Melinda Bula and Steam-a-Seam 2

I took a workshop with Melinda Bula on Saturday, 8/15. We did her geranium fusible flower. It was so much fun. I've only worked with Steam-a-Seam 2 a little, and wasn't really impressed with it for most applications. I used it on my small Dancers quilt, which is the picture under "About Me." It didn't turn out quite as I expected, and I wish I had used a different fusible web. However, it worked really well on a dolphin PC I did for an online group trade:

It just seems stiff and unyielding for large projects. But looking at, and being able to touch Melinda's quilts, I wouldn't have thought she used Steam-a-Seam 2. Which is the main reason I took her class. I wanted to know what she did differently. What I learned was that she quilts the heck out of them, using threadplay instead of traditional quilting, which appears to take the stiffness out of the fusible. This is what I was able to finish in class:

There's still quite a bit to do before I can fuse it down permanently and begin to stitch. I'm really excited about finishing this, and have plans for the piece once it's done. I'll fill you in as I get there......don't want to spoil the surprise!! But I will tell you, it won't be a wall-hanging.