Scrappy Snacks: Bite Sized Applique – A Review

Hi!

It’s time for another class review this week, and I know you’re going to love Timna Tarr’s “Scrappy Snacks: Bite Sized Applique” class on the Creative Spark Class platform just as much as I did.  You may have seen Timna’s distinctive scrappy circles quilts online, and in this quick and easy to follow class, she shares exactly how she makes them, so you can have a go at making your own.

There’s a handy downloadable and printable “How To” guide as well, so work your way through the videos, and when you understand her technique, you can always refer back to the handout later.

I must admit – I’d always wondered how Timna’s circles were always so perfect – especially when they were scrappy pieced, and it turns out the answer is coffee filters!!???

Timna shares her tricks for using these ready-made templates for foundation paper piecing, and her demonstration and tips for using these opened up a world of possibilities for me to think about.

Once the circle is improv string pieced and prepped for applique, you can tear away the paper easily –

…and then finish your circle ready for appliqueing.

And doesn’t it look cute on that low volume background!

Once you’ve made one, you can make as many as you’d like, and Timna explains one is ‘bite size’, a few is ‘snack size’ and a whole bunch more is ‘meal sized’ for a whole quilt.

With the “how to’s” covered, Timna continued to explain some of her tips and theories for color choices, and how to lay them out to tell a ‘color story’.

There’s some practical demos of how to pull scrappy fabrics together to make the circles, and I loved the real life photos at the end of laying out a big quilt.  It was great to see her quilt laid out on the living room floor in pieces, as many of us do with our quilts!!

And the finished quilt!

I really appreciated that Timna also shared her tips for quilting these style of quilts too. Making the circles puff up gives a great texture to these quilts, and she demonstrated how to quilt without many thread breaks, and this is something you could quilt on your domestic machine at home too.

One of her quilts on the longarm machine.  Look at those circles pop!

 

My Turn:

I couldn’t resist having a play with this technique as soon as I’d finished the class – it seemed like too much fun to not give it a go.

I did have plenty of scraps, but no coffee filters, so I made do with some cupcake papers.

When I ironed them flat, the regular sized cupcake paper was too large for what I wanted, but the mini size was perfect.

Fabrics were chosen, and I set to work.

And I have to say – I loved the result.  This is fun and certainly very repeatable.  No getting bored making circles here!!

I appliqued mine onto a scrap 5 inch charm square, then quilted and bound it to finish.

This is the perfect size for a coaster or mug rug, and will now be in pride of place on my desk!

What can I say – I loved this quick class, and I can definitely see a bunch more circles in my future…

 

I am delighted too, to let you know that I have one free “Scrappy Snacks: Bite Sized Applique” class to give away to a lucky reader this month, courtesy of Timna Tarr and Creative Spark.

To be in the running to win this class, please leave me a comment below about what you’d like to make with these fun circles, and I’ll draw a name at random next Tuesday afternoon (the 27th May), from those who leave a comment.

Good luck, and enjoy your week,