An Orphan Block and a Finished Quilt Top

2017-08-04 Update: Guess what! I entered this orphan block to the 2017 National Juried Show of Canadian Quilter's Association and it got accepted! It was displayed at the Toronto International Centre in June. Unfortunately I was in China at that time and missed the show (my first ever show entry!!!). Ben went to the show and sent me pictures... I was quite embarrassed because mine is the smallest piece and least design/workmanship involved. People who were juried into the show did a fantastic job! Their quilts are stunning!

My productivity is not bad since my last post. My sampler quilt top was finished before Christmas, and I decided to send it to a longarm quilter to finish it. I contacted Michelle from Quilted Memories for some custom quilting, and yesterday I finally brought the quilt top (with wool batting from Quilters Dream) to her place. We opted for simple fillers so the focus will be on the blocks instead of the background. This will be my first quilt that's longer-quilted. I can't wait to see the result... in two weeks!

With the epic quilt top finished (it took me over a year, on and off), I had two orphan blocks (a Baltimore Rose and a Nosegay) and decided to make a mini quilt using one of them. 

I used WonderFil DecoBob (DB115, a linen colour) on top and AuriFil 50 weight cotton as bobbin thread. The top thread is slightly darker than the background fabric, making the quilting stitches quite standout. The finished "quilt" measures 16"x16". 

The is a turned-edge machine appliqué block. I used washed-away appliqué sheets, glue sticks, and the Tweezerman cuticle sticks to prep the edges. The wash-away sheets actually would stay in the appliqués after washing, but becomes softer. To reduce bulkiness, I cut open the background fabric and pullout as much paper as possible. 

The batting includes a layer of wool and a layer of thin cotton (both from Quilters Dream). It's thick and lofty at the beginning, but the dense quilting did a nice job of compressing the background and bringing a trapunto effect to the appliqués. 

Some in-progress photos of the block... 

The finished block. The zig-zag stitches using Sulky's invisible thread and a #60 sharp needle is very much invisible, indeed. The only thing that I don't like about a size 60 needle is that my machine cannot thread through the tiny hole...

Finally a sneak peak of my sampler quilt top:

I made another Baltimore Rose block using mostly traditional fabrics to blend in more with other blocks.