Log Beauties: 2026 Sew-Along, Part 4

November 3, 2026

I left all the applique until the end so I wouldn’t have to re-thread the machine over and over. Lazy? Efficient? I’ve heard it both ways.

Don’t forget to read Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 if you missed them. Lots of pictures.

Light Dots

The first block in the project relies heavily on applique for its visual interest. The directions are for fusible applique with machine-zigzagged edging, using Stickvlies (interfacing for machine embroidery) on the backside to keep the block from being dragged down into the feed dogs.

It’s entirely possible I already own some Stickvlies from a previous project, but I couldn’t find it in a reasonable amount of time.

The blogpost that I found after completing City Sunset also had some directions for circles, using cardboard templates. Cardboard I have.

Then I used a straight-stitch. No interfacing necessary.

It’s not very round, but it’s finished.
September 2026

Block still needs to be trimmed down to 12.5″ square.

Stego

The directions for this one require a commercial product that retails for 40€, was sold out at the recommended online shop, and also wasn’t to be found at any of the Iowa quilt shops I visited over the summer. File under, “I tried their technique, but mine works better for me.”

More cardboard!

More straight stitch!

Still needs to be trimmed up. That’s for Part 5.

Ups & Downs

As you no doubt recall, this one is pretty boring without the applique.

Like the Light Dots, the directions for this block were also fusible applique with zig-zag and interfacing, but I thought it might be fun to do needle-turn applique, a hand-stitching technique I learned in a class in an Indiana quilt shop in 1998 and haven’t done since.

You know why I haven’t done it since? I hate it. I hate it so bad, my brain completely erased it to protect me from ever doing it again, but I thought I was smarter than my own brain. After watching some YouTube tutorials, I got started.

Freezer paper template, pinned into place a full half-inch wrong, so I had to undo the whole thing and start over.
September 2026

IT TOOK THREE DAYS. Mr Radish was on a business trip, so I was able to live off tacos to save time, but this is all I did for three whole days.

Needle-turn looks so beautiful when other people do it. When I do it, it looks…well, it’s finished, and there are fifteen other blocks to distract a viewer.