Actually that one was because I messed up on what I wanted to do for hers.  And another was a math mistake on my part.  No surprise there.   I couldn't make hers, the queen of the perfect 9 patch, another nine patch and she 'challenged' us to do some HSTs.  Oh, great.  Math again.   I am NOT enjoying this challenge.  And I'm spending WAY too much time on it. 

I had to ask for more fabric from one of the girls, the one whose applique I did and hated it in the end. Even as I tore it out a couple of times and left bullet holes in the fabric.

I gulped and ordered the Applipops.  It's not like I won't be making circles another time, right?

If you don't know what they are, they really are ingenious. You choose the size finished circle you want and then take the next larger one, too. 

A piece of fabric is put between them and you push the smaller into the hole of the bigger.

They say to use starch but I don't have starch. I used sizing and it was just fine.  You dab some around the fabric and iron the fabric inward.

Done.  A perfect circle ready to applique.  I'm sure if you are a machine user these could be machine appliqued, but I'm not.

My pile for her block.  She wanted red.  

In the meantime I've layered and pinned three quilts to be taken up when I need a break from appliqueing Charlie's quilt which hasn't been cut out yet because I'm working on these focus squares that I'm spending WAY too much time on.  

And to be honest, the weather has been gloriously beautiful so I've been on the porch a lot come afternoons.  Could I be hand appliqueing while on the porch?  Of course.  Do I? No.  I read.  

I very much like Kate Morton's books and own all of them.  I was waiting till I got back from England to order this one but while in the airport spending my last 20 pounds in the bookstore I saw this on display, her newest book and in paperback!  It just that week came out here in the U.S. in hardcover and I'd have to wait a year for the paperback, but I don't wait for hers.  I buy them right away and savor a long, long story.