Lizzy Mae's Medallion Class 1

The class went really well!

There were 2 other ladies doing Lizzy Mae and a third working on a different quilt.

I'm not sure what amused Lorraine more - my copious use of Micropore or the bias stems disaster!

Anyway the first thing I learned was how to use one of those bias tape makers!  It was a somewhat hairy experience but it worked!  I've always wanted to learn how to do that!  It made perfect stems that could be fused in place!

I love how Lorraine uses modern quilting aids to achieve the look of traditional quilts in a fast and simple way!

The next thing I learned was how to use freezer paper for needleturn applique.  I must say it does give much nicer sweeping curves than when I do it without paper buuuut...slashing the back of the block to get the paper out is slightly nervewracking!!

The best news is that I got to enjoy the class because my wrist hardly hurt at all!  The down side is the antibiotics make me feel sick and dizzy.

As always I left Lorraine's shop with some supplies in tow.  Yesterday's haul consisted of Thread Heaven, cuuute pink embroidery scissors and some long, thin applique needles with tiny eyes.  These come recommended by Lorraine and despite the teeny eye, they were lovely to work with.

I like the length and they're very sharp so I didn't need to use brute force to get them through the fabric which is also a blessing for dodgy hands.  The only downside to the sharpness, length and thinness is that one of these babies can disappear into the fleshy part of your hand at least to the halfway mark before you even notice!

That could be because of the lack of sensation in many areas of my "poor hand" as DS calls it but it did mean I have something to gross the boys out with rather than the other way around!

Last night for "homework" I ironed on and cut out all the applique pieces.  Here is what they look like laid out - a little messy and shapeless because the seam allowance hasn't been folded over yet!

August FNSI Report

Well I'm pleased to say I actually did something!  I was certain I'd have to pull out due to the Nemesis.  Unfortunately DH's potholders had to wait.  Maybe next month!

My FNSI actually sort of started late in the afternoon!

I popped into Lorraine's shop today to pick up my pack for month 1 of Lizzie Mae's Medallion!

On the left is the original pattern sheet and on the right is Lorraine's applique so we know which bits of fabric go where. (click for a close up)

I'm really excited to be starting and now that my health issues seem to be under control I'm confident it will proceed well.

I love that Lorraine has pre-cut the bias stems!  Yippee!  All the little bits will be a challenge to pre-wash though.  I think I'm just going to swish them around in a pot of boiling water to reduce the fraying.

As soon as I got home I did what any control freak would do - scrutinize the colours, dive into my repro stash and pull out extra ones to tweak it.  The following pics include the fabric from the kit and FQs and F1/8s from my repro stash.  Not sure exactly what I'll use and where though.

I'm not really good when it comes to lack of symmetry which is one reason samplers bother me somewhat.  Anyway, any bits from the kit I don't end up using will go into my Dear Jane.

DH wanted to make stew for dinner.  I was too washed out to argue and as long as I didn't have to do it then fine...but I knew we'd be eating late (which we did).  Kidlet wasn't at all sleepy even after a week of school (what's new?) so he bounced around til almost 10pm (Yikes!).

The official portion of FNSI started around 9pm I think.  It doesn't seem like much but for me it was a huge achievement given how awful the pain has been lately. 

 First I cut out the A4 pattern sheets and taping them together to make the 20" by 20" pattern sheet for the central applique.  Sticky tape was MIA but due to my dodgy wrist we have lots of Micropore around.  It actually worked better than tape being soft and flexible and goopy holding the sheets together only on the back!

Then I numbered all the individual applique components and wrote down the ammended colours then traced them all onto freezer paper.

I still need to cut out all the individual shapes and wash my fabrics but I have til Tuesday morning.

I'm also feeling better!  Around the 24-36 hour mark after starting the antibiotics I'm pretty sure the pain is reduced!  Granted I'm still taking fairly heavy painkillers but they're actually working which they were not before and I take them less often. 

I'm really hoping we've found the problem but the downside to all this is to figure how to get rid of the infection permanently.  It's not going to be easy and the success rate isn't 100% (but neither is anything) so we wait and see.