Don't do what I do (or learn from my mistakes)

Remember how I had the idea to pad out/trapunto the areas behind the appliqué before joining the blocks together? Seemed like an amazingly sensible idea at the time. Well the idea is not bad, it is in fact a very good one given two things I didn't take into account. One is if you have to add more appliqués which go over the joined seams. You can see how hard it is to fit it all in the harp of the machine. When doing machine appliqué you want, no you NEED no drag on the machine when you are trying to control a stitch just less than 1/16" wide.
I wanted to use Quilter's Dream Deluxe to pad out the shapes. I couldn't find it anywhere in England but luckily Hancock's of  Paducah had a free shipping offer on and I took advantage of it. I have used it before and been pleased with it for this sort of thing but this time it seems to have more bulk and be less drape (this is probably my memory or it could be just the sheer amount of it I am using in this quilt).

The other problem it presented was how the bulk of this batting wanted to push the fabric over when I was doing the quarter inch seams.
And a third problem was I hadn't trimmed back my blocks to the completed size before adding the trapunto. There had been a good reason for this. I did not want the edges of the block to fray during so much handling, but it is very difficult to cut and line up accurately when half of the block has trapunto in place.....

So this is it all joined up with the trapunto cut out from behind (mostly)

I still have the vases to cut away.

I was very pleased with myself I remembered to mark the quilting lines on the vases before the trapunto. It would have been nigh impossible to do it afterwards with any accuracy. You have a sneak preview of my next border here. It might not look like much but just preparing all those lobes for these feathers took three days (and I haven't even started to stitch them yet).

And I need help. Does anyone have any idea what this shrub is called? It's up at the cottage and the builder has planted it.

It's five or six years old now and needs a trim but I would like to do it at the right time of year and using the right pruning method for it. I am at a loss without knowing what it is.....

faux trapunto, Light and Shade and Toad in the Hole.

 I've decided to do faux trapunto behind each of the appliqués. I'm taking an approach used by longarmers, and that is to quilt just outside the appliqué to make it more prominent. Because of this I don't have to use water soluble thread. I'm using Quilter's Dream de luxe (the heaviest weight) polyester for the trapunto. This batting sticks like cotton and is a joy to machine quilt. This weight is almost like white synthetic felt, the two lighter weights, Request and Select have a really good drape, but this one is quite stiff. I'm stitching this batting with Invisifil just up against the applique before cutting away the excess.

I bought the Invisifil at the National Quilt Show this summer. I love this thread, it behaves like the silk but so very much cheaper. Very kindly Wonderfil gave me some of their other threads to try out. I haven't had occasion to play with them yet, but I'm excited with the prospect. I just know if I start playing before I've finished the Heart's Desire quilt, I won't finish it.

For the Light and Shade piece for the International Quilt Challenge this month, I quilted a wide attic window style  border . On the lighter putty shade of the border I used a filler I haven't used since I made my husband a quilt for the millennium. I had forgotten how quickly this background filler quilting goes, it's possibly one of the fastest out there (something to remember).

We had Toad in the Hole with a rich onion gravy for dinner tonight. We haven't had this for years and it was yummy!