April Block Lotto: Reverse Applique Eggs

How would you decorate a quilty egg block? Claire Young

In time for thoughts of Easter, a celebration of Ukrainian pysankas or simply a love of Cadbury Easter Creme Eggs, we’re setting forth April’s Block Lotto with a reverse applique theme that puts your skills and creativity to work. This block can be as simple as cutting an egg-shaped hole in the block background fabric and sewing a fun backing to fill it, or you can go as crazy as you like with improv designs. Maybe you have an old block with a pattern that would work on a decorated egg.  

However you design it, let’s keep the background to a solid-reading grey of any shade (that could be a solid grey, a tone on tone grey, a shot cotton grey) or black (same idea) so that the colours in the eggs are really showcased. You can have as many eggs as you like in your block. Here’s bets that at least one chicken shows up... 

DUE DATE 

Blocks are due at the Thursday, April 17 meeting. Each block will garner one ticket for the winner-takes-all draw that meeting. You can crack out as many egg blocks as you like! There’s no limit to your entries.

Create as many eggs as you'd like for your blocks. Gail Horvath

REVERSE APPLIQUE METHOD VIDEO

Below is a YouTube video that’s easy to follow for the reverse applique technique. You will draw an egg-shaped template of your own size, rather than a circle. The demonstrator uses freezer paper in this process – today’s grocery store freezer paper will stand up to this, no need to buy expensive quilting freezer paper.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odtUb58CTM0 

INSTRUCTIONS 

Backing fabric of grey or black, cut to 11 or 11.5 inches square. This will be trimmed to a 10.5-inch square to submit to the lotto. 

Prepare egg fabric, should be larger than your intended egg shape. This can be pieced however you like, or a whole piece of fabric. 

Cut an egg-shaped template out of paper or light cardboard, the size of the egg you’d like as an end result. 

Trace onto a piece of freezer paper that is an inch or more larger than your egg. 

Cut the traced egg shape out of the freezer paper. 

Iron freezer paper onto background fabric: waxy side to wrong side of fabric. 

Using a pencil or fabric marker, trace the egg shape onto the background fabric about half an inch inside the edge of the freezer paper. This is the inside cutting line, so it doesn’t have to be super accurate. Cut out the inside egg, then snip notches through fabric to the edge of the freezer paper. Press back the tabs for a smooth edge to the egg shape. Remove the freezer paper. Pin the egg fabric in place. On right side of fabric, top stitch in place along edge of background fabric. Trim block to 10.5 inches square if you used a larger background square.