Applique Repair

Cutting a hole in the front of an already-appliqued piece of fabric isn't a disaster (at least not on the scale of an earthquake, tornado, or hurricane) but it felt like a catastrophe to me.  It was the first time I'd done it.  (You can see the hole in this post.)

I repaired the hole and here's the finished block.  As one of my readers commented, a scrappy pieced circle works with the scrappy pieced backround.

I cut the original center circle from the last small scrap I had of that checked fabric, just trimming the corners off to use it.  For the repair I chose fabric as similar to the original as I could find from fabric on my shelves.  The repair itself is decently okay, and it wasn't really too hard to accomplish.  I'm especially grateful I didn't have to replace the whole circle with no fabric behind to support it except for a 1/4" edge.

That block was part of my progress (then regress, then progress) this week.  The rest of my progress includes some of the blocks below.

My cumulative total of stitched blocks is 20 but I can't remember how many I've done this month.  I think I started the month with a few already stitched. 

I have 16 blocks that still need circles stitched onto them.  (One is missing from the photo below: it's in progress in another room and missed the photo shoot.)

 
I'm still moving the circles around a bit.  The colors look different depending on the light -- morning, afternoon, night, sunny day, cloudy day, etc. 

I think I'm on track to finish these circles by the end of the month (barring any catastrophes).

I'm linking this post to
> WOW (WIPs on Wednesday) at Esther's Blog 

> Let's Bee Social #111 at Sew Fresh Quilts
Thank you Esther and Lorna.

--Nancy.
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Oh, No! An Applique Mistake!

I always think I am being so careful when I cut the back of applique blocks.  But somehow, this morning -- the first time ever --

I cut through the rust-colored fabric into checked fabric of the top circle!  The rust fabric behind the circle is completely cut away.  I was trimming inside the circle a little more.

Now what?  I searched the internet but didn't find any information about fixing a mistake like this.

Can I patch it?  Can I unstitch part of the plaid circle, sew a straight seam to add fabric, trim it, and re-stitch?

I doubt I will be able to unstitch the whole circle, replace it, AND have it come out looking remotely round.  I don't have the experience or ability (yet, if ever) to do it.

Will I need to begin again, from the background fabric up?

I stitched the rust circle yesterday while watching Downton Abbey.  I stitched (and cut the hole in) the checked fabric this morning.

This is what it looked like before I cut the slice out of it.

Have you ever had a problem like this?  If so, how did you resolve it?

I'm linking this post to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.  Thanks, ladies.

I hope you're making progress (and not regress, as I am) with your quilting endeavors!

--Nancy.
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