The Holly Leaf block

I have FINALLY finished the sixth block of my When The Cold Wind Blows (Love Letters) quilt. This one took me seven months-but not because it was all that hard or time consuming, but because I put it down for about five months and didn't work on it at all! That is not the way to get a quilt block done in a timely manner. 

This block didn't offer a lot a challenge-it was pretty much the same shape over and over again. But that's okay because by the time you have appliqued that many holly leaves down, you have pretty much perfected the shape. There are 73 pieces of fabric to applique in this block-the most of any block in the quilt. And that is a LOT of applique to go into a 28" square. 

The circles were a lot of fun to make.  I used Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles to make them. They were the easiest circles I have ever done-at 7/8" each they were small, but not tiny. And Perfect Circles makes them so easy to do. I not only made the 34 I needed for my block, I made another 34 circles and mailed them to a friend that was working on the same block! If you haven't tried Perfect Circles, I highly recommend them. You can see tutorials and instructions for them online-just give them a Google. 

Here is a close up of some of the circles that I made for this block. They are about as perfectly round as I can get an applique circle. 

The next block I am making is called the Ornamental Kale. It has 71 pieces to it, which seems like it would be a snap after the 73 on the Holly Leaf, but these are layered flowers, which is always a bit more work. Here is a picture of the finished block from the book.

And here is a picture of the placement diagram. It gives you a better idea of exactly how many pieces are in each of those flowers! 

I have all of my pieces cut out and I'm ready to place them on my background today. I hope to start working on it tonight while I'm watching Grey's Anatomy. I have set a goal to have this block finished by the end of the year. We have Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law's house, so that frees up some time for me since I'm not hosting here. So, I just have Christmas gifts to make, shopping, decorating, wrapping, cooking.........

Yeah, maybe I need to rethink that self-imposed goal.