The Christmas Surprise-DONE!

Hi All,
Happy New Year!
2016 certainly was a busy year, and 2017 holds lots of promise.

Back in October I began working with a friend (Marie) - one who never even learned to sew at all - to help her create a dragon & phoenix quilt for her husband. The plan was to have it completed by Christmas and it was to be secret.

In November I showed a bit of the progress Marie was making, and I wanted to share a bit more. The piece was completed on time and is no longer a secret -- and I'm sure you'll agree that Marie did an amazing job.

Once Marie finished the background quilt, and Fast-Piece Applique stitching each of the big players (the phoenix & dragon) together; Marie had her first lessons on couching. She took to selecting the yarns like a pro and after some sample stitching, couched the background. With all that done Marie was ready to place and stitch the big players in place. Ralphie also was on hand to make sure everything was ready to go.

The phoenix went on without a hitch and was trimmed before Marie set the dragon in place and had him stitched.

From there the big players were couched, then the whole piece was pressed, trimmed and binding added.

In the week leading up to Christmas Marie could be found watching Star Wars in my living room and adding hand stitching and even a bunch of beads to finish it all off.

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a sewing machine on Marie's wish list. She did a great job, learned a ton of new stitching skills and now has an art quilt under her belt. Fast-Piece Applique made it SEW!