Simple Folk Month 2

I completed the second month of Simple Folk, Sarah Fielke's block of the month for 2018.  You can see my first month's blocks here. The swan block was straightforward; the hardest element was choosing the right balance of fabrics and I'm not totally happy with my choices but they're ok and in the whole quilt, I'm sure they'll be fine.
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I've been following the directions pretty much to the letter so those tiny eyes are turned by hand.  I do use Karen Kay Buckley's perfect circles for any circles that fit the sizes I have but the eyes are too small for that.

The second block was a bit more challenging and I panicked a bit getting it all to fit and ended up trimming the odd leaf and tweaking the placement.  I'm happy overall but the top pollen circles were a bit of a squeeze and the vase is a little wobbly.  The fabric layers certainly build up and guidance about cutting away has only just come up via Facebook group discussions so I'll incorporate that more into future blocks and go back and trim on what I've sewn so far where possible. 

Meanwhile, I'm storing my blocks in a block book, made from a free tutorial included in the BOM.  The block is from 500 Quilt Blocks, I still have some of my favourite blocks from the book! 

I'm happy with my blocks so far and I'm feeling more confident with the applique techniques as it progresses. 

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