"BLOOM" Sew Along, Block 4...and Ren Gown Update

Hiya!  I'm "Bloom"ing right along, and got Block 4 of Lori Holt's Sew Along done!

Credit: "A Bee in My Bonnet". Click the pic to see Lori's tutorial.

This one looked pretty straight-forward with only a few pieces, so I was stoked to get started.  I picked my fabrics, which ended up being close to the pattern suggestions, traced my templates and then rough-cut my Steam a Seam 2:

I really love the dark blue fabric with the yellow cherries...I may need to buy yardage!  And those adorable chicks on the yellow!?!  OMG, this is my favorite color-combo yet!  This fabric line is just perfectly cute!  

So after sticking the SAS2 to the back of each fabric piece, I mocked them up, and pressed them into place:

  

Added blanket stitch applique, except for the stem, which got zig-zagged.  That stitch works so much better on the stems than the blanket stitch!

Squared it up, picked some border fabric, and framed this bad boy:

So cute, and relatively painless!  This block completes one row of the quilt, so I just had to have a preview:

LOVE it!  I'm planning on sashing each block with 1" of the white background fabric...I kinda want to highlight each block separately, and I think the patchwork-y double borders need to be broken up in order to do that.  Also, I may tweak the final layout and/or add more blocks, so I won't be sewing my blocks together until the end.  If you check out Lori's blog (and you really should!), she has posted bonus flower patterns/ideas for using her "Bloom Sew Simple Shapes" templates, and they are super-adorable:

Credit: "A Bee in My Bonnet".  Click the pic for Lori's tutorial.

I love those patchwork flowers!  Lori is a true creative genius, and her ideas are awesome, but she really does a fantastic job of explaining to us mere mortals how easy her methods are, and then she actually takes the time to teach them...you can just tell that she wants to help peeps make pretty things!  I may be slightly crushing on her!  But seriously, her hard work should be recognized, and I hope that anyone reading this knows it!  Afterall, she's the reason I'm trying applique for the first time and getting such great results!  So check out her blog and buy her stuff in her Etsy shop!  

Unfortunately, Block 5 is going to have to wait a bit, because I have to finish up my Ren Faire outfit...my friend and I are going tomorrow!  Since my last post, I was able to make a square-necked chemise (a first for me), and detachable sleeves to match my green underskirt/forepart fabric (overskirt not shown):

So my costume is pretty complete.  I just need to sew that trim to the top of the bodice, and maybe add the brown beads to the front, if I have time.  I still need to make a bag, some type of hat, and I need a feather fan.  At this point, I'm really over working on this thing....it's been 4 years in the making.  So I hope to have some really cool pics for you tomorrow!