Pop-In Applique: Cutting Paper & Creating New Traditions

 I'll show you how I cut paper---resized---to design a block.

Found a simple image in Volume 1 of Pop In Applique to stitch a basket

of Morris Manor fabric (in shops in March)

Vase fabric

Resized the container and erased the color. Only need half of it

as it has to fit on my printer paper.

Vase full of sunflowers?

Kansas Day is at the end of the month.

Found a naturalistic sunflower in Volume 2

Resized it.

Printed it to the correct scale on 8.5" x 11" paper.

Large sunflowers. Here's half of it in paper on my cutting board.

Did a little photo manipulation flipping over one sunflower.

Are there too many leaves?

Too few or too many?

I started photo-manipulating as it's easier for me.

Better.

I have the shapes I need at the right scale for one large block. I'll print half of this on an 11x8-1/2" sheet, cut templates and

then fabric.

See posts on this sourcebook project here:

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2025/01/pop-in-applique-source-books.html?

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2024/11/computer-aided-drawing-my-pasttime.html

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2024/12/roses-in-december.html

Pop-In Applique Source Books

 

Variations of the Ladies' Dream or Pomegranate

Sketches of similar designs from my Encyclopedia of Applique

  

I've had a pleasant early winter here working on my Photoshop skills by digitally drawing applique designs and compiling the drawings into booklets---source books for applique design.

A gallery of wreath formats

A few months ago I was working on drawing patterns for the 2025 applique block of the month at my CivilWarQuilts blog Liberty's Birds and I said to myself. "Why am I drawing the same leaf over and over again? What if I made a file of the leaves found in old applique quilts.... And the birds...."

I got better at drawing and coloring.

And the roses---and the tulips.....and the pomegranates... And then I could just pop them into the patterns.  What if...

And then I thought you might like to have a file of roses and tulips and leaves you could use to design traditional applique.

With Galleries of traditional arrangements

And Image Files of the design units.

I'll show you how I use these in the next post.

Buy the booklets in PDF form at my Etsy shop for $15 each:

Pop In Applique

Volume 1 Roses Vases & Baskets, 20 pages:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1853692831/pop-in-applique-vol-1-a-sourcebook?

Pop In Applique

Volume 2 Wreaths, Tulips, Pomegranates & Birds, 22 pages:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/1839481886/pop-in-applique-vol-2-of-a-sourcebook?

And I've created a Facebook group. Check it out and post any creations of your own.

PopInAppliqueQuilts

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3402219283242703

I'm working on that group to make it public so you don't need to ask to join. Hope it's working right.

Black & White & Color: William Morris Prints

 

A few people from the Kaffe Fassett Collective with a new member.

Liza Prior Lucy, Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably & Philip

Jacobs joined by William Morris.

Classic Morris Prints from the late-19th century done

in classic Fassett colors

Now I reproduce a lot of William Morris fabrics myself in classic Morris colors.

New line Morris Manor should be in shops in March, 2025

The Fassett fabrics might combine best with a black & white & taupe collection we did last year, Ebony Suite.

Black & white & color!

Perpetual Motion

See more about this pattern here:

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2024/01/perpetual-motion-in-black-white.html

Revisit our EQ design challenge:

https://doyoueq.com/blog/2024/03/eq-design-challenge-giveaway-ebony-suite/

Scroll down to see the designs---

Black & white but how about a little Kaffe color?

Kamala's Star: Thanks for Running!

Kamala's Star

Cutting patriotic fabric to thank a candidate.

Lady Liberty

We can celebrate the U.S.'s second viable female candidate with a quilt pattern.

The inspiration in a file from an auction a while ago.

Points are cut from some kind of flag print it seems.

Pattern for a 12" Finished Block with a fussy cut star.

We have a lot of red, white & blue prints to choose from.

Bring the diamond template to the fabric shop.

Denniele Bohannon didn't fussy cut stars but stripes.

She appliqued the stars.

She's working on a four patch.

 She wonders "Not sure who had the bright idea to make a 4patch...that is 32 stars!!!"

 Hey, wasn't ME who told her to applique 32 stars.

Becky Collis's small version.

Becky appliqued a picture of the candidate from a Spoonflower print I drew.

Another skirmish lost in the war between men and women.

What an insult to us from men who have so much contempt 

for women.

Look at the percentage of Black women who voted for Kamala Harris.

Their voices unheard.

We may have lost this battle but will be back to fight another day.

By James Thurber for the New Yorker

Insight into what happened? Two books written a while ago:

Read Backlash by Susan Faludi (1991)
What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank (2004)

Sheila Bishop, Lost Star Series, Candace

In the comments a suggestion to look at Anne Dawson's pattern for the Lost Star. She bought the antique: 

https://www.lopezislandquiltersstudio.com/shop/Lost-Star.htm

Sheila Bishop who worked with Anne on the pattern has made several spectacular quilts based on the original medallion. 

Annual Bird Count

My friends who count the birds in their neighborhoods at Christmas report fewer flocks this year. I've noticed this too. The lack of birds in my yard is due to the lack of bird food in the usual spots. But perhaps there are colder climes where they are spending this winter. Canada has appeal.

However, in the digital drawing world I've been focused on birds in traditional applique.

One of Karla Menaugh's

Another of Karla's

3 birds/3 roses

Every year I do a Civil-War related appliqued block-of-the month on my CivilWarQuilts blog. This year the theme will be birds---birds in my neighborhood during the days of Bleeding Kansas. The first of nine free patterns for Liberty's Birds will be posted there on the last Wednesday in March, 2025.
https://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

These are extra birds---not using them next year.

I'm planning an applique source book including birds. I'll keep you posted.