Applique Planning

Summer is not really "quilting" season for me. But I am feeling badly for my applique fans.  And I have to admit, that I'm getting pretty testy not having a hand project to work on if there's something interesting on TV.   So I put my next clothing project on hold for the night to get an applique project rolling.  This is one that's been in my head and in various permutations for years.

This is as far as I got for my Baltimore Album style National Park blocks.  This is my block for Grand Teton National Park.  I love the way the wild geraniums, Arrow Leaf Balsam Root and Indian Paintbrush turned out.  I stalled out on the lupines however (need to re-do the leaves and the blossoms were just silly in detail) and it's been ignored ever since.

I've gathered tons of reference material.

 I should note here that I think it is my personal responsibility to keep National Park Book Shops in business.  

(And you thought my fabric stash was bad....)

All stuffed into a project box labeled "National Park Applique" with little bits of great prints for flowers and leaves.

 
So you're familiar with the Civil War Bride quilts? The minute that I saw it, I knew that I needed to make one of these rather than a Baltimore Album.  I love the rectangles.  I love the pictoral view.  But I needed these to have personal relevance.

I have pages and pages of notes with ideas.

I decided that instead of a "bride" quilt, perhaps I should do an anniversary quilt.  So I started the planning, outlining key events of each year that we've been married.  Of course, the idea started around our 20th anniversary....I may have to expand to 24 or 25 squares.

Which leads me to what I did this evening.
The 1991 block.

The pica and phlox in the lower right represent the Mount Moran climb with Blair and Fred.  While I was waiting my turn, I was sitting on a ledge, hanging out with a very cute pica who was munching on hot pink phlox flowers and looking at me with a "WTF is this on my patio?" kind of expression.

The line at the 3" mark on the left side represents where the row of flying geese (blue geese on background) will be to represent the backpack trip in the Wind Rivers (WY) where the Blue Goose (the name of our friend's camping van) got forced off the causeway into the marsh (Goose on the Pond).

And there's lupine.  Because lupine are cool.  And grow everywhere we were in 1991.

I am feeling very optimistic about this project.  This sketch came together very quickly.  Perhaps because I've been unsuccessfully drawing lupines for years?   My biggest challenge will be finding fantastic fabrics for pica fur.   Hmmm, come to think of it, I may have some in my Seashell Applique Stash.

Oh no.  I've just made a strategic error.  Sarah Liz is already shocked at my fabric stash.  I didn't even admit to anything that is quilt related rather than clothing related.   But FOR THE RECORD, my quilt fabric stash while far, far more diverse than my clothing fabric stash, is considerably smaller.  But only because 5" of fabric for applique (x 200 fabrics) is kind of reasonable.