This little quilt was fun to make, and is a take-off of a king size quilt my sister, Donna, made for me many years ago, a pitchers and bowl design inspired by my collection of vintage spongeware. And there's a story behind that quilt. She had assembled a double or queen version (time has erased that bit of my memory) and then learned I bought a king sized bed. So she reworked the quilt to make it larger. I think most people would have left it as-is, but Donna wanted it to be just right. She even made matching throw pillows -- with zippers, something I avoid working with.

I reduced the scale of the pitchers for this wallhanging and combined them with foundation pieced Courthouse Steps quilt blocks (a variation of the traditional Log Cabin design). I have templates for a teeny version if anyone is interested (just leave a comment).

I like to combine appliqué and patchwork and would love to see quilts you've designed using both techniques.

_{© Janet Wickell}

One of my fall projects is to finish something I've been putting off -- building the Quilting site's appliqué how-to resources. I think I have a mental block of sorts about writing about it, but several appliqué patterns are about ready to go live, including Pitchers for Tildy's Cabin, a small quilt that combines paper piecing with appliqué (later today is the goal for that quilt). So I need to get as many techniques covered as possible.

There are lots of variations for hand and machine appliqué, and right now the plan is to start with hand sewing methods. If you're just starting out with appliqué, the question that's part of the poll below suits just fine. Anyone who's experienced should change the question to What's your favorite appliqué technique? -- responses from quilters in both groups will help me decide how to work through the articles.