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!
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!
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
Thanks for your kind words Edie!
Thanks so much Angie!
Thank you Anita! I appreciate that!
Thanks Marsha! I'm not sure why I was scared of it before! 😉
It turned out to be much easier than I thought! Thanks!
Thank you Ann! Good luck!
Sounds like a plan! A little bit each night and before you know it, you'd make some big headway on that UFO!
Oh I wish for summer for you so you can tackle that list!!
Oh good luck to you Maxine! 🙂
What a nice thing to say Beverly! I really appreciate that! 🙂
Hi there! Thanks for popping over! 😉
Good luck Lori! 😉
Thanks Olivia! Good luck!
I need to tackle wool applique . . . some day! I think I may have done a project many moons ago for Autumn. I wonder who I gave it to? 🙁
Thank you so much Ramona!
Thanks Ann! Hope all is well!
Thanks Lawana!
Ooooh that sounds lovely! Yes, I do like this 80 wt!
Good luck Courtney!
That looks so easy and I've always loved the orange peel but have never created one. Thank you.bluestarof2(at)yahoo(dot)com
Good luck Kristine! Thanks for visiting!
Oh yes! That sound fun too!
Thank you Cheryl! I appreciate that!
Thanks Chris! Good luck!
Thanks Paula! Good luck!
Thank you for checking it out Kelly!
Lotsa love on Valentines Day. I love it! 😉
You are welcome Lillian! Good luck!
It was much easier than I thought (worried) it would be. Good luck Diane!
Orange peels are definitely on my todo list I would love to win
So pretty!! Fig Tree is my favorite!! I have been wanting to make an orange peel quilt!! My email is blogsdon95@Gmail.com
Would love to try this out. Pamb.1311@gmail.com
These look great! Would love to try them! sascheidt@gmail.com
Fig tree was a terrific choice to use….and I need a hand sewing project and am just not in to doing hexies. Orange peels fit the bill very nicely.
Yay!! I would love to win a set of these. Been wanting to give this a try. Thanks for your generousity. Kellyschott1360@gmail.com
I love the colors that you chose for this project. Applique is on my list for 2017. These templates would help me check that project off of my list! nancyb88@hotmail.com
I am new to this kind of work and these templates would be a great help to get me stated. sharon.lehman@hotmail.com
These are beautiful! Thanks for the chance to win.kiddkeizer at shaw dot ca
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!
Thanks for the giveaway! lauradeleski at charter dot net
I've been eyeing this Orange Peel Impressions set for a while. I would love to win one and make my very own OP quilt!
I love the fabric choice in this post! Beautiful, simply elegant. I can't wait to do an orange peel quilt or cathedral windows. My email is jplasha@baldwin-telecom.net, thank you for the opportunity to enter this giveaway
Very pretty and very useful! My email address is shermur@sbcglobal.net
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.
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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
Thanks for stopping by! Good luck!
Fig Tree is so lovely. Good luck!
Thanks for visiting. Good luck!
Thanks for checking it out. Good luck!