Part 2. In a never ending story. There may very well parts 3 and 4 and on into infinity. But for now this is it. I have some fabric in the cold-white-north sewing studio that I’ll be using to add some flair to the collar and cuffs. When I get back there. When it is above 45 degrees during the day. Which could be April. Or May. Or even June. Meanwhile, I am enjoying life where ever I am at the moment.

Anyhow….

In last week’s post I was struggling with adding the swallows to the back of the jacket. I tried “freezer paper applique” and couldn’t get the wing and tails to point!

So I thought, I’ll just get “Heat ‘n Bond” lite and use that for raw edge applique. Easy Peasy. Which I have used for numerous quilts and other projects. Just iron it on the fabric, cut the pattern out, press it onto the project, do some edge stitching. Done!

Except my daughter brought over this name pillow on Sunday that I had made and appliqued with Heat ‘n Bond lite. I make these for all the grandkids. Actually I’ve made many for other people’s grandkids. Here’s what it looked like a couple years ago.

And what it looks like now!

Very disappointed.

To be fair, the fabric I used for these letters was not cotton quilting fabric. It’s a little thicker and has a brushed finish. Perhaps that caused the letters to come unglued. But. Still. I have used this fabric many times with Heat ‘n Bond lite so there are probably many gifts out there that have suffered the same fate!

The moral of the story is, I’ll be a little more careful with the projects I use with Heat ‘n Bond lite. It’s a great product but doesn’t always wear well.

Okay. What to do for the jacket? All applique and embroidery is out of the equation.

And so, I went back to the FPP Hope Tattoo. Took off the word. (I had only basted it on so not a big deal. I will use it elsewhere!)

I had not liked the first Hope Tattoo block I made for this jacket because of the light blue. I considered using a grungier blue for the sky but thought the blue in the birds would disappear. Then I had a moment of brilliance. (It was just a brief moment, those don’t happen often.) I would use old jeans for the background–my daughter had just given me a bunch.

I bought a darker blue for the birds so they would stand out more. Despite looking black, it is a very dark blue piece from Camelot that I purchased at our local craft shop, Merry Pin.

I reduced the pattern to 85%. Then trimmed it out to fit the panel on the back of the jacket. It almost looks like the same shade of denim!

The denim proved difficult in the some of the seams. Just too much thick fabric all meeting together, but I worked it out. (Just in case, I did some top stitching to make sure the FPP pieces stay together and then quilted it onto the jacket.)

Now It’s really just how I wanted it.

And. I’ve been only going out in my puffy coat, gloves, and knitted hat since it has been so chilly and windy here. But the sun came out yesterday and the wind died down. I was actually able to wear and model my embellished jacket!

Cherry blossoms aren’t out yet, but the tulip trees are starting to bloom! Spring is here–hoping it’s not false spring!

Cherry blossoms are supposed to reach their peak March 28th to April 3rd. There will be pictures!

By, the way, after saying my gallery wall would not all be swallows–that I was working on a tiger–while I was cleaning out a closet I found a piece that I machine embroidered last year.

I will have to make another gallery wall just for tigers I guess!