Progress on “Barton Park”

I have been making a major applique quilt for my “Jane Austen Quilt Collection” series every year for the past thirteen years.  Unfortunately Covid delayed the completion of my next quilt, to be called “Barton Park”.

Now I am able to get back to it and am excited to finish it soon.

Here is the centre of the quilt, an arrangement of pretty flowers around a circle.  Can you see my little bee?

My favourite applique technique is an English basted process, much like English paper piecing.  It is a turned edge technique which gives very accurate and reliable results.

Of course I always use my Aurifil threads, my thread weight of choice being 50 weight.  This fine but strong pure cotton thread comes in so many beautiful colours I can always match the thread colour to the fabric I am applying.  The fineness of the thread also makes it melt into the turned edge of the applique piece, making it practically invisible.

Here is a close up of my applique roses.  I use the same length of matching thread to gather my circles and then applique them.

Here are the next applique flower borders in progress.

Coffee time…

The next border is a series of large leaf-like shapes which form circles around a hexagon petal flower.

I am now designing the cornerstone blocks for these borders, then one more applique border to go.  I love my hand applique and the challenge of designing and stitching these large complex quilts, made easier using my favourite Aurifil threads.