Esther's Oma

In a previous post I shared that I am currently 'brushing up' on my Appliqué skills by making Esther Aliu's latest BOM - Oma's Blues.

I haven't stuck exactly to the original pattern.
The most noticeable difference is my Quilt is not traditional Delft Blue and White.

Instead I am using the warmer pallet which include Greens, Orange, Red, Yellow and of course Blue and White.

The next section of Esther's quilt calls for a series of borders and appliquéd dishes in traditional Dutch Style, however for my quilt, I have chosen to showcase as much of Leesa Chandler's Dutch Cottage fabric as possible.

I have used two different sections of the same striped print for borders two and three and the small tiles from the feature panel in the Spice colour-way instead of making appliqué dishes.

My next challenge will be to incorporate these beautiful 9" feature plates into the design, without upsetting the balance of the Quilt.

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Footnote:

Oma's Blues is a free BOM from Esther Aliu.

Oma lives in a Dutch Cottage

Oma's Blues is, as the Quilt title suggests, a Delft Inspired Blue and White Quilt.

www.delft-art-gallery.com

BUT -
Not all Delftware is just Blue
some have a Blue, Red, Yellow and Green palette.

So with this and similar images as my inspiration I searched for the right fabric.

 

I decided to use
Leesa Chandler's Dutch Cottage Range of fabric from my stash.

This fabric is now 'out of print', so finding extra yardage was a challenge.


As usual - I couldn't resist tweaking the pattern (a practice that is enthusiastically encouraged by the quilt's designer).

So here is the centre block for my version of Oma's Blues Quilt which I have (playfully) renamed

"Esther's Oma lives in Leesa's Dutch Cottage"

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Footnote:
Esther Aliu (the quilt's designer) and Leesa Chandler (fabric designer) both live in Melbourne Australia and will be at the Australian Quilt Convention at the wonderful Royal Exhibition Buildings from the 16th - 18th April.

Oma's Blues - The Vase

The focal point of Oma's Blues is the centre panel which depicts a large Delft Style platter with a vase of flowers. It will in time be surrounded by other plates and tiles as the quilt grows.

I read an email posted to Esther's Yahoo group recently which asked the question

"How did you make the Vase?"

In places the contrast stripes on the Vase are quite small and fiddly, so I decided to make them slightly differently. It is something that works for me and I hope that this tutorial may help someone.

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I used the Freezer paper method.

Prepare and cut out the templates.

Marking which part of the piece sits under the next.

I have only made the Vase background.

Iron the Freezer paper to the FRONT of the fabric.

Cut out and Peel the fabric from the paper.

Place the paper sticky side UP on the BACK of the fabric.

Gently press the seam allowance OVER and ONTO the sticky side of the freezer paper.

For the Contrast down the vase -

Cut 3/4 inch BIAS strips

Fold and press lightly in HALF 

(do not stretch) .

Spritz the Bias tape lightly with spray starch. 

Working on a copy of the Vase and using a hot iron gently mould the bias along the pattern lines.

You will need to trim or lightly clip on a couple of tight curves.

At this point I pinned my contrast along the pattern at the SEAM line.

Placing my previously made Vase piece against the pins,  securing with some small dabs of glue baste.

I can now applique these two pieces together.

Continue this way with the rest of the pieces.

Place all the pieces together using the pattern as a template.

Applique using your chosen method of stitching.

Continue with the base of the Vase.

Note:  

This vase was constructed specifically for this tutorial, using Batik fabric and is not the one I will be using in my quilt.

Oma's Blues

I've got sidetracked....

I wasn't going to make this quilt....

But then - 

- the pattern book for my next big project, won't arrive until end of April.

And I need a rest from Foundation Paper Piecing.

So what has piqued my interest?

OMA'S BLUES

a new BOM by Esther Aliu

I haven't done any applique since I finished Heart's Desire, so I have had to reacquaint myself with the process.

After spending an unproductive day trying to remember how I did it, 

'googling' methods and watching videos 

I remembered .... 

I'd bought THE book!

I have it on good advice that this is THE BOOK on applique.

Don't get me wrong.... There are many good tutorials online, but nothing quite compares to sitting down with a good instruction manual in hand

 and actually using it!

How many of us persevere with 'make do' when we have the right tool for the job

 and have forgotten we bought it?