AFTERNOON DELIGHT--Month 3

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Here we are at Month 3, two more Shoo Fly blocks and 4 more applique blocks. If your Shoo Fly blocks are all complete, nine total in this quilt, remember not to cut all the fabrics listed in the Cutting Instructions as some of that is for the Shoo Fly blocks. The same is true if you have cut all 40 applique block backgrounds, 8" each.

THREAD:

I've been asked what thread I like for applique. The most important factor for me is color--I want to match the appliques as closely as possible. My favorite brands are spools of Quilters Select 60 wt, a polyester, Aurifil 50 wt, a cotton, or Bottom Line 60 wt, a polyester. The pre-wound bobbins of Quilters Select 80 wt. and Bottom Line 60 wt. make it easy to have a wide variety of colors on hand--I use them in the top of my machine, with a neutral in the bobbin:

TWIRLY BALLS APPLIQUE BLOCK:

Sue Garman loved this block she called "Twirly Balls". So much that she designed several quilts with them like this one:  Twirly Balls and Pinwheels
And this block and variations of it appear 3 times in Afternoon Delight.

It is not as hard as it might appear. Here is how I made mine:

1. After printing the pattern on Quilter's Select Print and Piece Fuse Lite, I drew the horizontal and vertical lines with a pencil:

 I rough cut the outer circle, leaving a narrow margin around the circle and the inside sawtooth area. Using a red pencil, I marked every other "TWIRLY" so I would know which of them to use:

The large circle was fused to the back of blue fabric, twirlies to the back of red fabric. NOTE: if you want block to “twirl” in the same direction as the pattern, put paper patterns on the FRONT side of the Red fabric:

Pieces are now carefully cut on the lines--this is raw edge applique:

 I used a Fabric Glue pen to secure the blue circle to the background:

I didn't want to print a second pattern for the inner blue circle so I looked around my kitchen. Amazing--the lid from a container of unsalted cashews was the PERFECT size. Using a white chalk pencil, I traced the lid on the back of more blue fabric:

I carefully glued the inner circle on the background, with the lightest touch of glue stick:

Then I placed the red "twirlies" and center circle on top of the blue center circle to be sure it was all going to fit. Looks good to me.

NOTE:--the "twirlies" spin in the opposite direction of the pattern sketch since the pattern is applied to the back of the fabric, making it the "reverse mirror image":

Using matching blue thread, I used a blanket stitch on the outside edge of the circle, then around each sawtooth , then around the center blue circle, one start, one stop:

Using the fabric glue stick, I secured the "twirlies" to the blue center circle, then stitched them with red thread using the blanket stitch:

After all the "twirlies" were stitched, I added the center red circle with glue then stitched it to complete the block:

After soaking the block in warm water to remove the paper, the block was ready to be trimmed to 7.25" unfinished.

This was one of the fastest blocks to make so far!

Here are the applique blocks from my Sample Quilt:

Block 9

Block 10

Block 11

Block 12

My Demo Quilt is almost done--I am using red, white and blue fabrics. And it will be a much smaller version, only 6 Shoo Fly blocks, 24 Double 9 Patch blocks, and  9 applique blocks--I will show the top next month.

Here is my Block 11--note I omitted the small circles. I may still go back and add them, but, then again, I may not:

Let's quilt.

Barbara