I’ve been putting off my “Learn to Quilt” January project for weeks.  Why?  Because it required me to do the two things I am most afraid of- cut out shapes and applique.  With January slowly coming to an end, I could procrastinate no longer.

I went to Joann’s on Saturday to get everything that I needed and went home to start.  The instructions said to use fusible web and the first benefit is that it is so transparent that you can use it as tracing paper to make cutting out the shapes easier.  Fear number 1- calmed!  The shapes weren’t perfectly cut, but I don’t want my project to look the same as all the others, so who cares!

I finished cutting all the pieces tonight and began fusing them to the background fabric with the Pellon Wonder Web.  Didn’t quite get the placement right, but I’m pretty proud of myself!

Once everything was placed, I got out my quilting frame (this has been sitting in the package, on my shelf for 5 year- seriously!) and began to apply the applique stitching to the edges of the snowman.  I won’t be winning any awards for the beauty of my stitches, but at least I am doing something that has terrified me up until now.  All of the Learn to Quilt projects require applique, so I will have 12 months of practice to refine my stitches.

Here is my fused snowman, pre-stitching: