April's UFO

April's UFO, #4, was another Roseville Album block.  And work on  it went well--until I got to the flowerpot/basket.   First I struggled to choose the right fabrics, finally deciding these were the fabrics I would use. 

The next obstacle was the reverse applique.  I am not the most experienced appliquer.  Before attempting the Roseville, I had only made two small wallhangings and a few VERY simple blocks in applique.   I just didn't enjoy it.  Then I saw the Roseville, and, well, sometimes I bite off more than I can do.  The Roseville has definitely been a challenge.   And the reverse applique here totally frustrated me.   The itty bitty tight points just would not cooperate. 

There were several issues.  The first being that my thread did not match perfectly.  Though I've shopped repeatedly for the right color, what I can find is either too light or too blue.  Next problem is my personality.  I cannot believe that a few stitches will ever hold just a few threads securely.  I just fundamentally believe that unless I nip a bit more fabric here and there, the points will wash out after one or two washes.  (I always envision a future woman washing this quilt, having it fall apart, and then using it as a dog blanket.)  I am sure the more experienced among you handle this just fine, but I don't handle it well.  

So after finishing about 1/3 of the basket, I wasn't happy.  I decided to cut new replacement pieces of the same fabrics, to buy some darker (though blue) thread, and try it again.  Practice makes perfect doesn't it?

After cutting the fabrics out a second time, though, I began thinking they were too dark.  Which led to more digging in my sewing room. 

Where I found an old favorite of mine. This is a piece of fabric I bought while vacationing in California, in May 1988 to be exact. (I can remember the date because of the ages my children were when we visited Disneyland, and that we scheduled the trip so that my daughter was able to fly free since she wasn't yet three.)

I loved the fabric from the moment I saw it and it was quite expensive (like $8 or 10 a yard! Imagine that!).  It was at some exclusive Malibu quilt shop I had demanded to stop at after seeing the word quilt as we were whizzing by.  (A risky prospect with tired two and five year olds, and my husband and our friend who was crazy enough to travel with us.)

I've saved this fabric for all these years wanting to use it for something "special" and had been hoping I could integrate a bit of it into my Roseville.  While it isn't the perfect fabric for the basket, because the stripes aren't straight and have a slight wave to them, I think I'd rather live with a waver to my basket instead of mangled reverse applique!  So here's my finished block:

I may decide to add a larger circle in the middle of the basket to distract a bit from the fact that the design waves up a bit in the center, but I'm going to wait to see how it looks when I finish the block next to this one so I can have a better idea of what color to make the circle. 

For now it's finished, and I'm looking forward to May's UFO Challenge, which is number 9--Capriccio.  Hope I can find all the half done pieces I've cut for it and remember what I've done so far! 

I've also been trying to work ahead on my Roseville blocks, so will have another one to show you soon--I hope....

Scorecard for 2011:
4 UFO's Completed, 3 Flower Garden blocks completed, and NO new projects (that's got to be a first!)

Happy Stitching!