Romance – Amanda’s blog

Hi everyone!

I came back from Market with two new appliqué products to try after Alex Anderson’s husband, John, dropped off a roll of Select Appli-Stick and Select Appli-Web Plus at my both. I made a green version of my Romance table topper in Carina to check them out and thought I’d tell you what I found. (Carina is shipping in August/September from Benartex.)

I really loved the Select Appli-Web Plus. It is very lightweight when applied – much like Shades SoftFuse, which is another paper-back fusible web that I love. The actual paper that you trace on is thicker though – but the fusible is really light. It didn’t take very long to fuse and didn’t require steam, which I liked. Alex has also been working on a paper-less version of this product, which is called Select Appli-Web (without the plus), but I like the paper backing to trace my appliqué shapes.

Select Appli-Stick is a completely different product. It peels back to reveal a heavier fusible that is actually quite tacky. This would be an excellent product for those of you who like to really play with appliqué on a design wall and reposition it. I usually work out the placement of my appliqué on a computer before I go to sew, so I liked the Select Appli-Web Plus a bit better, but I could see applications where the Appli-Stick could be really useful. In fact, I just was looking up the links for their website and noted that they have this product in 1/4”, 1/2”, and 1” widths, which would be awesome for appliqué bars!

Thanks to Alex and John for letting me try their new products – I really enjoyed them!

Happy quilting!

Amanda

Hi everyone!

It seems like I have been waiting for this day – the day I can share new pattern information – forever! They are back from the printer and all the distributor and Market orders have been sent. They are also up over in my shop.

I hope you like these new designs! Here they are…

First Crush is a fat-quarter friendly, twin-sized quilt that is actually a deceptively simple quilt made from just one block!

The interlocking hearts form a secondary design so it is really fun to watch it come together!

Of course, by choosing a different border fabric you can dramatically alter the look of the design…

First Crush aqua border — First Crush with the original aqua border

First Crush teal border — First Crush with a teal border

First Crush pink border — First Crush with a deep pink border

First Crush green border — First Crush with the green border

By the way, all these quits feature Carina, my first line for Benartex. I couldn’t be more excited about it and I’ll be blogging more specifically about the fabric when it ships in August/September of this year.

Next up, Bouquet, which is a really graphic lap-sized piece. Basically made up of squares, rectangles, and half-square triangles, it is super-easy to piece with just a touch of appliqué.

This was actually my first quilt that I quilted on the BERNINA Q 24, so it was thrilling! (Some of you might have seen sneak peeks over on Instagram.)

Next up is Romance – a really quick but elegant 22” table runner…

I couldn’t stop making this one – it was fun to play with the colors in the collection. I used 28 wt. Aurifil thread for the appliqué – my favorite!

And last, but not least, is Heart’s Delight.

It is my new block-of-the-month style quilt. The pattern itself is chock-full of full color diagrams to guide you. You start in the center with a heart shaped bargello design and work outward, adding borders as you go. This was also quilted on the Q 24, this time with Aurifil monofilament thread, which was trouble-free. It worked so well and saved a ton of time not having to change colors since I started quilting this two days before Market!

Do you like them? I hope so! Do you have a favorite?

So… if you are still reading (sorry for the amount of images – it is hard to choose) they are all over in my newly-revamped shop. Speaking of which, I redid my shop so I can ship internationally. I think the design is better too and hope you agree. (I ship USPS everywhere.)

Also, a popular request has been a discount for a whole group of new patterns so I created something called “The Carina Collection” which includes all four patterns. You can get them at a discount here.