Tiny Tuesday - Work in Progress

I meant to work on a Midget Block last night as soon as the kids were in bed.  Kurt is out of town, so there isn't much extra time when everyone is awake.  When I woke up on the couch at 8:15, they kids had already tucked themselves in and I couldn't ever get woken up enough to accomplish much at that point.  I was sure I'd be able to whip one up tonight, but I came home to a chorus of excited voices letting me know that the science fair winners needed to go to an awards ceremony instead. 

So here is Anna with her award for 6th grade in the category of biological, and Ryan with his award for 5th grade in environmental.  They are all quite excited of course and wanted to know if they could have celebratory frozen yogurt after the awards. Can't say no to that. 

Finally, here I am with all the kids stuff done, and not a lot of time and energy. Applique fits that bill nicely, so I pulled out one of the blocks that was prepped and ready from the cruise at Christmas.  There is still one petal to sew down, so I thought I'd show a shot of how I prepare my pieces for applique.  Tracing the template onto freezer paper, I iron the shiny side down to the wrong side of the fabric and cut out with a quarter inch seam allowance.  After clipping the curves, I use a glue stick to turn the edges under, sticking them right to the paper.  I sew everything down with the freezer paper still in there, using a blind hem stitch.  Although it is a bit stiff, and hard on the thread, it allows the edges to stay just where you want them without the skill and finesse needed for needle turn.  The finished block takes a quick bath in the sink, to dissolve the glue, and then the paper comes out easily after the background fabric has been trimmed away.  Teresa at Fabric Therapy has some nice tutorials for glue-stick applique, though she puts her freezer paper on the right side of the fabric.   I've tried it this way, as it solves the problem of having to remove the paper from the back later, but it seems to take a bit of skill and I just don't have the knack yet.