When I met with Bettye she casually said she had an applique quilt she wanted me to quilt for her. Bettye doesn't normally share her quilts during Show and Tell so my ears perked right up. I knew she was a fabulous piecer but I'd never seen her applique. I wasn't prepared for this top when she pulled it out of her bag! It is a Vintage Valentine Block of the Month quilt. I'd seen this pattern online. In fact, a friend of mine, Lady B, finished one and I drooled all over the screen when she posted pictures of it. But I'd never seen it in person. WOWSERS! The palette of the quilt top is so romantic. The soft pinks, the natural greens all mixed with creams and beige tones. Beautiful. A quilt like this can intimidate a person. I knew I wanted to honor all the work that Bettye put into this hand appliqued masterpiece. She needle turned everything and fussy cut the fabrics to showcase every detail. I decided to do a meandering feather in the background of the center square. That meant I needed to do a meandering feather in all of the squares with that same fabric. I then put McTavishing in the background of all the gingham squares and a radiating burst of parallel lines in the striped background. The little birds and hearts got feathers. The leaves got veins. The applique took on a faux trapunto look and gave great dimension to the top. Each piece of applique was stitched around which gave it some great poof. I added petals to the flowers and twists to the ribbons. The outside border is swags with feathered interiors and beadboard to the outside edge. This quilt took a really long time to finish, but Bettye was delighted when she got it back. I even got a hug! It was a win-win scenario: she liked it and I was thrilled that I'd gotten a chance to work with this lovely pattern.