BlommaBom Block 1

The first hand application block is ready. I am very satisfied with the result! Here are my notes and advice from Love Quilt Mag azine.

• Seam allowances are ¼ inch unless otherwise noted
• Iron cotton fabrics before cutting
• The models do not include seam allowances
• You can find the designs in issue 86 of Love Quilt Magazine

Designer Yasmeen recommends that if you are going to do the entire patchwork, cut all the background fabric blocks into 13x13 inch squares and use the remaining pieces for hand appliqué. At first I wasn't sure if I would like this technique or maybe I would like it when making something really small, but at the moment I'm doing this one block at a time. (In the next month's instructions, Yasmeen said that after trimming, the actual block size is 12.5 inches).

I watched some application videos and got some tips from them:

Cut out the pattern pieces and draw their outlines on the fabric with chalk on the right side of the fabric. Cut each piece but add a ¼ inch seam allowance.

1. I think the "freezer" paper (what is this in Finnish) works well for this, I ironed the pattern on the back of the fabric and used both glue and basting stitches to try which one fits better. After I finished all the appliqué pieces, I arranged them on the back of the fabric. I used blind stitching and when I was over halfway through, I removed the freezer paper. I then used the same patterns for the next block.
2. I quilted the upper and lower leaf pieces with my sewing machine and then attached the patterns by ironing.