Piece Out

This past week I rediscovered my love for Foundation Paper Piecing.  I first learned this method several months ago on a sewing day with my sisters.  As soon as I "got it" I realized this is the perfect thing to satisfy my OCD tendancies of straight lines and following a pattern directly.

I found a really great site here that has 100 paper pieced blocks.  The quilt featured using the blocks is a crazy quilt with tons of embellishments on it.  Quite intriguing, but not my style.  I have done a few blocks using Block 1 and some scrap fabric. 

Each block looks a little different because I was getting into the swing of things and measuring things wrong, but since it's a crazy quilt, it doesn't really matter as long as the blocks are the same size in the end!
After practicing on these blocks I wanted to try something with a higher level of difficulty.  I will not share with you the star block that I spent waaaaay too much time on and never did quite figure out.  (No matter how I sewed, it wouldn't quite work.  I choose to blame pattern error, even though I know for a fact the pattern is correct!)

Saturday I got up the nerve for attempt 2 on a more difficult block.  The finished block is only 5" square, so the tiny pieces frustrated me a bit and had me saying some very inventive curses.  It was only after I finished the block and sewed the four separately pieced rows together that I realized one of the pieces that was supposed to be black was done in linen.  Oops!  It's okay though, nothing a strategically placed heart won't fix! I also added a little bit of hand embroidery for the thread and the needle.

Overall I was pleased with the result and learned from my mistakes.  I definately will not be making a whole quilt of sewing machines, but it was much easier than I always feared the multiple rows would be.  Here is the free pattern if you want to attempt it. She actually has a ton of free paper piecing patterns on the main site sewhooked.com.  I love the fandom ones, but am not yet ready to attempt them!

Another sewhooked pattern that I made was the spool one.  This one was pretty simple.  I'm thinking of making a wall hanging for my studio with this pattern.

Check back soon for some more sewing room updates.  I haven't forgotten I said I was going to post more, I've just been sewing more than organizing and I don't want to lose my mojo!

Always,
K

Granny Blocks

Thanks to the fabulous Lori Holt over at Bee In My Bonnet I tried out a new technique and I'm totally addicted.  (I so want to adopt her as my 4th sister!)


She is hosting The Great Granny Along and has a great tutorial to help you get started. 

Here is my first block:

I was so proud of myself at how well this turned out.  I doubted it the whole time I was working on it, but as my sister always says: Trust the pattern.  I did and now I want to make tons more!

I've also been working on hexies again and want to work on a block I found in the Summer 2012 magazine Scrap Quilts for a Crazy-Pieced Block.  Looks like something I can do.  It feels so good to be motivated to sew again!

Always,

K

Studio Makeover - Part 1 - Curtain Call

My studio serves double duty as my creative area and my home office.  I've been "redoing" it for months.  Nothing major, just organizing, purging and redecorating as I go along. 

I'm super tired of the clutter.  It's a large area made smaller by my office area and an old pull out sofa that came with the house and can't be moved.  It won't fit through the door...don't ask how it got down here in the first place, I have no clue.

Yesterday, I spent the day shopping and sewing with my sisters.  They gave me great advice and pointers to complete my new curtains.  Unfortunately, I only took some of their advice...I'm stubborn that way.

Here are the before curtains.  Basically they are discount store curtains that I hung just so the neighbors couldn't peek inside until I made new ones.

Here is my fun, bright upgrade:

It took me 2 days of sewing to make these.  I started picking them apart the minute I hung them, then I stopped.  Because who cares if they aren't perfect?  Who cares if one side hangs slightly lower than the other.  I MADE these.  I put my ♥ into them.  And I love them.  So there! :)

I will be posting more studio updates as I complete them.  (See those red polka dots in the bottom left hand corner?  That's a sneak peak at another update I'm going to share!)

Always,

K