Even more paper piecing!

Well, I made it but only just :) The missing block for March in Quiet Play's And Sew On BOM is finished, which means that for about 24 hours I am actually up-to-date with the BOM!

After all of the tiny pieces of the rotary cutter in July's block, this was so much more straightforward to do, and is, I think, one of the very few paper-piecing blocks that I have made where I didn't ever have to use my seam ripper :) At one point I very nearly attached a piece the wrong way round but noticed before I dropped the needle, now that is either progress or sheer good luck.

Here are all 7 of the blocks together for the first time.

Only two more to go and I will have a new addition to my sewing room, although these last two blocks look like they have some fiendish piecing.

All this paper-piecing activity means that there has been some progress on my WIP list, which now looks like this

• In Color Order HST BOM - quilting started!
• Sunday Morning Quilt Bee blocks received, 2 more to be added by me
• Sunday Morning Quilt2 Bee 13 sets of blocks received, 3 more to come
• Sunday Morning Quilt2 Bee blocks sent (on schedule)
• Star of Africa Bee blocks completed and sent (4 months behind schedule)
• Scrappy Trip Around the World Bee Q2 - sign ups start in next couple of days
•  And Sew On BOM - seven blocks completed (On Schedule!)
• Paris Cushion - fabric received
• (Almost) Irish Chain quilt basted  
• 5 blocks of NY Beauty QAL completed and fabric cut for remaining 5 blocks 
• 18 blocks of Craftsy BOM completed (only 2 more to go!)

Maybe if I can keep this paper-piecing momentum going I will get those last two blocks of the Craftsy BOM finished soon too, stranger things have happened :)

If you have managed to try something new before the month ends there is still time to link up here to the link party for July.

I have some exciting news that I will be sharing with you in the next couple of days too, but in the meantime here is a sneak peek of what is in store.

Linking up to WOW


 

More paper piecing!

Quiet Play's little houses have fired up my paper-piecing mojo, so I decided that it was time to try and catch up with Kristy's And Sew On BOM. If I didn't get any blocks made this month I would end up three months behind, and probably never catch up before the last block is posted in September :)

So as some light relief from the ironing which was threatening to take over the kitchen, I set to.

Naturally, this being paper-piecing there were a few hiccoughs along the way!

Hmmn! This is what happens when I stop concentrating and start congratulating myself on how quickly it is all going together, I forget to turn the second piece over and iron before I attach the third piece!

I had intended to make each hexagon from a different fabric but then realised after (naturally!) I had sewn the three pieces together that I had used the same fabric for the edges of the two hexagons that overlap a strip. I was not going to get the seam ripper out to change that :)

When I had finished this block I was congratulating myself on actually finishing a block for the BOM in the month that it was posted. Premature congratulations as it turns out. When I checked up to see which blocks I was now missing, I discovered that this block was posted in June so I still had July's to make.

Fortunately the paper-piecing mojo hasn't deserted me yet so I printed out July's block and set to. Some of the pieces in this block are tiny!

I have yet to mark out the grid lines on the cutting board but I will probably embroider them at the end. I am thrilled to bits that the rotary cutter is actually recognisable too!

The March block is now the only one I am missing, so with a fair wind I might even manage to get it done before the end of July and finally have caught up with this BOM. I have said that before though, so I am not holding my breath :)

As we are still (just) in July there is still time for you to link up here to this month's

 Bloggers have been trying out everything from ballooning to wigglegrams, and if you don't know what that is (I didn't!) then check out the links to find out :)

Linking up to

 

The Perfect Block

If you assume from the title of this post that I have actually made a perfect block, I am afraid you are going to be disappointed!

In actual fact, I have just finished February's block, the Seam Ripper, for Quiet Plays SAL



The reason it is the perfect block though is nothing to do with my sewing, or paper-piecing, but all to do with the subject of the block - the Seam Ripper. The idea is that you can have a mistake in your block and it looks like it is meant to be. Genius!

So my upside-down mannequins are not the disaster they might otherwise have been :) That is definitely my kind of block, thanks Kristy!

The rest of my time sewing has been spent on making bedroom curtains to have the newly decorated room ready before the family arrive for Easter.

They are nearly finished just waiting to be hemmed. It has been a while since I have made any curtains but the long straight seams were strangely relaxing, even if the pattern matching wasn't :)

Guess what is next to do!

Have the fabric and the ring from the previous lampshade, just have to have a go at putting them together.

So this is how my WIP list is looking now:-

• In Color Order HST BOM - Backed and Basted!
• (Almost) Irish Chain quilt basted
• Tsatime quilt pieced, backed and basted COMPLETED
• 5 blocks of NY Beauty QAL completed and fabric cut for remaining 5 blocks
• 18 blocks of Craftsy BOM completed (only 2 more to go!) 
• Sunday Morning Quilt Bee blocks received
• Sunday Morning Quilt2 Bee blocks sent (on schedule)
• Star of Africa Bee blocks completed and sent (back on schedule)
• Friendship Bag Swap - Bag made ready to be filled COMPLETED
• Modern Scrappy Bits Swap 3rd Round COMPLETED
• Triple Zip A Long pouch  COMPLETED
• Fancy Feet Challenge signed up COMPLETED
• And And Sew On BOM - two blocks completed (back on schedule)
• Everything but the Kitchen Sink SAL - 2nd block sewn
• Crafty Cooks Apron and Recipe Swap  sign ups completed and partners allocated
• Umbrella Prints Trimmings  received   

Hope you have had a productive week. If you have tackled anything new this month don't forget to add your like to the link party here I am really loving the variety of crafts that have been attempted.

Linking up to


 

Of Mice and (Wo)man

We are still battling the elements here in NE England, which means that I have been snugly tucked up in my sewing room (otherwise known as the Middle Son's bedroom!) for the last couple of days. There is definitely an upside to the bad weather!

Top of my list of projects to work on this month has been the HST quilt from In Color Order's BOM. Last time I posted the blocks were all completed and some shopping was required before I could add the sashing and borders. Having decided that I wanted a cream/ natural fabric for the sashing I found myself leaving my LQS with 2 metres of brown fabric under my arm.

This is what I did with it. The blocks in the sashing are the maroon/gold dot in the blocks, and the inner border is the same gold that is in the blocks. I had plenty of the gold fabric and initially intended to use that for a large outer border, but in the end decided that it would be a bit much. I am really pleased with how this has turned out.

Why is it though that as soon as I looked at the photo I realised that I had missed trimming one of the corners? I must have looked at that top half-a-dozen times without noticing, anyhow at least it was something easy to rectify!

There hasn't been much progress on any of my other WIP's, but that is fine by me.

So my WIP list currently looks like this

• In Color Order HST BOM - Top Completed
• (Almost) Irish Chain quilt basted
• Tsatime quilt pieced, backed and basted COMPLETED
• 5 blocks of NY Beauty QAL completed and fabric cut for remaining 5 blocks
• 14 blocks of Craftsy BOM completed (way behind schedule) 
• Sunday Morning Quilt Bee blocks completed and sent (on schedule)
• Star of Africa Bee blocks completed and sent (on schedule just!)
• Friendship Bag Swap signed up and partner details received
• Modern Scrappy Bits Swap 3rd Round signed up
• Curved Seams Challenge signed up
• And Sew On BOM - first block completed
• Everything but the Kitchen Sink SAL - no progress

And the mice in the title?

I like to include small items in the package when I send out Bee blocks, so when I saw instructions for some mice pincushions in the winter issue of Making magazine, I couldn't resist having a go.

And these were the result! They are made with scraps of recycled denim and cotton. The original instructions didn't give the mice any tails but I thought that was a bit cruel so added some thin cord to give them back their tails.

If one of your resolutions this year was to get organised check out Taryn's brilliant project sheets. They are available to download here

And finally

The first linky party for New to Me in 2013 opens on Friday, so get ready to link up and inspire us all with whatever you have tried for the first time this month.

Wirework flowers and repurposed earrings

If you are of a certain age you will, no doubt, remember when flower looms were all the rage. If you are far too young to remember them here is a reminder!

This flower loom came free with a magazine and I had forgotten all about it until I found it when unpacking yet another box of my craft supplies. Fortunately they are labelled with various names so that my husband hasn't actually realised how many of them there are :) Anyhow, in the accompanying magazine there were instructions for making a wire flower brooch with the loom so I decided to have a go at it.

The first wire I tried was too thick as it was difficult to get it to bend and stay bent round the pins, so I next tried a coloured copper wire 0.3mm thick.

As you can see I had no problems wrapping the second wire round the pins. I think next time though I will try a slightly thicker wire as I think it might hold the shape better.

Although I have found the flower loom and most of the rest of my supplies from the move my beading needle still eludes me, so I had to manage without for the last part of the brooch sewing beads to the centre of the flower.



The beads were cannibalised from an earring that has been resting unused at the bottom of my jewellery box for a long time. I am fairly sure I have never had a neck long enough to wear these earrings without getting them tangled up all the time so I have no idea what ever possessed me to buy them!

With a brooch back wired on with the wire left after sewing on the beads the finished brooch looks like this.

Not only different but inexpensive too the wire cost less than £2 and there is enough left for at least one more brooch, the beads were free and the brooch back was less than £1! I think I will be making more of these.


I will definitely be making more paper-pieced blocks as I have joined Quiet Play's And Sew On paper-pieced BOM. The first block is called Measure Twice, which is definitely advice I could have done with heeding in the past!

I had been waiting for the measuring tape fabric to arrive but as it arrived last weekend I really had no excuses left. The block was really straightforward to put together, although as well as measuring twice I really ought to pay more attention to the orientation of the fabric!

I finished the block off with a stamped measuring tape from another free gift from a magazine!

It is not even half way through the month and I have already completed my Bee blocks and a BOM and the Everything but the Kitchen Sink SAL yet to come! I think that means I can join something else, don't you?

On Friday I will be hosting TGIFF! which means (for a change) I will actually have a finish to blog about. Don't all faint I know it is not a common occurrence around here! So don't forget to check back then and be prepared to link up any finish you have, I can't wait to see them. 

Out with the old in with the new!

Happy New Year to one and all, I hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2013.

New Year is so important to we Scots that we have an extra day's Bank Holiday to enjoy (or recover from!) the festivities. So, although I don't live in Scotland (yet, I am ever hopeful!) I am maintaining the tradition and having a day off from the clearing-up involved with having all of the family home for the holidays.

Fortunately I wasn't responsible for the clearing up involved after this visitor departed :)

Bam-Bam checking out the kitchen!

Another tradition, this time local instead of national, that I also enjoy at this time of year is the Annual New Year's Day wheelbarrow race held in the village. The race starts and ends at the local pub, which is also I think partially responsible for many of the entrants, who decide on New Year's Eve that pushing a friend round the village in a wheelbarrow sounds like a great idea!

These competitors racing towards the finish line look remarkably fresh, so probably didn't indulge themselves too heartily the night before. A very fit friend and his wife, who were watching with us, took part several years ago, and couldn't believe how painful running around with a fully-loaded wheelbarrow could be. Definitely an activity that is better watched than participated in I think, and as you can see so do most of the village :)

With the beginning of the New Year comes new challenges to sign up for and the completion of others, well that is the theory anyway. As someone who is prone to signing up for new things when I still haven't completed existing commitments, one of my resolutions for 2013 is to finish an existing project before starting a new one.

So, with this in mind I have been stitching away at the five remaining blocks from In Color Order's HST BOM. This was the first BOM I ever signed up for, with grandiose notions of having a completed quilt to give as a Christmas present, but that lofty ambition was reduced several months ago. Still, I am delighted to now have all 12 of the blocks completed.

I still have the sashing and borders to add, but I can't decide what to do with them, so if you have any suggestions please pass them on. I have enough of the gold background fabric for the borders, but don't really have anything suitable for sashing, was thinking of a mottled cream/ fawn for that but if you have a better suggestion I would be delighted to hear it.

Now that the HST BOM is out of the way in terms of a monthly commitment I reckon that means I can take on a new one! As it happens the paper-piecing queen, Quiet Play, has just (yesterday) started a monthly paper-piecing BOM, And Sew On, with a sewing theme. The first pattern, Measure Twice, is available for free in January from her Craftsy store so I will be heading off there soon. Having only learnt to paper piece in 2012 thanks to Katy's FPPFTTcourse, I am hoping that during this BOM I will finally crack the puzzle of cutting and piecing shapes at strange angles, which has eluded me so far.

I have just seen that The Littlest Thistle has also announced a new SAL today, called Everything and the Kitchen Sink, which I would really like to do. Looks like I will have to get another project out of the way before the 15th when the first block is posted!

Dresdens, HST's and WIP's

After the excitement of the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop post yesterday it is back to normal service today, and a reality check with WIP's.

Not wanting to fall behind again on the In Color Order HST BOM, I set to yesterday to rattle up the July block. Just when I think though that I am finally getting the hang of these HST's I discover that although the points were perfect I had managed to sew the third row on the wrong way round! How unfair was that? Needless to say the points on that row never achieved the same level of perfection second time around :)

Although I have already completed the two Dresden Plate blocks for this month's Craftsy BOM, I really enjoyed putting together the modern interpretation and with the leftover material from the blocks managed to put together another two plates.

I haven't decided yet what to do with them, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.


I have also been pattern testing an embroidery pattern for Rebecca at Sew Festive Handmade and although I can't show you the finished embroidery just yet I can give you a sneak peek. The pattern will be on sale on Craftsy in early August, so I will be able to show you the whole thing then.

Only one of the above projects was actually on my WIP list, so it is not much improved I am afraid.

Completed projects

• Shades of Green, Fleur Bleu, Checkered Heart, Orange, Sunflower and Reindeer cushions
• Orphan Block needle roll, Pieced Arc Tea towel, Purse and 
• Padded Hangers  and Key/Coin tidy tutorials posted
• Sunflower and Sew Happy QAL quilts, Play mini-quilt challenge quilt 
• Patchwork Block, Dragon and Fashionista Bags

Ongoing

• 7 blocks of In Color Order HST BOM 
• (Almost) Irish Chain quilt basted
• 8 Zakka-style SAL projects completed
• Teatime quilt pieced, backed and basted 
• 5 blocks of NY Beauty QAL completed and fabric cut for remaining 5 blocks
• 14 blocks of Craftsy BOM completed (on schedule)  
• In the Bag Ugly Fabric challenge fabrics arrived still waiting for inspiration!
• 6 Summer Quilt Bee blocks completed (one month ahead!)
• 1 Star of Africa Bee block completed and sent
• Sew Festive Handmade embroidery project 

Waiting

• Indigo and violet rainbow cushions
• Last block of Sampler quilt
• Amy Butler bag
• Christmas mini quilts
• Practically Paper Piecing Blog Hop project 

Maybe it is not looking so bad after all!  Looking forward to seeing how everyone else is progressing.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday  and We Did it Wednesday

Dresden Duet

The Craftsy BOM for July is based upon the Dresden Plate block, with one block being a traditional Dresden and the second a modern take on Dresden Plates. As the Dresden Plate is currently one of my favourite blocks, I was really looking forward to tackling these. Templates are provided for the petals and inner circle, but instructions are also given for using the Ez Dresden ruler and as I bought one of these on my last trip home, it was time to get it into action.

The Traditional block used 4" petals and was machine appliqued to the background square. The centre circle was made again by stitching two 4" circles together then making a slit in the back and turning the circle inside out. Taking Katy's advice I was more generous in cutting notches around the stitched circles, so the shape was better when it was turned out.

This modern Dresden block was made with 4.5" petals, which were joined at each side with 1/4" seams and then sewn right sides together to a background square at the top edge of the petals, again with a 1/4" seam. The background square was pulled through the open centre to turn the Dresden right side out, and then machine appliqued to another background square.

I really like this modern interpretation of the Dresden block and have already cut out enough petals to do two more blocks!

With 7 months of the Craftsy BOM now done, there are only 6 blocks left to do as the final two months of the BOM are dedicated to putting the quilt together, so, who knows, it may be done in time to be an extra Christmas present!

Here is how the blocks look so far.

Although the next set of blocks for the Sunday Morning Quilts Bee are not due until August, I decided to get ahead of myself and get them sewn up ready to send off at the beginning of the month. This month the colour for the blocks was green, which I didn't think I had a lot of in my stash. Thanks to my charm square win some months ago from Erin at Missy Mac Creations, I was surprised to find that I had more than enough to make these two blocks.

I am looking forward to seeing the blocks that come through the post in this direction!

Tomorrow is my day for posting on the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop along with Colby of Sew,Quilt, Explore so I look forward to welcoming you back then and in the meantime here is a sneak peek of what is in store!

Linking up to BOM's Away and Manic Monday,

Blocks Away!

Well, I am on a roll now with my outstanding BOM's, so have been tackling the April, May and June blocks for In Color Order's HST BOM.

Tackling three different blocks at the same time didn't always go entirely to plan, as I ended up making too many of one combination of HST blocks and not enough of another! Still, that means now that not only am I up-to-date with the BOM, but actually ahead as I now have paired triangles already cut and sewn for July's block, now that makes a pleasant change.

I was wondering as I was making these blocks why I don't feel any real commitment to this BOM and I think it is because there is no (as far as I am aware) real community to this QAL. Reading Lynne's post today on setting up a virtual Quilting Bee it is clear that the friendships made in all of the online QAL's, Bees and SAL's are just as important, if not more important than the actual projects themselves and, somehow, for me at any rate this is missing in this BOM. Don't get me wrong I am enjoying the process of putting this quilt together, and looking forward to the final result, but it just feels like a part of the process is missing? Have you ever experienced anything similar?

Here are my 6 blocks to date anyhow

 Having fallen way behind on the Zakka-style SAL, it is next on my list of projects to crack on with this week. What a difference a week with no travelling makes! Thanks to Wendy I now have the magnetic sheet for the Itty-Bitty magnets, so have been reeling in horror at the size of those tiny pieces, when they say Itty-Bitty they really mean it!

As well as the magnetic sheet Wendy also sent me two lovely, handmade bag charms, and this one will, hopefully, be decorating one of the bags on my WIP list in the not-too distant future! The other one is already in use, hence no photo :)

All of the above means that I have made some progress this week on my WIP list, which is looking like this

Ongoing

• 3 blocks of In Color Order HST BOM (back on schedule)
• (Almost) Irish Chain quilt basted
• 4 Zakka-style SAL projects completed (So many projects behind schedule!)
• First border of teatime quilt completed, blocks calculated and fabric cut
• 5 blocks of NY Beauty QAL completed and fabric cut for remaining 5 blocks
• 12 blocks of Craftsy BOM completed (on schedule)  
• Yellow rainbow cushion waiting to be appliqued  
• Sunday Morning Quilts Sewing Bee - book in post
• In the Bag Ugly Fabric challenge fabrics arrived, waiting for inspiration!

Waiting

• Indigo and violet rainbow cushions 
• Star of Africa Sewing Bee
• Last block of Sampler quilt
• Amy Butler bag
• Bag Making Bible Fashionista Bag
• Dragon Bag
• Christmas mini quilts 

Hope you are all having productive weeks too.

Linking up to  WIP Wednesday  and We Did it Wednesday .

Webs and WIP's

The second March block for the Craftsy BOM is finished, I am finally ahead! This time it was a Broken Spider's Web block using foundation piecing, aargh!! Instead of adapting the block again for paper piecing I decided to meet my nemesis head on and have another go at foundation piecing, this time using a more robust fabric for the base, in the hope that that would sort out the previous problems.

Well it did, up to a point (sorry no pun intended!). The fabric still stretched on the bias edge so putting the triangles together still involved a bit of manipulation, but it was definitely less stressful than my previous attempt at foundation piecing. I prefer paper piecing though :)

The Craftsy BOM is billed as being suitable for absolute beginners and I can see from the comments posted on the website that this is the first time that many of the participants have ever attempted quilting. Whilst I am definitely no expert, I think that there is a large capacity for problems, especially for beginners, when you are cutting and/or sewing many of the pieces involved in these blocks on the bias. Then again, maybe that is just me!

We are heading off to Tallinn for a couple of days, which is always a pleasure. I was hoping to have my copy of Zakka style before the trip so that I could stock up on linen, but no sign of it yet. Fingers crossed it arrives before the SAL starts.

Hopefully the trip will include a sprinkling of sightseeing with a few coffee stops thrown in (or maybe, even, the other way around!).

 With maybe a bit of retail therapy thrown in, on my last visit there a couple of months ago I found a shop selling American patchwork magazines, so I am hoping to treat myself to some on this trip too. In Riga, I can only get German patchwork magazines, and neither my schoolgirl German nor Google Translate are up to the task of translating sewing terms!


As another Wednesday has come around it is time to work out what I have been spending all my time on. I already know the answer to that one - paper piecing!

Anyhow here is how my list of WIP's stand at the moment

Completed

• Reindeer Cushion
• Shades of Green, Fleur Bleu, Checkered Heart and Orange cushions 
• Orphan Block needle roll 
• Pieced arc tea towel  
• Yo-yo maker purse 
• Padded hangers and tutorial
• Sew Happy QAL quilt (My March WIP of 12 WIP's in 2012!)

Ongoing 

• 3 blocks of In Color Order HST BOM (up-to-date) 
• (Almost) Irish Chain quilt now basted 
• 5 blocks of FPPFTT completed (on schedule)
• First border of teatime quilt completed, blocks calculated and half cut (the fabric that is not me!)
• 3 blocks of NY Beauty QAL completed (on schedule)
• 6 blocks of Craftsy BOM completed (on schedule)
  

Waiting 

• Indigo, yellow and violet rainbow cushions - Yellow fabric in post
• Last block of Sampler quilt - no progress but it is in the UK and I am back in Latvia!
• Sunflower Quilt
• Amy Butler bag 
• Bag Making Bible Fashionista Bag 
• Dragon Bag
• Patchwork Block bag
• Christmas mini quilts
• Zakka-style Sew a Long (starts April 2nd) 

Hope you are all making progress too.


Linking up to TNT Thursday

Catching up at last!

Having finally started on the backlog of blocks for the Craftsy BOM , I am determined to get up-to-date before April arrives. So, you can imagine my delight when I realised that one of the March blocks was a foundation pieced string block, and the block that I have yet to catch up on for Katy's FPPFTT is a paper-pieced string block! Two blocks with one stone, that is my kind of catching up :) True to my resolution to avoid foundation piecing at all costs, the March Craftsy block instantly became a paper-piecing project!

The HST blocks, which were the February blocks, in the BOM were a mixed bag to be honest. Each of the 2 blocks used a different method for creating the HST's. The first, for the Chevron Block, involves drawing diagonal lines on squares and sewing either side of the line to create 2 HST blocks when cut on the line, whilst the 2nd method, for the Balkan Puzzle block, involves sewing all around 2 squares with a 1/4" seam and then cutting the squares twice on the diagonal to create 4 HST blocks. In Color Order's HST BOM also provides these 2 options for creating the HST blocks, but until now I have only ever used the first method, which In Color Order calls the "traditional" method. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained, perhaps now was the time to have a go at the "alternative" method! There have been several comments in the HST BOM about the bias edges created by the alternative method, and although I am not 100% sure that they were the cause of the problems, I have to admit that the Balkan Puzzle block was ripped and re sewn several times before I could get the points matched up in any kind of order! I am obviously a traditionalist at heart :)

Still, with only the Spider's Web block to go for the Craftsy BOM and the end of the month over a week away, things are looking hopeful for a clean slate to start at the beginning of April. Now, if I can only get this week's NY Beauty Block and FPPFTT block completed this weekend, I will be so up-to-date I won't know myself!


In other catching up, the lovely Claire at Sewing Over Pins kindly passed on a Liebster blog award a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't managed to get my act together sufficiently to a) thank her or b) pass the award on. As you are probably aware the  Liebster award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers and as a recipient of the award I should thank the award blogger in a post, list the names of five blogs I follow who fall within that category who I feel deserve to be noticed, advise the five bloggers by leaving a comment on their blogs and copy and paste the blog award on my blog. Since Claire nominated me for the Liebster award I have been lucky enough to win a giveaway at Ellison Lane Quilts and a Bonus Prize in Sew Happy Geek's QAL, so I am hoping that I am also passing on the luck too!

So here goes, I have nominated the following bloggers who are all relatively new bloggers like myself, and who might not have already come to your attention.


Amy at the cute life :)  Check out the progress of her Fire and Ice quilt!

Catherine at Knotted Cotton Look for her photos of the cutest tree house doors you will ever see! 


Karen at Practically Pippy See if you can help her with her Stale Stash Swap!

Caroline at Quilting in the Cold   A fellow quilter in the frozen north, who is just beginning to thaw out! 

Judy at Sew Rip Repeat Another NY Beauty blocker! 


Sarah at Silly Banana Sewing A fellow Scot in exile! 


Hope you are all having a productive week too. Have a great weekend! 

Paper Piecing Blocks and Beauties

Five hours of rugby on the television on Saturday was the perfect excuse to get stuck in to the backlog of blocks I seem to have amassed lately.

First up were the first two blocks of the NY Beauty QAL. I am using a Kona Solid in Hibiscus and a FQ bundle of Kaffe Fassett fabrics for this QAL. Even although these are the first blocks to be done, I am already thinking that I don't have enough fabric! When I read the initial instructions for the blocks the fabric requirements were 10 Fat Eighths of the main fabric and 1 and 1/2 yards of the background fabric, so that is what I bought, but having done the first two blocks (and read the introduction to the QAL again!) I now realise that this yardage is only to make one of each block.

Having seen the photos posted to the QAL Flickr group I think the real beauty of the blocks is only really seen when there are 4 of each joined together. So for the minute I am making one of each block, but I suspect that I will have to go back later to make 3 more of some of them at least.

I really enjoyed the paper piecing of these blocks, I found the rhythm of pin, sew, cut, press quite relaxing, but the curved seams were another business all together! The second of the blocks above came out a good 3/8" smaller than it should have been, which was I think down to a too generous seam allowance on the curved seams. More practice needed I think!

With the backlog of NY Beauty blocks out of the way, the next target on my list was the Craftsy BOM that I have managed to ignore since signing up in January. However, having discovered on Friday that I had won a $25 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate in Ellison Lane Quilts' Craftsy BOM Giveaway, guilt kicked in and I finally got around to watching the video for the first two blocks, and wondered why I had put off starting this BOM for so long! As I had also promised my son, the recipient of the SH QAL quilt, another, bigger quilt for their bed, this seemed like the ideal time to start another sampler quilt for them.

A quick trip to the factory store and I had my 4 metres of solid fabric in pale turquoise to go with the several metres of Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric, which I have been hoarding since using them as linings for these bridesmaids bags used at my son's wedding.

Two blocks down, four more to go to catch up!

 

Of course now that I have just finished the Sew Happy QAL, there is a gap to be filled, so naturally I have signed up for another project. This time, though, it is not a Quilt a Long but a Sew a Long for Rashida Coleman-Hale's new Book, Zakka Style hosted by LR Stitched I really enjoyed Rashida's earlier book, I Love Patchwork and had debated whether to buy the Zakka Style book when it was published in the UK, so it only took a minute to decide to sign up for the Sew a Long! There are, apparently, 24 projects in the book and there will be 24 different bloggers hosting the Sew a Long, which starts on April 2nd. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get the book in time. 

Linking up to Sew Happy's Manic Monday Link Party, Canoe Ridge Creations Sew Modern Monday and What a Hoot's BOM's away Monday