Beautiful day to start off October.  I left the house this morning and the car was showing 61 degrees outside.  Perfect!

Two updates … first, I cut out the pieces I needed for the corner units of the MIL Stars and Stripes quilt.  All that is left is to assemble them and add in the two borders.

Stars and Stripes Corner Units Cut Out

Second, I made a LOT of progress on my Away From Home BOM.  This is all part of Block 1.  I feel so good about it, I’m going to link up to Sinta’s BOM Rehab for today and show it off.  I realized that I am very happy with my decision to machine applique instead of needle turn these pieces.  I may do needle turn on the women figures due to their complexity, but who knows?  I really like how this turned out.

Away From Home Block 1 Applique WIP

Here’s a closeup of the different pieces and you can see where I am sewing just inside the edge of the fabric.  I think this is acceptable – yes?  It should hold fine in a wash – yes?

Block 1 Machine Applique Closeup

So, here’s the plan now.  I’m taking a break from this particular block and going to open up my Mill Girls BOM for which I have blocks 1 and 2 already.  These are pieced blocks, so I hope they go quickly.  I have been waiting a long time to start this quilt.  I think it will be beautiful!

Mill Girls Quilt by Nancy Rink

Happy quilting this week!

Jennifer