New to Me in July

It's the 25th of the month, so time to welcome you to another New to Me link party, don't they seem to come around more quickly in the summer?

I usually feel before I put these posts together that I haven't actually tried anything new in the month, so it is always a relief when I find out that I have :)

With the last class of my local quilt group before the summer break, we were introduced to the new to me technique of freezer paper applique. I have read instructions on how to use freezer paper for applique, but will be honest and say that they had never made much sense to me before, so I was delighted to get the chance to have a hands-on go at the technique.

The block is destined to be a stained glass applique block in the sampler quilt, but as you can see I haven't made much progress despite the class being three hours long! Still, I like the accuracy that tracing the shapes onto freezer paper gives, so definitely have plans to use the technique again, but only when I have actually managed to finish this block!

I always thought when reading the instructions that the fabric would be slightly sticky when the freezer paper was peeled off, but it wasn't at all much to my relief.

Despite regularly visiting France for many years, we have never actually been there on the big national holiday of Bastille Day, which commemorates the storming of the Bastille Prison in Paris during the French Revolution. So we were delighted to find that our recent trip co-incided with this national celebration.

Being France, naturally, the local markets continued as normal, it would never do to be unable to get your fresh croissants or baguettes now would it?

The shoppers were a bit different from the norm though :)

I certainly felt very scruffy in my summer t-shirt and skirt compared to these glorious outfits!

So, that's what I have been up to that was New to Me in July. Now it's your turn, as ever please help to spread the word by linking back to this post in your post and/or adding the blog button to your sidebar.

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Check out the other links and leave a comment along the way. The emphasis of this link party is to celebrate the trying of something new, whether it works out exactly as planned or not, so a little encouragement here and there would not go amiss! 

The link will remain open until 23.59GMT on July 31st, so you have plenty of time to try something new and link up and join the party :)

An InLinkz Link-up

If you have been working on a Christmas in July project too, don't forget to link up to this month's

which is hosted by the lovely Nicole at Modern Handcraft, you will love her tutorial for a Christmas Advent Chain!