Some Applique Stuff and MM Snowmen

Tonight I finished prepping the next Merry, Merry Snowmen block, and I'm ready to move onto the applique--hand applique.

And it occurred to me that when I say I "prepped" the block, some of you might not know what I'm talking about. With the freezer paper/starch applique method, that means I've traced the patterns onto the freezer paper and ironed the paper onto the fabric. Then I've cut around the paper, leaving a 1/8" to 1/4" seam allowance. I brush starch onto the seam allowance and iron it to the back side of the freezer paper--the starch allows it to hold a good edge. After everything dries, I remove the paper and dot a bit of applique glue along the edges of the pieces and position everything in place. Now I can take it with me to work or wherever I go and stitch away. But not while I'm working--they don't really like to pay me to applique. Sad but true. Lunch hours are good for stitching though.

So the prepping part takes about half the time, and that means I'm about half done; the stitching part will go fairly quickly now and then I'll need to add some embroidery to the block.

I mentioned in a prior post that Tina, who was interested in information about the type of applique I do, was "no-reply"--and she's not the only commenter who is no-reply. I know I've visited a few blogs that have instructions posted in their sidebars on how to "fix" the no-reply problem, but I sure can't remember which ones. Do any of you know? I'd like to post a link for anyone who wants to change that so they can get responses to their comment questions.

Finally, if you're working on Merry, Merry Snowmen, don't forget to join us on Flickr--just click on the snowman in my sidebar to see what we've been up to. I love the French General Rouenneries Deux fabric, but I can't help thinking this pattern would look really great done in other "Christmas" fabrics too. If you're working on the pattern on your own and are using other fabrics, please join us--we'd really love to see some different blocks.