Paper Piecing Party – Cardinals in Winter

 Thank you lovely people who linked up for the very first Paper Piecing Party last week! Loved seeing what everyone was working on! It was especially lovely seeing people pop by and comment on each other’s projects – don’t we all love comments?! Oh and the winner of the free pattern last linky was Lia of Lia’s Handmades.

So another week, another project right?! Here’s my contribution to the party!



After making my Winter quilt top with the Winter’s Lane fabric, it obviously needed a cushion to go with it. With all those sweet cardinals in trees prints – clearly this was the obvious choice. What better than to use my paper pieced Cardinal pattern (freebie in my shop).

Plus I just love cardinals. We don't have them here but I loved seeing when I spent some time in the US. For this project, I used the leftover layer cake squares from my quilt top to make this little cushion to match.



I pieced the back as well and then just sewed it up and stuffed it full of stuffing.



Now I need to get busy and finish off the quilt top to match and my lounge will be beautifully winterised

PS. You only have a day or two to get your Keep Calm and Press On block made and linked up for a chance at awesome prizes! I’ll be posting the June block tomorrow!

Now it’s your turn for show and tell!



Quick refresher on what the deal is with the Paper Piecing Party (full details here):
* It’s on every weekend here at Quiet Play.
* Link up something you’re working on that’s foundation paper pieced
* Link a blog post or flickr photo
* Visit other links and leave a comment because that’s half the fun!
* I’ll pick one each week to win their choice of a free pattern from my Craftsy shop. Keep on paper piecing ;)
 

A Winter WiP

 It’s starting to get cold here, with winter just round the corner. Of course cold is relative. I live 5 minutes away from the beach, so for us costal types, the temperature dips to below 20C and we’re freezing. Which means a new quilt is in order. Any excuse for a new quilt.

Especially when I have that gorgeous layer cake of Winter’s Lane just sitting there waiting for me to sew with it.

So sew I did.


Yep. I didn’t even cut up the fabric. I just picked sewed those layer cake squares together. This way I can admire all those pretty pretty prints.



Especially these ones with little cardinals in the trees.

Here I thought sewing simple squares (pre-cut no less!) together would make for a simple project. And yet I spent quite a bit of time with my friend the seam ripper.  Between sewing the quilt sideways (6 squares across instead of down!), then muddling up the order of the squares, well… there was a lot of unpicking.

So there are still prints next to each other that I normally would have moved. But I have had enough of unpicking.



Somedays the sewjo’s just not happening. Even on the simplest of projects. But hey, my seams match and I have a decent sized lap quilt (50ish x 60ish) and seriously pretty fabrics. I’m just going to get some minky to back it with and call it done. Plenty of other projects that are requiring attention!

Speaking of future projects – there’s a super awesome blog hop coming up hosted by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. A month long celebration of all things Kate Spain! You can link up projects you’ve already made, or new ones you’ve started with Kate Spain fabric during June. Oh and there are prizes to be had.So time to pull out that Good Fortune or Cuzco and start planning! Pop over and check out all the details here.

And that's me for WiP Wed. How about you?

Keep Calm and Press On

 We’re nearly into June which means a new block for the And Sew On BoM! Time is flying! Feeling that in more ways than one as we celebrate my daughter’s 3rd birthday today! Bit exciting.

On the note of time flying, I forgot to mention Lia from Lia's Handmades has a tote swap happening - and needs just a few more sign ups - but you must be quick. Sign up ends May 29th! Pop over here for details!

Continuing with my omg-May-is-nearly-over theme.... I thought it was time for a quick round up of some of the May blocks! And a gentle reminder to make sure you remember to link yours up for a chance at some fabulous prizes!

Here’s Amy’s block – she was one of my testers. I love how she did the text background – beautifully lined up too!

Mary’s block – again with some cute “wallpaper”!



Susie’s block – with a happy pink iron!



And Sue’s block with a cheery lemon background!



Loving seeing the blocks in different fabrics – they are all looking so great! We are over halfway through the BoM now! Getting into the tougher block territory – but one step (piece?!) at a time and we’ll get it done!

Just remember to link up for a chance at one of these fab prizes! (Linky at the bottom of this post – you can link a blog post or a Flickr photo – so long as you link up, it’s all good )

Gorgeous bundle of Yuwa sewing themed fabrics from Sew Me a Song

A Charm pack of Happy Go Lucky from the Fat Quarter Shop

and a scrap pack from Fabric Worm

Sunday Stash – the Kiwi edition

 My parents went to New Zealand and all I got…

…..was fabric! 

Can you believe it?! Is that not the most perfect souvenir for a quilter? Mum knows me well.
Oh and not just a few random bits of fabric. How about an entire quilt kit?!





It is all Kiwi flora and fauna themed prints – so pretty! And it was packaged beautifully too.



I thought it was so lovely that Mum went looking for a quilt shop (The Stitching Post in Arrowtown if you’re curious!) to buy something special for me. She even took photos of the quilt shop to show me hehe! There was one particular quilt kit she really wanted to get (super cute wallhanging) but unfortunately no kits were available. So she went with this sweet one.

I’m likely to change the pattern a little though (Mum’s suggestion – I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth – weird saying). This one is just a little too busy for me.



As if this wasnt’ a massive gift in itself, she added in a sweet FQ and a half metre of gorgeous texty print.



The FQ features a Tui bird which Mum was quite taken with on her trip! So I might turn that one into a potholder or something for Mum. She didn’t buy many souvenirs for herself. Plus I get the fun of making something with it for her!

Pretty exciting souvenir gift if you ask me! Now to figure out what to make with all this lovely fabric

Oh and while talking about fabric kits… must mention, Christa from Christa Quilts (one of the And Sew On BoM sponsors) has a fab quiltalong starting on her blog on the 5th June. The feature fabric is Lizzy House’s Pearl Bracelets – hence the name “String of Pearls” for the QA.  Not only a fab pattern, but Christa also has kits available for it with a 10% discount (code CQA2013) available til the end of June. Worth checking out!



Linking up with Sunday Stash over at Finding Fifth! (PS. Fiona has a giveaway happening – go link up and check it out!)

Paper Piecing Party – the first one!

 Ooh exciting – the very first Paper Piecing linky party! And I have something special to share! I hope you do too!

You already know I’m a bit of a paper piecing nut fan. Well I have a group of beautiful friends who are also paper piecing fans! So we’ve started our own bee called Wombat Stew. We pick a theme each month and then come up with patterns to suit.

My theme for my turn last year as Sewing. Some of these blocks may look familar. Yep. These are what started the whole And Sew On BoM idea. You can thank the Wombats for that hehehe.

We have just finished our first round and declared May a break month to put all our blocks together before starting the next round. So! Here it is! My Wombat Stew blocks all put together in a very happy wallhanging for my sewing nook!



I got brave. Instead of just sewing the blocks together, I reverse appliqued them. That’s right. I cut the corners of the block. Real brave. You have no idea how tentatively I made those cuts. But cut I did.



I had six blocks to use. When I laid them out on the ground, I couldn’t get past the fact they looked like a flower. So I went with that idea.



Here’s my photo from way back when with my block included. I decided not to add it into my wallhanging though and instead just use the other Wombats blocks.

Instead for the centre, I put my brave pants on again and I FMQ’d the centre! I wrote it out first with a Frixion pen then “traced” with my darning foot. All the words represent what I get from Wombat Stew and what it means to me.



I outline quilted the flower “petals” and then added a few FMQ swirls in amidst the petals too.



Finished off with a cute scissors print binding that I bought yonks ago just for this project.


I love how the quilting looks on the back too!



So there you have it! A very special quilt made by my beautiful friends. Lara made the scissors, Fiona did the tape measure and fabric, Marieka’s is the seam ripper, Jane’s is the spools, Gemma did the sewing machine and Alyce made the pincushion. I know right – I’m spoilt by their talent. Thank you Wombats. You know I adore you. I hope I did your blocks justice!



I’m very much looking forward to the next round of Wombat Stew – we’ve added two new members too – Gina and Midge! Tossed them in the deep end to pick their themes first. Can’t wait!

Last word on the wombats... you might want to swing by Alyce's blog today for a fun paper piecing pattern giveaway too. We all need more paper piecing patterns right?!

So that’s my special project I’m sharing for the inaugural Paper Piecing Party! Look forward to seeing what you have to share too!



Quick refresher on what the deal is with the Paper Piecing Party (full details here). Let’s do it in point form for brevity (that’s a good word isn’t it!).

* It’s on every weekend here at Quiet Play.
* Link up something you’re working on that’s foundation paper pieced
* Link a blog post or flickr photo
* Visit other links and leave a comment because that’s half the fun!
* I’ll pick one each week to win their choice of a free pattern from my Craftsy shop. Keep on paper piecing ;)

Go ahead! Link up!

What I’m working on…

Got a few projects in the works – in various stages of completion. Let’s go from closest to finished to just the fabric.

Simply Color + Lucky (Simply Lucky?!) is at a standstill. For no good reason. I just need to baste, quilt, bind and I’m done! What’s holding me up?!

Refresher/recycled pic of the top:



And here it is paired with the back (pieced of course!)



Actually I can tell you why there’s no progress. And it’s a ridiculous reason. It’s because I don’t have a large enough piece of batting for it and I’d have to frankenstein it. I hate frankensteining batting. So I’m procrastinating.

The next project partway done currently consists of Bee blocks. I have received all the blocks now and just need to decide how to put it together.



The block pattern is the Modern Sliced Scrappy block by Don’t Call Me Betsy. Very fun little block to put together. I’m just unsure on how to put the blocks together. Thin white sashing? Thin red sashing? No sashing? Oh the dilemma!

And last project – and probably because it’s newest, I’m most excited about it. I recently saw pics of Winter’s Lane pinned by Alyce. And fell in love. No, not with Alyce (though I do adore you, girlie!), but with Winter’s Lane. What a stunning line! So thrilled to find a very well priced layer cake! Was delivered today.



I don’t think pictures do this line justice. It is just stunning. So much so, I am thinking I am not even going to cut the fabric up, but simply sew the squares together to make myself a lovely throw quilt for Winter so I can admire all the prints. As the weather has just gotten rather cold (well okay, cold to us coastal types that only see snow if we travel hours and hours), I think a throw rug is much needed. Backed with minky. Mmmm.

So that’s me. Projects in various states of completion (plus there are others that have slipped down the priority list!). Unlikely I’ll be logical and complete these in order. I think Winter’s Lane is calling my name too loudly to be ignore. It might be bumped to the top of the list.



P.S. Hope you have a paper pieced project in progress ready to share for the very first Paper Piecing Party! Linky opens on Friday – come join the fun!

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Bloom Bloom Pow – Finished!

Yes creative title I know. But you get the idea, I”m sure! You’re welcome to imagine a better title for the post if you’d like. Feel free to imagine better photos while you’re at it. A photographer, I am not.



It is done and it is big! It’s King Single size – one of the biggest quilts I’ve done in awhile! I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’m even loving the neutral binding, instead of the bright pink I had first imagined.

Quilting is pretty simple. Some double straight lines across the blooms and then outline quilting around the borders.



I had grand visions of doing so much more with the quilting and even trying some FMQ. But my neck said no. So did my back. So did the fabric. And the basting pins. And let’s just say everything was conspiring against me. For the sake of the quilt, I quit while I was ahead and still like the thing.



Here’s a sunlit pic of the pieced back. It’s not actually that transparent. I did add batting I assure you, thought it may not look like it with this pic (see above note about imagining better photos). It’s very sunny outside. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.



Little Miss 3-next-week chose the backing fabric. Would have loved to have done a complete back in that pink, but at $16.99 a metre, it wasn’t going to happen. So pieced it was with some cheaper fabric. Hey it’s the back, it’s going on her bed. She won’t notice. Much.



And here’s what it will look like on her bed. Pretty pretty.

Please ignore the hideous wall paint colours – we are renting, so no choice on that. I did however edit out the incredibly badly red stencilled hot air balloons that adorn the walls. Seriously, what were those people thinking?!

All in all it’s a happy quilt. I really enjoyed the QA at Freshly Pieced and loved hanging out in a little group of Aussies cheering each other on (Quilt love to Molli, Midge, ChristieLeigh and Janine!). I’m particularly happy it’s done with plenty of time to spare before the birthday. Whew.

And finally – I’m still tinkering with the code for the Paper Piecing Party button (God save me from html), but hoping that you are tinkering with something fabulously paper pieced to share in the inaugural linky party this weekend! I have something super fun to share – can’t wait!

Introducing - A Paper Piecing Party!

I heart paper piecing. Pretty sure you’re likely to have figured that out by now. I love piecing, making patterns, seeing other people’s paper piecing, discovering new patterns. I love all of it. Except for pulling off the paper on the back. But even that I can live with.

So I thought it was about time that we truly celebrated paper piecing – and what better way than with a party? Not only that, a regular weekly party!

How about a linky party just for paper piecing? Oh I can hear you shout “Yes please, our lives have been so lost without one!”. Well worry no more my friends, problem solved.



Each weekend, I’ll be hosting a Paper Piecing Party right here on my blog. All you have to do is come join in the fun and link up something paper pieced you’ve been working on! It might be a finished project, a block, part of a block, a new pattern you’re planning to try… anything you like. So long as it’s related to foundation paper piecing, we’ll all be happy quilters. :)

Thought it might be fun to add in a prize each week for linking up – because really, we all love prizes right? So each week I will pick one of the links to win a free pattern of their choice from my Craftsy shop. That’s right, I’m totally enabling you to keep on paper piecing!

Keen?! Who wouldn’t be?! Pop back here on the weekend and share your paper piecing prowess! The linky will be open from late Friday night to early Monday morning (Aussie time). Share your project with us, link back to my blog (or add the button to your sidebar!) and visit some of the other paper piecing fanatics. Let’s spread the paper piecing love!