Ai oo ai oo ai oo

That my friends, is the sound of a siren, according to a 2 year old. Go on, make the sound. It does sound like a siren surprisingly. My youngest calls fire trucks Ai Oos. It took me awhile to figure out exactly why. Of course – it makes perfect sense if you’re 2.

So that siren noise? We hear that sound a LOT in my household. No, my children are not juvenile delinquents requiring police escorts. Yet. But they are obsessed with fire trucks. Well Mr 4 is and Miss 2 is by default as it seems whatever the older sibling does, the younger sibling follows. 

So since I started playing around with paper piecing patterns, a fire truck was one of the first things I wanted to do. But the wheels got me. How to paper piece round wheels? Or do you paper piece the rest and applique round wheels on? That sounds like extra work. So I compromised in my design. Not quite round, not quite square wheels. If you squint, it works well ;)

Voila! A paper pieced ai oo!


I’m pleased with how this one turned out. I’m less than pleased though that this is the last photo proving it exists. Both the children were quite taken with the block and it has now disappeared, never to be seen again. Thank goodness I took a photo of it –before- I let them see it. If only it came with sound effects, I might have a chance at finding it. This pattern’s currently with Alyce for testing, then I’ll add it to my little collection of transport themed patterns.

Today got off to a great start! We had a little sewing/Lego playdate today with Marieka. So lovely! We sewed, the kids played Lego. I think everyone had fun! I took a little paper pieced project with me (what else would I take?!). Another little paper pieced umbrella. You can find the pattern for the umbrella listed on Craftsy and has three variations of brolly for the price of one! So you can make one with points or without – your choice!

I chose to go without. It was much quicker than the version with points, and still cute I think. I also halved the pattern size – this is a 4” block, rather than the standard 8” block in the pattern.  I used up some scraps I had left from my Half Moon Modern charm pack from my Red Herring quilt. Boy did I get my money’s worth out of that charm pack!



Loving it! So cute and colourful! This little block is destined to be my project for the Practically Paper Piecing Blog Hop. I’m first cab off the rank – so come back here on the 1st August to see what this turns into!



The Peacocks in the Garden is starting to become the unmentionable WiP as it still hasn’t been touched. The screwy quilting has stolen some of my love for it. I will get to it soon though as having a big WiP hanging over my head is driving me a little crazy! Guess I’d better stop with all the fun paper piecing and finish the big quilt – because then I can reward myself with more paper piecing right? Yeah! There’s some motivation right there!