Lime and Orange. Really!

One of the things I am enjoying most about this project is that I get to pick out lots of fun fabrics to applique with.  My current method is to pick a busy/funky/fun fabric and use that as a starting point.  Then I pick colors that look good with it.  I have noticed that it is important to be careful with value.  If all the fabrics are medium tones (no lights, no darks), the block doesn't shine as much.  The same is true with picking thread for the double blanket stitch.

I'm digging into all those really busy fabrics that are hard to use, but not too bad when cutting out a little piece.  The lime green fabric in this block came from this batik below.  I fussy cut the part I wanted.  I think I'll use a different section of it in a later block too. There are so many fun spots to choose from!

Here is Block 3 all finished up.  I really like the orange fabric with yellow dots as I think it adds to the "dottiness" of the block.

I dug into my thread collection for this block and used some new threads that I had to unwrap!  The outer lime green petals are blanket-stitched in DMC 100% cotton machine embroidery thread.  The cotton is very soft and has no sheen to it.  I like that on the lime green because it lets it be subtle.  The orange petals are sew in Bottom Line by Superior Threads.  It is 60 weight filament polyester.  I like it because it's very thin with not as much sheen as a usual polyester thread.  It added a finer, more delicate detail to the orange petals.  I thought about stitching them in yellow, but I didn't want them to stand out too much.  The focus green fabric and light orange fabric are blanket-stitched in my favorite Glide by Fil-Tec.  The big orange dot, which really stands out for sheen, is done in Deco-Bob by WonderFil Threads from Canada.  I will definitely be using this thread when I want something to stand out.

The biggest "ah-ha!" moment I have had so far came with looking at this block when it was finished.  I realized that I can control what your eye sees first with the sheen and contrast of the thread to the original fabric.  Something to think about as I move forward!

Suzy