Читать книгу Folk Quilt Applique - Clare Kingslake - Страница 4

As I look out of the window on to the garden and see how the sunlight casts shadows on the plants I marvel at the different colours, shapes, subtleties and harmony. Rustic scenes such as these inspire me to create my quilts and my work is a sort of homage to the earth, a remembrance of times when life was simpler and slower, when we were children lying on our tummies, looking up through the grass at the insects or watching the birds in the trees. Appliqué allows me to recreate scenes like these in a way that plain piecing does not.

Whether using cotton fabric or felt, my appliqué designs try to capture the innocence and wonder of those times, and I find that my ideas are conveyed more readily through a folk-art style. Layering appliqué shapes, adding embroidery by machine or hand and then quilting, all play a part to create something beautiful. Drawing on a palette of soft, country colours there is sure to be something here to brighten up your home throughout the year. There are nineteen irresistible projects, from quick table mats and bags to more ambitious wall hangings and quilts.

At the back of the book the Techniques section describes all the hand and machine techniques needed for the projects, with emphasis on different types of appliqué, including needle turn and using freezer paper, templates and fusible web. Most of the projects use templates so before you start a project refer to Using Templates for important advice.

Each project has instructions for the mix of techniques I used, but it’s often possible to substitute other techniques, so a project using a hand appliqué method could use a machine method instead. Quilting can also be by hand or machine to suit your preference. With practise you will find what you like.

Measurements are in Imperial inches with metric conversions in brackets – use one or the other as they are not interchangeable. The most accurate results will be obtained using inches.

Whether you want to make a small project for a friend or a larger one to display in your own home the main thing is to take your time and enjoy yourself. Appliqué is very forgiving and you will be amazed and pleased at what you can achieve. You don’t need to be too precise as to where the pieces are placed – that’s also the beauty of a folk-art look. Keep a healthy balance between perfection and slapdash, and above all enjoy what you create.