This is beautiful. You do great work.

Vicky

This is an absolutely stunning top! Kudos!

Tamie

Linda, That is a gorgeous quilt top. Your work is beautiful. TFS ~ Liz

Lovely color combination and pattern. It must have taken a lot of planning. Very lively and interesting. I even like the way the frame is interrupted.
BlueBars

I love your color choices and the clean crispness of the overall design. I keep getting this image of looking down on a fresh bouquet of flowers. It is contemporary in feel--I'm surprised you found something like this in an old English quilt. Beautifully done. Carole

That is absolutely stunning. It agree it has a very contemporary feel to it. Your color choices are gorgeous.

Contemporary, classic, clean lines, great balance, lovely colors... and you are obviously a very skilled appliquer. Wow. Just wow.

It is just gorgeous!

Linda, Beautiful work! I can't add anything more than what has already been said!! A job well done!

SharonG/Fl

Wonderful job. It looks so crisp.
Nancy

There are no words left, everyone has said the all. It is beautiful. Will love to see it when you quilt it. Jayne

Linda, that is beautiful. I too, love hand applique. Which method do you use? I use the freezer paper on the top method. I'm fairly new to quilting. I'm working on my second quilt, and they have both been hand applique, and hand quilted.I'm hand quilting the second one now, and I know what you mean about not wanting to mess it up! Although I love all the hand work, when I finish this second one, I want something a little quicker, and not so labor intinsive!

Janice

Wow!
what beautiful applique work you do!
I love the colors!

Great Job!

doris

Hand applique is so impressive to me. You did a remarkable job on your quilt; that's so much lovely work.
Your color choices are so soothing. Very, very nice.

Dianne

That is just beautiful! Very different from many applique designs. You did an impressive job! Me? I'm hand applique challenged!

Teresa

Wow-that is just a beautiful quilt. What size are those little squares. It gives a whole new meaning to applique. Great job, and anxious to see how you quilt it. Deanna

Linda --Did you applique on little blocks and then put the blocks together? This is fabulous. Paula

I'm glad you all appreciate my "experiment". To answer questions: Yes, Janice, I use freezer paper pattern on top and finger press edge following pattern edge. Blocks are 5"finished and some pieces go over several blocks which I sewed together first in those cases. I assembled blocks after appliqueing them. Note that each quarter is the same and design wall helped work the quarter out. Then made other three quarters to match the first and joined the quarters up.

Anyone can do this! It's all geometric shapes, arranged whatever way you want. I sketched a lot first. Even if you just made circles of various sizes and added a few squares, triangles, leaves, etc, you can make a design out of it. I made small blocks so that I could take it with me and sit and sew while watching ball games on TV. I even sewed on planes and a train trip. I determined the total size I wanted first and then decided on size of blocks to get that size. I over cut background square a bit because of wear and then trimmed to 5-1/2" neatly after it was appliqued. I did four of each block at a time so it seemed to go quicker. Each four was in a little baggie "kitted" so I could carry them along with my supplies.

I used hand dyes because someone told me they'd be easier to sew. They were soft but I don't agree that others wouldn't do as well. I think with a sharp, small needle, you could do wonders with batiks. Start with a background fabric you like and go for it.

E-mail me directly if anyone has questions.

Linda

Makes me wish I was going on a long cruise. I can just see sitting on my balcony with my little squares and a bunch of lovely colorful batiks. Pitcher of mojitos beside me and the sound of the water rushing by. Ah...

That is just lovely, and as a non-appliquer, I am in awe! The idea of taking a little "kit" with me somewhere and enjoy making the squares in a leisurely fashion is tempting.

Beautiful job!!

Marty

This is fantastic! It must have taken a long time to finish.I enjoy hand applique but I don't think I'll ever be as proficient as you.TFS.
I've been away from the computer for a few days and today I've been looking at all the recent postings.There are so many beautiful works.
~Geraldine

Beautiful and I love the colors!!! I also love the colors you are using on the next.
At first when I saw the quilt I was amazed at the block size. I was hand appliqueing a block kit that was a gift and I got really frustrated, now I know that an 18 inch block is too much for me to learn on.
Rosa

Linda,
This is an absolute WOW! You did a great job.
I took the class too but it did not result in something like this.
Great job.
TFS
Sally

What an impressive top. You do wonderful work!

Bonnie

Rosa mentions something about the colors you are using on your next quilt. Are there pictures? I would love to see them.

Okay. I mentioned next project would use these hand dyed fabrics.

Stuff is still laying here till I work out a design I like.

Linda

Hi Linda,

Just extraordinary, ditto what everybody else said & esp. the color palette, unusual soothing, really harmonious & well balanced. Using the tone-on-tone white ground really pops the whole thing splendidly. TFS!!!

As to the hand-dyes, thought you might have dyed them yourself, was going to ask abt fear of bleeding against the white. Seeing that last shot, the way you've photographed the next set of dyed fabrics, am getting the idea you've bought hand-dyed, fabrics, did you/will you use Color Catchers (just learned of them & am curious)? TIA.

First picture are purchased hand dyes. All my own hand dyed on the red and greens, and from now on. Went to a class and now they can't stop me! I've turned into a hand dye monster!

I wash with synthrapol and use color catcher to get last of color molecules. Don't fade after that. Even ones I buy I do that first even though they say they have done it. Color catcher shows if you have all loose dye molecules out. If you use the right dyes, it bonds with the cotton.

Today I'm dyeing fabrics for a child's project, mostly oranges and purples. I love seeing the finished piece of fabric from a recipe I've concocted myself.

Linda

Linda  There really are no more words that havenÂt already been said. But I have to chime in and agree that your quilt top is outright gorgeous!

Nina

Well Linda,

Thx much for explaining, guess I'm recognizing the genie of the kindred spirit of hand dyes.

In my late teens I got into making batiks & hand dying. Later went on to textile school & continued w/ dying, some batik & silkscreening. You bet it's addictive! I had to give it up after leaving the home my folks owned (our property, so it didn't matter if I got dyes on my laundry room studio's concrete floor). I poured my leftover Perclyethlorene (dry cleaning fluid aka Perk, used to remove left over batik wax, down the slop sink, poured out leftover dyestuffs on the back lawn, not too eco-friendly was I). I gave up dying & batiking after moving into rented homes w/ mostly white sinks & fixtures.

I fell back into textiles abt 10 years later after I found quilting, as I needed to get my hands back in fabrics again, someway, somehow.

Oh, to thrill vicariously thru your beautiful works -- those colors of the last pic of yr. fabrics look great -- I like their intensity -- congratulations to you on such superb work!!