A Very Handsome Fellow

I have thought of the bride as the star of the Civil War Bride Quilt, but it is probably really this guy. The tail is eye catching. I thought it would be difficult to get the freezer paper out of each tail feather but I clipped the basting threads and had them all out in about 15 minutes. I much prefer back basting then messing with freezer paper and glue, but for this block it was the best method. The blocks are looking so good all together : )

My package from Glorious Color arrived this week with all the fabric for Roseville Album. It looks so pretty on my cutting table I may just enjoy it like it is for a few days. This is only about 1/4 of the fabric, folded in each one of the fabrics showing is three more. I have not ever used Kaffe Fassett or do I have any fabric like it (my fabric stash is small but mostly batiks, Aunt Grace and civil war reproductions, and a few left overs from previous quilts) so purchasing the fabric kit seemed like the most economical option. How fun is all this bright fabric! I am seriously thinking about machine appliqueing this quilt, I like to balance hand and sewing machine projects and I have a lot of hand things going one right now.

On the long arm front, I did manage to get in a McTavishing class. It was a wonderful class and gave me a lot of self confidence that I might actually be able to do some free hand quilting like I

do on the Bernina with the long arm. I really enjoy the long arm for pantographs, but I am much more confident to do custom quilting on my Bernina. The class pretty much followed the book by Karen McTavish and you can do these quilting techniques on your regular sewing machine or a long arm. It is fun to be in a class room setting and see everyone else's interpretation and style.

Happy Stitching All...

Cheri