I have a number of projects going on for 2016, one of which is the Block of the Month from The Quilt Show. The quilt for 2016, is a smaller replica version of the Rajah Quilt, a quilt made by female convicts on the prison ship the Rajah during the voyage from England to Tasmania in 1841. That project was spearheaded by a Quaker woman as part of her prison reform efforts and the quilt has always spoken to me because of my Quaker heritage.
However, my applique skills were not up to the task of Block #1. The block includes over 100 little tiny leaves and I foolishly attempted needle-turn applique first to be a little truer to the original quilters’ work. I sewed half of the leaves and then had a decision to make about remaining faithful to the process or creating something that I would consider showing anyone. I couldn’t bear the idea of working on a quilt for an entire year just to shove it in the back of the closet because the construction was so bad so I threw out the hand applique and started again with the modern methods that I am a little more comfortable with – fusible applique with a machine stitch. The results are much better.
