Moda Blockheads 3 - Birdhouse

Jan Patek's BIRDHOUSE block this week for Moda Blockheads 3 is an appliqué design. Last year I did the pieced blocks instead of any appliqué but this year I thought I'd jump into the appliqué spirit! I'm really a patchwork piecing kind of person but it's good to stretch yourself.

I've tried to do needle turn appliqué but I'm not very good at it (I know, I know...I'd get better with practice). But fusible raw edge appliqué is a little more my speed. I'm still a bit rough at it but it IS fun to do something completely different and out of my norm. One thing I enjoy while doing this is getting out one of my other sewing machines. My daily machine is a straight stitch Juki so anytime I need to do decorative stitches, overlock, blanket stitch, zig zag, etc, I bring out my little Bernina or my Juki HZL computerized machine. 

For the first block, I did my ALL Thatched. But this birdie wanted a fancier house, something with birdhouse wallpaper and and a polka dot roof.

I like how Thatched still plays well as a background when other prints are showing off. Leaves, leaves and more leaves in this one. I guess I can call the birdhouse a GREENHOUSE BIRDHOUSE.

As for fusible appliqué tips, I've got two suggestions. One is to let that iron get really hot and really press your fusible or it sometimes peels unevenly. I often don't press it enough to get that good bond. The other tip is one I learned from Anna Maria Horner in a class I took from her. Take a pin and run it over the paper backing to score a little cut line in the paper before you tear it off. You can separate it more easily and peel from that cut line to remove the paper. I had been struggling with the edges of fusible on fabric to separate them and the pin line works much better than my fingernails to start it!

The other thing that always surprises me about appliqué...the mess on my desk! They are happy little cuttings and pieces though. 

Thank you, Jan, for this fun block and for stretching me to do new things! Visit Jan Patek for the pattern  at http://janpatek.blogspot.com/ 
and check out the other Moda Blockheads 3 designers to see their progress:
1.15 - Corey Yoder - https://corianderquilts.com/
1.22 - Sherri McConnell - https://www.aquiltinglife.com/
1.29 - Betsy Chutchian - http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/
2.5 - Jan Patek - http://janpatek.blogspot.com/
2.12 - Brigitte Heitland - https://www.brigitteheitland.de/blog
2.19 - Lisa Bongean - https://lisabongean.com/
2.26 - Lissa Alexander - http://modalissa.com/
3.4 - Laurie Simpson - http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/
3.11 - Vanessa Goertzen - https://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/
3.18 - Stacy Iest Hsu - https://www.stacyiesthsu.com/blog/
3.25 - Robin Pickens - https://www.robinpickens.com/
4.1 - Janet Clare - http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/
4.8 - Jen Kingwell - www.jenkingwelldesigns.com/blog
4.15 - Joanna Figueroa - https://blog.figtreeandcompany.com/