By Patty Mintz

Nimble fingers, patience and an eye for detail and colour are just a few of the skills that distinguish appliqué artists.

A hand-sewn wall hanging made by Effie Smith of Burlington, Hants County is one fine example. Using a technique known as English paper piecing, Smith cut over a hundred quarter-inch hexagons and appliquéd each, stitch by tiny stitch, to a square of cloth to create the image of a floral arrangement then used tiny buttons as an embellishment.

“I worked on it on the plane from Calgary,” says Smith, who claims long trips are ideal for such time-consuming work.

“It teaches you patience,” says Thelma Miles, who lives west of Harbourville and, like Smith, belongs to the Apple Blossom Appliquers, a group devoted to the craft of appliqué, a precision needlework technique which dates back to ancient Egyptian.

Most of the women in the group are experienced quilters, but those new to appliqué are welcome to join in. They meet once a month downstairs at Esther’s Sewing Centre in New Minas to work on individual projects and, once a year, a group project such as a recently completed baby quilt for the annual VON quilt auction.

“Our quilts are well-received,” says Ruth Butler of Wolfville. “Last year our quilt went for $375, which is quite a bit for a small quilt.”

The women are also involved in a global project designed as a tribute to appliqué and its sisterhood of enthusiasts. Each woman is making a 7-inch block in a design of their own choosing which will become part of a large appliquéd piece to be displayed in a museum.

“The vision of this quilt is to show the work of appliquers around the world,” says Ruth Peskett of Centreville, who founded the Apple Blossom Appliquers -- Nova Scotia’s only chapter of The Appliqué Society - after moving here from British Columbia.

“I enjoyed being a member of an appliqué chapter there for years and I wanted to start one here. We’re the only one east of Ontario,” and one of only about 10 in all of Canada. Each chapter is part of the larger Appliqué Society, a non-profit

organization consisting of a diverse group of appliqué artists, teachers, designers, authors, collectors and enthusiasts interested in joining with others worldwide to advance and promote the craft.

(Visit the Society’s website – www.theappliquesociety.org -- click on ‘2007 TAS Show’ and view some extraordinary examples of prize-winning appliqué).

“Here we do hand appliqué,” says Butler, “but lots do machine appliqué too.”

“What we’re doing today is called fused or shadow appliqué,” says Peskett, as she demonstrates how a piece of sheer fabric placed over an appliquéd square gives it a softer look.

It’s just one of a number of techniques used in appliqué, says Smith as she unrolls one of her award-winning pieces – a dimensional Baltimore Bride’s Quilt – four years in the making -- which draws words of praise wherever it is shown, including the Hants County Exhibition where it won First Place and Best of Show.

“I put most of my stuff in competition, just to keep up the pace,” says Smith, whose current project features 21 hummingbirds on 16 blocks of fabric, every inch of which is hand-sewn and hand-quilted.

Mary Turner, a native of Windsor who lives in Kentville, has been quilting and appliquéing all her life. “There is always someone in my family who would love (such a gift),” she says of all the pieces she completes.

Esther Kalkman, who owns the store, has also gotten hooked and is adding it to her already wide-ranging repertoire of sewing skills.

“I’ve learned so much with the help of these ladies,” she says.

The Apple Blossom Appliquers meet the third Wednesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Esther’s Sewing Centre in New Minas. For more information, please phone the sewing centre at 681-1919.