I made four more stars and neglected to notice on the pattern that 3 of them go on the right of the top border and the other one goes on the left. I only observed them when they were sewn all together and already attached to the panel and border. I decided it looked great - too lazy to unpick and fix it.
When it came time to sew on my border I realized I would be sewing two homespuns side by side. I haven't worked very much with homespuns but I know with their lower thread count they can sag or stretch. This section will get a lot of handling because I'm going to needleturn the basket, words, and vines. So I decided to sew a little reinforcement into the seam as I connected them (below).
And then I sewed a narrow strip of cotton fabric to the top of the border to help it hold it's shape. I'll take it off when finish the quilt top. I'm going to leave it on because it will be hanging on my design wall and I figure it will help then too. I wish I had used a narrower strip because as I'm basting my applique pieces on I have stitched into part of this strip. I'll have to be careful as I applique the pieces down.
I made the flying geese units and sewed them on the other end of the border so each side of this denim colored check is stabilized.
The method I'm using for applique on this quilt probably has a name but I don't know what it is. I make a pattern out of freezer paper. I iron it on my chosen fabric. Then I cut it out allowing a 1/4" seam all around. I pin it to the quilt and baste all around the edges of the pattern. I remove the freezer paper and it's ready to be sewn by hand.
I've got the vines and the basket all basted on and now it's time to applique. I'm always surprised by how long it takes to do things. Assembling the stars, flying geese units, borders, and applique pieces took me all morning. Am I just really slow?
Looking forward to some applique time.
Hope you're able to get some sewing in today.
Robin