Tag Archives: Kim Diehl

The Thistle Thicket Quilt

Lots of pictures to show you from my Thistle Thicket hand applique classes.

Ginny finished hers FIRST. Yay Ginny! She used a group of Liberty fabrics and a touch of Tula Pink pink 🙂 for hers. It’s ready for the quilter!

Here it was just last Sunday during our class. Check out that blue leaf placement.

An earlier class picture.

Here’s Beverly’s TThicket using flax Essex linen for the background and Liberty fabrics for the applique. It feels wonderful.

Here’s a close up of Bev’s from a previous class.

Her Tinkertoy center.

Here’s Bev’s second Thistle Thicket center. Yep, same quilter, just a different quilt. How fun is that??

How it all started.

Here’s Linda S’s progress. My oh my. We marveled at this one.

From an earlier class.

Fowler’s center. She’s using a collection of Amy Butler on a pale yellow background. Very Fowler.

Cydney’s “Elizabeth.” She has started her swags. That gray is pretty fabulous.

Here’s an earlier shot of Cydney’s.

Here are some more shots from other classes. Mary Ann’s center. She’s using a new Joel Dewberry.

Ann’s center.

Here’s a shot of her border print.

Ann’s second quilt. (What can I say? I inspire people to make more than one 🙂 She used Moda Grunge for her background. It’s not showing up here but it glows.

She’ll use Alison Glass for her border. Fab.

Deb’s center. Wow. She’s using a diagonal set for her patchwork center.

Deb reverse appliqued the outer ring. Brilliant.

She’s also the student who taught me about dangling threads. See that silk thread? When she places her next piece of applique, she will thread her needle with that thread and finish stitching. No need to tie off or start over. Genius.

Here’s her patchwork border and her outer border. Just a little more applique. 🙂

Sandra is making a quilt for her son. Don’t tell him.

Here’s her border fabric. She has a muted collection. It is going to be wonderful.

Paula’s start. I LOVE THIS.Her patchwork border. She forgot to bring her outer border but trust me. It’s gorgeous. I’ll show it to you next time.

That’s all for now! A new session of Thistle Thicket will start in January. Think about joining us!

Thistle Thicket Month 1: Erector Sets

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Here are the blocks from our first Thistle Thicket applique class. Linda F’s center. She’s using Alison Glass Ex Libris. Love the diagonal center.

Cydney’s center. She’s nicknamed hers “Head on a Stick.” Stay tuned. 🙂

Bev couldn’t be with us. She sent me this photograph. She wasn’t sure she was going to lie this one so she started a second one.

Ha! Bev likes a challenge. We can’t wait to see what you do!

Fowler’s! Do you not love those striped stems?

Linda S’s center. She set her patchwork on the diagonal. Excellent workmanship and I love the rich purples.

Ginny’s beautiful Liberty fabrics. I was able to sit with her at an Open Sew this week and watched her add this.

Ha! Too much fun! Tula meets Liberty. Ka-boom! Beautiful!

These six women put a lot of thought into their fabric selections. They are all excellent hand appliquers. The class is going to be a lot of fun and I am a very fortunate teacher.

Next month they should come back with centers looking like this…

and then this. No goofing off in my classes!

Serendipity Sampler Month 4

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Here are the latest blocks from my block of the month Serendipity Sampler classes at Village Fabric Shop. Enjoy! This beauty belongs to Alice.

Here are all three of her blocks.

Rachel’s first two blocks. Brand new appliquer; we love her look.

Pat’s beautiful third block; she’s still pondering berry colors. We are cheering her on!

Her three blocks.

Dee’s third block. Wow!

All three blocks; wonderful!

Jennifer’s third block; berries are A+.

All of Jennifer’s blocks. Love.

Sue continues to amaze us.

Yep, it’s pretty wonderful.

Bev’s pretty #3 block. (This is her second Serendipity quilt. 🙂

All three of her blocks. Glorious.

Last but certainly not least, Cheryl’s third block. No berries yet but she has a plan. 🙂

All three blocks.

PERFECT bird legs. Not easy. Beautifully done Cheryl.

A new set of beginner applique Serendipity classes starts on May 3 at Village Fabric Shop. Contact me for more info.

I have a great job. 🙂

Brand New Serendipity Sampler Blocks

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I started two new Serendipity Sampler classes last month and the blocks came back this weekend. Check these out! This block belongs to Cheryl. She will add more leaves and berries. It’s a great beginning! Those white flowers are pretty wonderful.

Here’s Pat’s block. She bought teal berry fabric yesterday 🙂

This is Lynda’s block. She couldn’t be in class so she sent me this picture. She calls it her Lilly quilt!

Here’s Dee’s block. I LOVE this. She’s berry hunting. We talked about not using lots of berries. We shall see…

Sue’s glowing Tula block! She put a LOT of thought into fabric placement and it shows. Beautiful workmanship. She’s thinking maybe teal berries…

Here’s Amy’s block 🙂 After a little prodding, she produced the “parts.”

How great is this going to be?? She calls it her red, white and blue quilt. I’m proud of her! Keep an eye on this one.

We all decided we loved Alice’s block. She used those calm greens for her leaves and then had lots of fun with the stalks, stems and flowers. Maybe orange berries?

Rachel…ah, Rachel. She was meant to be an appliquer! Perfect points, beautiful stitching. Check out the fussy cutting in the blue center stalks. Yay!!

Here’s Wanda’s block. It’s so right! She will use that red for all her berries and wait until next month!

Finally, here’s Jennifer’s beautiful block. I like it for lots of reasons. She used Amy Butler’s fabrics and you all know how I feel about Amy Butler. She TAUGHT HERSELF how to machine applique and she did a really good job. Finally, she took my beginner quilt class some months back. She has a great attitude and a pretty wonderful eye for color and it has been fun to watch her do anything she wants to do!

Most of these women have not appliqued before this class. I am so proud of them! We had a circle tutorial in the classes so they will be making Karen Kay Buckley’s perfect circles this month. Stay tuned.

Monday Morning Serendipity

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Our four-person Serendipity Sampler class met this morning at The Little General. Paula wasn’t able to be with us but she promises to be back in action soon. We missed her!

This Serendipity Sampler pattern comes from Kim Diehl’s book, Simple Comforts.

Here’s the show and tell from Month 5. These appliquers have finished their four blocks and they are ready to work on the sashing.

Char’s four blocks. She is NO LONGER a beginner; she is doing a really good job.

Here’s her latest block. Great circles Char!!

Jane’s four blocks. This helped chase away those February blues!!

Her fourth block. Love the fussy cutting and those bright orange circles.

Deb’s fabulous four blocks.

She will add more berries to her final block. We loved her “black star!”

Great job ladies! You inspire me 🙂

Serendipity Sampler Bird Blocks

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Here are the blocks from our second Serendipity Sampler class. This is SO MUCH FUN!!

Month 1 Serendipity Sampler

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I have started teaching a new applique block of the month at The Little General. The pattern is from Kim Diehl’s book Simple Comforts. I have taught the traditional version for several years at Knit One Smock Too. Sue Lauer took my class last year and made this beauty from modern fabrics and of course I fell in love with it. The Little General hung it behind the shop counter, we worked up a class schedule and now I have some beautiful first month blocks to share with you.