It's a Garden Party Row Along

I am just thrilled to welcome you to my day for the It's a Garden Party Row Along.  This is my second year to participate and this year is even bigger and better than last year.  A huge shout out to Marian Pena of Seams to be Sew who puts this all together for us-even when life throws in all sorts of wrinkles. 

This year as we were deciding on a theme for the Row Along I had some thoughts in the back of my mind.  With a Garden Party theme I could not help but think of a very dear friend who helps a small group of us celebrate our birthdays in style each year.  We have party hats and necklaces and tiaras...she just makes us sparkle for our special day.  This friend also happens to love flamingos.  So my idea was to combine these elements into my row and I call it Party Time.  Here is my finished stand alone version of my quilt.  Yes, flamingos at a Garden Party.

One of my favorite fabric companies, Northcott, is very generous in providing all of us with a yard of fabric for our quilts.  I just love their Essence collection-these are such great blenders and come in a wide variety of colors.  I wanted some bold colors for this quilt and these just made my quilt pop.  The orange is from another collection, Canvas, which has some texture to it that is nice.

9025-21

9025-66

9025-83

9020-571

You can view the entire collection no their website via the links below:
Canvas-click here
Essence-click here

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I am such a fan of the fusible applique method.  Over the years I have learned a good bit about what works well for me with this technique.  Below you will find three videos I have made to show you how I put my row together.  These are filled with my tips; so whether you are new to fusible applique or have lots of experience I hope you find them valuable. 
I am a teacher at heart and that is how I approach my quilting business; as a  teacher here to help you be as successful as possible in your quilting endeavors.

This first video shows how to prepare all of your applique pieces.

In this second video I show how you can put the flamingos together to add them as one unit to the background fabric.

And the third video walks you through how I use my sewing machine to finish the applique process.

I really let myself out of the box on my sample and did some free motion quilting.  I am usually a straight lines/outline kind of gal, but this quilt just called for a little more whimsy.  And you know what? It was kind of fun, at least after my original trepidation eased and I let myself just go with it.

I came up with this simple idea to create grass where I did not have to worry about crossing my stitching-that was part of the desired look.

For the sky background I just used the idea of loop-dee-loops, some are single and some are double. All are connected by a wandering wavy line

Click on the link below for the pattern, which is free until October 10th.
Party Time PDF Pattern

Marian has done an amazing job of rounding up sponsors for our Row Along.  I am very pleased to be able to host the giveaway for a Fat Quarter Bundle from Timeless Treasures.  I just love so many of their collections and enjoy using their fabrics in my quilts.  I  often pick up some yardage when visiting a quilt shop just because it inspires me.  This FQ Bundle is a $20.00 value and ships to anywhere in the world, but please note that the winner pays shipping costs.

Be sure and read all of the rules.  We are sticklers for them and comments are one of those requirements.  Though I hope you will leave a comment even if you do not enter the giveaways.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One of our sponsors this year is Electric Quilt.  Many of us, myself included use this software when designing our quilts.  I do not know what I would do without it! It has sure simplified my design process. I still have sketches done on grid paper from back in the day.  Though my applique designs are most often still drawn by hand EQ's software can even be used to draw those.
They are currently offering 20% off of any products except for EQ Academy during the row along. The coupon code to use is: GARDENPARTY20.

There is so much more fun to be had and patterns to be collected so be sure and visit all of the other designers/bloggers who are participating with me today.
Cynthia’s Creating Ark
Miss Loreen’s Schoolhouse
Moose Stash Quilting
Tuning My Heart Quilts-that's me!
Cheryl LaPlante

Marian has links for all of the past posts in case you missed some of them.  You can also enter giveaways via her website at www.seamstobesew.com/
For the complete Row Along schedule click here.

I wish you all
Happy Quilting!!