Impressions Orange Peel Templates: a giveaway with Fat Quarter Shop

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Update: Giveaway closed 
Today seems like a great day to announce a fun giveaway with Fat Quarter Shop! In December I received their fabulous Sew Sampler box, and it included a set of Impressions Orange Peel Templates. That was the nudge I needed to begin my first orange peel quilt, and I’d love for one of you to win a set of Impressions Quilting Templates too!



To backtrack just a bit, I want to add a disclaimer.  I am not a hand applique expert . . . by any means!  But I do love hand binding, and I have been longing to do more hand sewing, more \”slowdown sewing.\”  In fact, I blogged about that just last week. So I took a little leap of faith, relied on some techniques I know, and I’m winging it as I go. It feels really good!  I’ll share some of my thoughts with you in case you feel like throwing caution to the wind!

First I pulled some favorite cream-background prints from my Fig Tree stash.  They looked really pretty with the Moda CrossWeave (in sand) that I had on hand.  Fabric selection: check! Then I chose the 4” template because, to my eye, it looked like the right size for the prints.  (Again, winging it and loving it.  Go with your instincts, people!)



Next I pondered whether I would do fusible applique (which I’ve done before), needle turn applique (which sounded scary), or sew-in interfacing applique (which I’ve done once before and enjoyed). Since this project was intended to be slowdown sewing, I opted for the last option and traced about 8 orange peel shapes onto the interfacing just to get started.

Call me silly, but it’s fun to see the cherries through the traced shape! Time to begin sewing.


I shortened up my stitch length and used my walking foot to sew on the traced line.  I love my walking foot, but it does block the view of where the needle hits the line. I checked my stitches.  They looked good.

 

Still, I wondered if I should use my open toe foot (#20 on my Bernina) so that I could see the line better. I tried that, and my stitches looked fine that way too.  However, I didn’t enjoy stopping and pivoting around the curve.  So in the end I opted for my walking foot.  I’m the most comfortable with that, and I could ease around the shape without any stopping and pivoting.


After I had sewn interfacing to four different prints, I trimmed to within 1/4\” of the traced shape.  I then cut an opening in the interfacing, turned the orange peel right side out, pushed out the corners as best I could, and pressed.



Typically a 4” orange peel would call for a 4 1/2” background square.  I cut my Moda Cross Weave squares to 5” because that woven fabric tends to fray a bit when you are handling it.  I will trim them up to 4 1/2” later when the hand sewing is all done. (Here\’s a picture of my sweet little needle book I made for this project. You can read about that here if you\’d like: Simple Zipper Bag: Preparing for some \”slowdown sewing\”.



I selected Aurifil 80wt applique thread number 2026 (chalk). This thread is silky smooth to the touch, but it is also strong.  I love how my stitches disappear into the fabric. And, I must say, I’m a little smitten with the wooden spool.


I only have four orange peels done, and my type A personality is totally fine with that.  No deadline.  No pressure.  Although . . . I can’t stop thinking about how I’d like an orange peel mini quilt hanging in a bare spot in my dining room . . . by summer would be nice. 


Update: Giveaway closed 
Would you like to win an Impressions Orange Peel Quilting Template set from Fat Quarter Shop? Then simply leave a comment below with your email address. Comments are open through 5:00pm (CST) on Thursday, February 16, 2017, at which time a random drawing will take place. We are also giving away a set on Instagram, so visit me at @taunjalynn for a second chance to win. This giveaway is also open to international customers.  Thank you so much for your generosity Fat Quarter Shop!

*Only one comment per person/per email address.  Email me if you are having trouble leaving a comment and I will leave a comment on your behalf (carriedawayquilting@gmail.com) 
Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

~Taunja


190 thoughts on “Impressions Orange Peel Templates: a giveaway with Fat Quarter Shop”

  39. Thanks so much for this post! I haven't tried the interfacing technique, but I'm going to try it now. And thanks for the great giveaway! I would love to use these templates!

    Reply

  44. An orange peel quilt is on my bucket list so these templates would be awesome to have. I did not know I could buy something like these templates so thanks for sharing your cute quilt in the making and for the giveaway.

    Reply

  46. What a fun slowdown project. Just what I am looking to do after all the Christmas quilting I did. Love your color choices. I just wish I did the appliques your way when I did a quilt with 240 petals!!! dlbaegs@aol.com

    Reply

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