Thursday, October 20, 2011

Perennials Charming Thursday

We're getting so close - only 4 more weeks in our Charming Thursday blog giveaways. This week's featured KT collection is Perennials. The back story on this is one of practicality. When we built the cabin, I knew I wanted to landscape with low-maintenance, deer-resistance plants native to our area. Easy to care for Kansas Perennials were the answer. We enlisted the help of our local garden store expert who came to our home and made an outline for us - a plant-by-numbers, so to speak. Since she knew how large the plants would get and what would thrive in sun and shade, it made my job much easier. All I needed to do was pick what I liked for each area in the yard. I don't have much of a green thumb although I have grown to love digging in the dirt, trimming back bushes and splitting/rearranging plants each year. Spending time outside is a great way to unwind, decompress and relax while at the same time being inspired and re-energized about a new fabric line or quilt. I can't say I LOVE to garden just yet, but it's definitely growing on me.

Perennials were uppermost in my mind when we were planting our flower gardens and designing last year's spring line at the end of the summer. A vintage French floral set the stage for a variety of prints and geometrics that reminded me of all the flowers we had planted.


After working with straight lines in all the Moda precuts the past few seasons, curved lines appealed. Our Perennials quilt features curves with no curved piecing thanks to our unique raw edge applique technique. Each block is simply a square-in-a-square with (4) 1/4-circles raw edge stitched on the center square. The border echos the theme with 1/2-circles raw edge appliqued to a long border strip - small effort, big payoff!



The flowers scattered all over the quilt top are fused in place and raw edge stitched (I was blessed to have my quilter stitch them as she quilted.) The winner of this week's Perennial charm pack will also receive the pattern with 3 projects. Enjoy!

Let me know your feelings about curved piecing - love it, hate it, allergic, love the look but never tried it?

96 comments:

  1. I do it, but don't like to do curved piecing. The Perennial is very pretty and if I happen to win it, I would make it .... guess I need to get out of my box. LOL!

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  2. Curved piecing isn't terribly awful. I've made a winding ways quilt. The part I don't like is cutting the pieces out.
    Love the Perennial fabric.

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  3. I've never made anything with curved piecing before. But it is so pretty :-) As is the Perennial fabric!

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  4. I've never tried curved piecing, I'm not drawn to it. Looks difficult, so I'll probaby avoid it until I'm needing a new challenge.

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  5. I tried curved piecing ONE time, just to prove I can do it. Now I don't have to do it any more. LOL!! Just kidding. I usually do an appliqué to imitate curves. :)
    KZK

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  6. I love the look but don't feel its something I can take on. Maybe someday. And the Perennial line is wonderful. Just finished a lap quilt made with Perennial....it was suppose to be for a gift, but it is so pretty I may have to keep it :) SWarren

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  7. LOVE PERENNIAL COLLECTION! I LIKE CURVES,IT ADDS A LITTLE DIFFERENT DIMENSION TO A BLOCK OR BORDER.
    THANKS SO FOR SHARING!

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  8. I have never really taken on curved piecing, I have done scalloped borders though!! As always, your fabric lines are wonderful, Perennials is beautiful! Love the quilt :)

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  9. I love the challenge of curved piecing and this collection, (as usual) is gorgeous!
    Rose

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  10. Beautiful collection, I haven't tried curved piecing yet, but it looks great :)

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  11. I avoid curves in my quilts - even scalloped edges - because they intimidate me.

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  12. I am a beginning quilter so I haven't tried curved piecing yet. I love the Perennials!

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  13. Really enjoy curved piecing, drunkards path variations quilt in progress. There's a sewing foot you can buy which makes it soooo easy to machine piece 'em. Loving the Perennials!

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  14. I've never tried curved piecing as it just looks too difficult and very time consuming. However, I did try your raw edge applique technique and it turns out really cool!
    Pat F. in Jamestown, NY

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  15. I have never tried curved piecing but think I will someday. I just taught myself to applique so I think if the directions are decent I can try just about anything related to fabric once.

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  16. Your raw edge applique technique is great! Makes doing curves a breeze!

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  17. I'm working on a quilt right now with curved piecing; not too bad. Love the Perennials.

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  18. I love the Perennial fabric. I don't think I've seen it before. I have done some curved piecing, but prefer to substitute appliqué when possible. I bought a special foot to make curved pieces like a Drunkard's Path when I saw it demo'd at the Intl. Quilt Show. I never could get the hang of it.

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  19. Ahhhh - curved piecing. Love AND hate it. Definitely a challenge, but I surely do love the designs that can be made with it! Note to self - challenge yourself more! Thanks for the giveway - I adore this fabric line (and I adore gardening too.)
    sunshdws@yahoo.com

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  20. Lovely fabric line and the quilt top is beautiful. As far as curved piecing...it truly depends on the project. I don't mind it so much.

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  21. Love the look, but have never tried it! This fabric is so beautiful@@

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  22. I do better with curves than straight, my straight ends up crooked anyways, lol. Love the fabrics and pattern.

    Debbie

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  23. I am totally intimidated by curves. Maybe one day soon I can tackle that! I really love these fabrics--beautiful!

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  24. I came from clothes sewing background before I got into quilting. If you can set in a sleeve, curved piecing is a cake walk.

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  25. Curved piecing? No problem! I love the look. Thanks for the fun!

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  26. I've never made curved piecing but it looks pretty, I really should try! Cute fabrics, I love them!

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  27. Love the name of this beautiful line. This was my first year to not buy any annuals my perrennials have filled the garden. I've have never attempted curves. Really enjoying Charming Thursdays.

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  28. I haven't really sat down to give it a go yet. I did get some curvey dies with my GO cutter just because those are the ones that are harder to do with rotary cutting, so I expect I'll get plenty of practice with curves once I sit down to cut cut cut!
    My living room is in those colors...green, cream, rust...ahhhh.

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  29. I really love curved piecing!
    But I only made such a quilt by hand.
    Love to win this patern!

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  30. Love the flower prints-- love to work in my flower garden-- LOVE perennials-both the plants AND the fabrics! :-) As for curved piecing... haven't done much of it, and don't especially love doing it, but surely do love quilts, etc, that have curved piecing in them, so I guess I really should make learning how to do it one of my goals! :-)

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  31. I love the look of curved piecing, but I have never tried it. Maybe now is the time. Thanks for the chance to win.

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  32. I have not done curved piecing, but would like to try your raw edge curve quilt pattern. I like your idea of "curves with no curve piecing." I have a scalloped border quilt in my to-do project pile. Love these fabrics and all of your colors that always work well together. Thanks for the opportunity to win. Lana

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  33. I'd love to win Perennials, it is a gorgeous quilt! I have done a little curved piecing, it's not too bad. Just takes a little extra time and attention. I love digging in the dirt, too!

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  34. I haven't done any curved piecing but would be willing to give it a try. It has to be easier than hand applique with curves. I wish I could have a garden planner. Lucky you! Thanks for the chance to win again.

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  35. I love the look, but, am not fond of doing curved piecing. Reminds me of sewing for 4-H - not my fondest memories! Even though I love to sew now, I didn't when I was such a tom-boy! HUGS... and stitches

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  36. I've never tried curved piecing...I'm scared too! LOL But I would attempt it with my MIL's help. :) I enjoy reading about your cabin and your garden. I am sure it's so beautiful when in full bloom!

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  37. I have a thing about circles - I love them. When I was President of our Guild, I wanted a very easy project to do so that our beginners would not feel intimated. The Bull's Eye appealed to me so we all made 48 squares (they could all be the same or all different). Then I took the squares and every person got one of theirs and one from everyone else so they got 48 squares back. From there we chopped and sewed and made our quilts. I encouraged everyone to do something other than the regular bull's eye. They turned out beautiful. Because I was leading the way, felt I should make it as it was supposed to be but to be different, I made a wall hanging, three bull's eyes with a yo-yo and button in the middle made flowers. It was a fun project. I have a couple more patterns with curved piecing I'd like to get done. Have a great day!

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  38. I've never tried curved piecing....I'm more of a straight line kind of gal! I think this is because I'm not a fan of applique....don't get me wrong, I think the quilts are beautiful, but it's just not something I am interested in trying myself! For those who do...keep up the good work! Love all of your fabric lines! Thanks for the chance to win! Connie

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  39. Hello... One of my favorite lines... I just bought some of the big all over print with the black background to use on a border of a KT quilt that is in my future. I am working on a sampler that I purchased in Colorado last year on our vacation. I have all the blocks done and put into rows. Now I just have to put those rows together. it is going to be beautiful. The pattern is a great one, but the use of KT fabrics makes the quilt. Thanks for these Charming Thursdays. I enjoy reading everyones comments. Also thank you Lynn for designing such lovely fabric over and over.
    Happy Quilting
    Onalee
    Stow, Ohio
    Hawk12@aol.com

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  40. The curved piecing I've done went OK though was part of a foundation pieced fan. What I have not done is applique, much less circles for applique. That does scare me. Thanks for the Perennials chance. The quilt is very pretty.

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  41. I have done curved "paper" piecing, which made the work a lot more simpler (maybe that doesn't even count?) But I love the Perennial pattern and take it as a challenge to make. I'm with you in that perennials are the way to go. My hubby does most of the flowers as I have a huge veggie garden. Autumn joy sedum is my favorite perennial.

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  42. I have never tried curves but will try this one. Love the ay you do the applique it is very easy to do. Used your patterns for raw edge and love to do it. Love the material also.
    Will try the pattern

    Sandy S

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  43. I like curved piecing. Like you said, "big payoff"

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  44. Love the fabric and the quilt. Have never tried curved piecing, but no time like the present. Sandy B

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  45. I have not tried curved piecing - yet! I love the look however being new to the quilting world I have so far avoided curves. One day!

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  46. I've been piecing the blades for a Grandmother's Fan quilt and eventually in order to finish each block I'll have to do some curved piecing. I've done some applique curves (doubt those count) and 2 other blocks that had some curved piecing. I seem to avoid blocks with curves, but maybe I will be more accomplished after piecing these blocks.

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  47. Never tried curved piecing. Love perennials! I have a lot of them handed down (split) from my grandparents, down to my parents, down to me and now I am splitting them for my girls!

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  48. I made a double wedding ring quilt once. That was enough curved piecing for me. I don't like it.

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  49. I have learned to enjoy curved piecing because I really like the results. I also love the perennials line. I am currently building a quilte of my own design using a fat eigth bundle. I need more for the border, so I hope I win the charm pack.

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  50. Love this pattern. I've been a little apprehensive about trying curved piecing. I haven't gotten up the courage to try it yet. I like this collection. I have a wall hanging that I am making with it and wouldn't mind having the charm pack to use too. Thanks.
    Lois R.

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  51. I love the look of curved piecing, but I've never tried it. I guess it' time to think out of the box.

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  52. I like curved piecing. I use a lot of pins to do it. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  53. Lynne, curved piecing has always scared me away and I never wanted to attempt it...but your way of using raw-edge applique just might make me rethink this!
    Cheers!

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  54. Very pretty! I've never tried curved piecing...I'd probably be more likely to applique curves, as I like hand applique.

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  55. I love your raw edge technique. It makes the quilt look difficult to make but it really is very easy. I have my flowers all cut out and ready for this quilt. I used a different KT print for each flower.

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  56. I have never had the desire to try curved piecing. Am more attracted to the traditional quilts; but never know if I might be willing to try if it is done with raw-edge applique. I am a huge fan of KT fabrics and would love to get that perennial charm pack to add to my stash. It would be so nice!!! Have been enjoying your charming Thursdays to see those lucious fabrics and their patterns that go with them.

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  57. I've only ever done liberated curved piecing. With that, there are no mistakes!! kathie l in Allentown

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  58. i haven't really done much curved peicing yet...thanks for a chance to win - laurie

    llsbaskets@comcast.net

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  59. Curved peicing is something I haven't tried as yet.......it seems difficult. But I should ignore my fear as I did have a simmilar fear with needle turn applique, but once I tried it & with a bit of practice I've had success. Thanks for the give away ;- )

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  60. Curved piecing takes longer but I like the look, so it's worth the extra time.

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  61. Curved piecing adds interest to the quilt. I love the colors of Perennials. Thanks for the opportunity to win this fabulous fabric!! Andrea L. in Calif.

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  62. I would love to add Perennials to my collection. It reminds me of my flower garden. I love curved piecing. It adds a new dimension to my quilts.

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  63. Haven't tried curved piecing..yet!....I'm a new quilter and I'm willing to give anything a try (at least once to see if I can do it...love a good challenge!!!) BTW, Perennials is so pretty.
    cwayons(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  64. I have to be honest and say I love the look, but have never tried.

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  65. I have yet to try anything curved. Terrified of my own ignorance. I need to come out of my box and get brave and do it. I wonder if I am the only quilter that would live and breathe Kansas Troubles and would be more then happy to use it in all my quilting pleasures? LOL, I hope you got a laugh out of that. Thanks for the chance to win Perennials, so pretty.

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  66. I've never done curved piecing before. It scares me!!!

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  67. I haven't gotten the nerve yet...don't know why...if I can sew armholes and collars smoothly....Yet I always seem to go for the appliqued curves instead of pieced.

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  68. I love curves, though have still not tackled a Drunkards' Path, may you believe. Your "Perenniels Charm Quilt" would be the perfect way to give it a go! Thanks for the opportunity offered in your draw. ...Margaret

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  69. I love the raw edge applique & PLAN to do it myself as I quilt---as soon as I catch up with all my clients' quilts. Theirs come 1st! Love your patterns and fabrics!

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  70. Also, love the purple-ish quilt on the left side! and the Perennials fabric, of course. That was my favorite Sudoku one that I got to quilt for Moda's booth at Market last year.

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  71. I absolutely love the Perennials line of fabric.(but then again I love everything KT) Love the look of curved piecing but it is actually something I haven't tried yet. Someday, right now I am trying to tackle hand applique which is something I always was afraid to do. So curved piecing could be in my future.

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  72. I haven't pieced a quilt with curved pieces but since I have spent 40+ years sewing garments I can't say I am intimidated by it. I just love the look of all the straight lines. I tend to stay away from triangles, too!

    Love the Perennials line.

    I agree with your comment about gardening. I don't LOVE it but I can enjoy it. Frankly, I like vegetable gardening better!

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  73. I first tried curved piecing while in a Dear Jane class, and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it really is! Now needle-turn applique is another story!

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  74. I don't "love" curved piecing but I can do it and I really like the look of curved blocks. I like the flowery print in this packet. Very pretty. Thank you for the opportunity to win some.
    Mary

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  75. I've avoided designs with curved piecing because I don't want to get frustrated/annoyed, but that isn't to say I don't like the designs. Raw edge applique is a nice alternative. I love the colors is your Perennial line, and I seem to be very partial to flower prints.

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  76. I haven't done much actual curved piecing. I love the look without all of the work.

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  77. I'm among the lovers...but scared to try it bunch. I have had "make a scalloped border" on my "to accomplish this year" list for nearly 2 years now....maybe in 2012....janet

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  78. i love the look but have not tried. Maybe this year i will try it! thanks!

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  79. I love the look of curved piecing. I have tried it once. I made a flower with very gentle curves. I would like to do more.

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  80. cjconner5642@sbcglobal.netOctober 21, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    i didnt care for the curves but it got easier as i "curved" on. love the perennial fabric but then i love all yr fabric..

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  81. I haven't tried curved piecing yet. Not that I've avoided it, just haven't found a project with curves in it.

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  82. I have tried curved piecing once and prefer to cheat and fused my curved pieces in! I think I just need to practice more to get the hang of it but really enjoy the way quilts with it look.

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  83. You all have to try Lynne's method of curved piecing- it's the greatest!! Buy the perrenials or cattail creek pattern and just do it!

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  84. Curved piecing looks intimidating-- but it seems like one of those things that may be worth some extra effort. I love the "scalloped" line in that design!

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  85. I love the look, but have never tried it. I'd love to win one of your giveaways! Thanks for the chance. I can't get enough of your wonderful fabric lines.

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  86. I love the look of curved piecing, but hated doing it. I have never tried it by machine, only by hand. I love this fabric line!
    Marilyn in NJ

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  87. Well I have watched many tutorials on curved piecing and at sewing expos but still I am not impressed. I do love the raw edge finish,I am more primitive than traditional. Love the fabric too.
    Maggey

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  88. I've never tried curved piecing, because I've always been able to do applique instead. I'm sure that I'll try it someday, tho.
    Love this line of fabrics - they're so pretty.

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  89. Love the Perrenials fabrics. Thank you for a chance to win some.

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  90. I haven't tried curved piecing, but it is on my list for 2012. It's time I challenge myself a bit:) Thanks!

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  91. Love the scale of the prints and the yummy colors! I've never tried any curved piecing but would love to. I've done applique with curves :) The pattern looks wonderful!

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  92. I don't think I've ever really tried curved piecing. Started a paper piecing project with curves something like eight or nine years ago and then packed it up to move; other projects have been more top-of-list since that I've never gone back to it! Someday ...

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  93. Try Lynne's method of curved piecing- it's fast, it's easy and it's fun!

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  94. Love the new line of fabric. Been working on traditional curved piecing for 6-7 years & still don't have it finished. This sounds like it would be something I would like to try & keep my interest. Like the piecing in the quilt.

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  95. Lynne, each of your projects inspire me. I love that some designs have curves and some are linear. I truly am addicted to you fabric and designs. I couldn't find a shop that does the KT Stash society in Oklahoma , so I contacted Prarie Point in Shawnn Mission,KS. It has been wonderful! We just finished our friendship blocks (I had to mail mine in). My sister in law leaves near ther so she picked the blockers that were sent to me. I can't describe to how two 53 year old women were streaming at the same time in two different states. We were extra tic to receive the block you made, especially with your signature. I will prize my quilt forever! Thanks so muck! Thanks for keeping my creative juices flowing with your wonderful ideas and products. This tops my photo of Bobby Vinton and me! Thanks again

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