I was very fortunate to be a contributor to Sunset Magazine's 2000 Idea House in Parker, Colorado which was open to the public  from June 10th through July 30th, 2000. Denver architect Arlo Braun & Associates combined towers and turrets with gable roofs, shingled exteriors and expansive porches of late-19th century Shingle Style homes. Interior designer Steve Neuman used rich interior colors (a total of 14 different interior wall colors!) and textures, classic furnishings and the latest in home technology. Visit www.sunset.com for complete information on the Idea House. The Rocky Mountain Idea House was also featured in the September 2000 issue of Sunset Magazine on page 134.

The girl's bedroom on the lower level displayed two of my pieced Roman shades. The appliquéd and pieced patterns on the shades coordinate with the custom area rug and bedding. The rust, buttermilk, white and green fabrics with blue accents offer a stunning counterpoint to the cobalt-blue walls and white-on-white bedding. The effect of sunlight through the shades is that of stained glass.

These shades illustrate the age-old axoim: "Never say never." I always said that I would never appliqué a shade. However, the request of the interior designer was to replicate some of the geometries in the custom area rug. Imagine my chagrin when I saw the rug: not a single straight line! I had just taken a class by Jane Sassaman on machine appliqué. I very much enjoyed the class, but left telling myself that I would never use her technique. I seldom name my work, but this one has to be called "The Curse of Jane Sassaman". Her style and technique were perfect for the required look. I just wonder what I would have done if I hadn't taken that class. (You can view Jane's wonderful art quilts on her web site.)

Design Considerations for Appliqué Shades  I am a novice at appliqué and asked my Art Bee members and fabric store workers for help. I determined the fold locations first and then placed all but the two largest patterns "between" the folds. I used Pelon iron-on interfacing on the larger shapes and cut out the back fabric and interfacing. This allowed the sunlight to back-light the shade in these areas. The smaller shapes were applied using fusible web. I did not cut out the back fabric on these small shapes. I didn't like the way those shapes looked in bright sunlight. They just appeared dark and muddy. You could not tell if the fabric was blue, green or yellow. I used a satin stitch and a blanket stitch around all of the patterns. These are the only two decorative stitches my little portable sewing machine does. My workhorse machine - a commercial Singer - only goes forward and backwards. 

You can see other examples of Appliqué Shades in the Readers Quilt Patterns Gallery, specifically: Tammy Hutzler, Jeanette Davis and Linda Robinson.

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