Advice for New Bloggers

 Ooh my turn to give advice! How exciting! I bet you’re just waiting with bated breath! It’s a tough act to follow after the great advice posts already by Heidi, Janice and Tessa!



I’m no great expert on blogging. I blog for fun. I’m not a professional nor do I play one on TV. I’m TERRIBLE at html (just ask Alyce who gets stuck with my weird coding questions!). But I love to quilt, and I love to talk. And I love to talk about quilting. Hence my blog. So here are a few things now-blogger-me would have liked to have told new-blogger-me.



Don’t be so serious! Have fun!

Blogging shouldn’t be a chore. If you’re like “oh man, I have to post today and I’d much rather wash the roof and paint the cat”, then don’t bother blogging. Or “Eek,  I need to make a King size quilt out of 1” pieces like TODAY or I have nothing to blog about”, then don’t bother blogging. You’re sucking the fun out of it for yourself. Blog when you want, what you want and have fun! I roughly aim for blogging three times a week, but if I don’t manage it, ah well. Next week maybe. Just have fun blogging. 



Include a picture or two! Break up all that text!

Because blog posts are boring without pictures. And large chunks of narrative text make my eyes go weird and I’m likely to skip that and look for the pictures. Unless it’s a super funny story. I’m totally up for weird eyes to read that. I didn’t have any old-blogger-me vs new-blogger-me pics to share, so I decided to chuck in some pics of my favourite projects instead as I think they give an idea of who I am quilty-wise.



Comment, email, be social!

If someone took the time to comment on your blog post, take the time to reply. We all have things we probably should be doing instead of drooling over quilt patterns and fabric so be appreciative and write a reply. Preferably something more than just thanks. I totally get sad-face when I see I have an email, open it and all it says is '”Thanks”. Awesome – you were polite and acknowledged my comment on your blog, but where’s the love?! I’ve made some of my best bloggy buddies simply from commenting on their blog (or them on mine) and a conversation starts (albeit via email). So if you’re wondering how to make blog buddies, there’s a tip.



Party on, dudes!

Absolutely, positively, most definitely join in linky parties! But wait – that doesn’t just mean link up your post, sit back and hope you get a zillion people checking out your awesome hand-sewn, embellished, FMQ’d toilet seat cover. It means check out a few of the other links and go comment on their amazing hand-sewn, embellished, FMQ’d letter-box covers. We all want comments – that’s what makes linky parties fun. Oh and like what you read or saw? Follow that blog!  Not sure where to find parties to join? Start with Beth’s Let’s Get Acquainted linky party on a Monday. Check out other people’s blogs and see where they’re linking up to.




Please don’t make me prove I’m not a robot. 

Seriously, turn off word verification. You might not even know it's on - so go check then turn it off! I don’t think there is anything more annoying than going to leave a comment and having to try to get that stupid Captcha (I can’t even spell it it annoys me so much!) phrase right. It usually takes me 3 goes. Or I give up and don’t leave a comment. Sad. So turn it off. Worried about spam? You can moderate posts, or just turn off Anonymous commenters. Check out Lucy’s post on fixing this.



Be brave! Be Bold! Be adventurous!

Maybe less new-blogger related and more pep-talk related… but… if you’ve got something quilty you’re passionate about it, spread the love. Pass it on. Recruit other fanatics. For me it was paper piecing. This has lead to selling my patterns, starting a BoM and hosting a weekly linky party. If someone had told new-blogger-me that was going to happen, I would have laughed at them. But if you have an idea, don’t let being shy or nervous hold you back. Go forth and conquer the quilty world.



So new-bloggers, that’s what I’ve got. Happy to elaborate on anything or share my vast knowledge (ha!!) if you have any questions. But I hope that gives a starting point at least. Let’s finish this all grandiose style.

In conclusion, my friends, blogging should be fun.

Make it so.

Paper Piecing Party – A Stitch in Time

 For those who might be a bit LEGO Star Wars-ed out, I’m focusing on the And Sew On BoM June blocks for the party this week!

Can you believe June is nearly over?! No, me neither. It does mean you need to hurry to get in quickly to get the June block as a freebie, make it, and link it up to the And Sew On BoM linky party (different to the Paper Piecing Party linky – I know confusing. Sorry!). BoM Linky party is HERE. Party linky party – further down this page.

So! Confusion out of the way, let’s look at some pretty pretty.

Here are some of the blocks showing up for June so far:



This is Vera’s from Negligent Style (formerly Halabala style). I’ve managed to convince her to at least try paper piecing, even if she doesn’t love it. I think she’s done a fab job – look at those fussy cut hexies!

More sweet fussy cut hexies from Amy @ Amy’s Crafty Shenanigans. Bit of Nursery Versery anyone?

And the cutest strawberry print you ever did see features in Mary’s block:



Aren’t they looking cute? You still have a couple of days to make your own version! Free pattern is available in my Craftsy shop! Not long til the next block! Whew!

Your turn! Link up something foundation paper pieced and check out what everyone else has been up to!



Quick refresher on what the deal is with the Paper Piecing Party (full details here):
* It’s on every weekend here at Quiet Play, starting Friday.
* Link up something you’re working on that’s foundation paper pieced
* Link a blog post or flickr photo
* Visit at least two 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 ;) Last week’s winner was Pippa!

WiP Wed – Star Wars. The paper piecing continues.

 I’m afraid now that I have embarked on what shall be forever known as the Epic LEGO Star Wars quilt… there’s going to be a lot of pictures and post relating to it. Don’t worry, I’ll try to mix it up for those that aren’t fans. I get it. I used to be a nonfan. Technically I still am. I’m a child of the 80’s who has never seen the original Star Wars. However having a nearly 6 year old son with a special interest in it, I'm a fan by default.

So paper pieced LEGO Star Wars blocks are on the agenda. Here’s what my blocks are looking like now:



3 characters, 3 lightsabers. My block count is now 6/32. Slow but steady wins the race. Or something.



I just finished this LEGO Stormtrooper guy today. I haven’t embroidered the lines on his “mouth” as of yet. I’m keeping the paper on all the blocks until they are ready to be put together. So finishing touches will be added at that point in time.



Re-did LEGO R2D2’s closeup pic as his last one didn’t turn out so well. He’s looking pretty spiffy in his Color Weave fabrics.



And the LEGO lightsaber blocks increased by one. I still need to add in a green lightsaber to keep my children happy colour-wise. These will be border blocks on the quilt. Just going with the four lightsaber colours I think – not sure if there are more. I didn’t even know lightsabers came in colours other than red and blue. J has since educated me. Oh I have added the LEGO lightsaber pattern to my Craftsy shop as a freebie. More patterns will be added as they are ready

So it’s getting there. Just over two months to get 32 paper pieced blocks made, then assembled and into a decent lap quilt. Busy busy.

And as promised, something for the non-fans. Here’s my other WiP.



These are the June blocks for the Care Circle of do.good Stitches. I am loving how this one is coming together. Still a few more blocks to make their way to me before this one goes together however. So I guess that means I have more time to work on the Epic LEGO Star Wars quilt. My son will be pleased. ;)

I seriously love LEGO.

 For more reasons than one. Let’s start with the best one. I wrote to the LEGO group to check if it was okay to share my LEGO Star Wars/DC Comics patterns for free. I had previously received permission to share my basic LEGO minifigure patterns, but I was a little unsure this time round because of the Star Wars/DC Comics thing.



I got a lovely email back this morning and must share this key part:

It’s great to hear that our LEGO Star Wars and DC Superhero minifigures are inspiring you! The rules for LEGO® Star Wars & LEGO DC Universe trademark use are basically the same as those for our own LEGO trademarked names, images and products, so we're happy to give you the permission you seek. However, if your designs include non-LEGO trademarked images by the image rights holders of Star Wars or DC Comics, this is something we would not be able to advise on.

So! Yay! I can share the patterns freely. They are to be for personal use only however – unlike my other original patterns.  I do need to check into whether the names of the characters are trademarked (have a sneaky suspicion on that) but otherwise, it looks like once the patterns are finished testing we are good to go!

I am still in need of a couple more testers – so please let me know if you’re keen. I like to aim for minimum two testers per pattern so still up for grabs: Star Wars: Mace Windu, Chewy, Clone trooper, Yoda and Ahsoka. and DC Comics: Catwoman and the Penguin. Let me know if you’re interested!

I’ve made a couple more blocks for my epic LEGO Star Wars quilt and have ordered fabrics to continue the quilt. The most important being a fleshy tone for the faces. I’ve gone with Kona Ice Peach. I’ll let you know how that works out when it arrives!

I’m also working on a crazy amount of LEGO light sabers to go with my quilt. I’ve made a start. Two! hehehehe.

So my count right now is 4 blocks made out of 32. Woohoo, I”m 1/8th of the way there!

And finally – I just want to say a big thank you for the excitement and encouragement about these patterns. I’m really thrilled with them (though it’s a monster amount of work for a quilt!) and am loving seeing the tester versions popping up around the place! I really appreciate your enthusiasm! Thank you!

If you’re needing a paper piecing fix while waiting for these guys to become available, I have a Buy 2, get 1 free deal happening at the moment. Just purchase two patterns from my Craftsy shop and email me with the name of the third pattern you’d like for free. Too easy.

Paper piece on, my friends.

Paper Piecing Party – Star Wars edition

 Star Wars. The paper piecing saga continues. What started as initially 4 blocks to make into a big cushion for my kidlet’s birthday… has now turned into 9 blocks (with more coming) to make a quilt. Crazy you may call me.

I have started though! Meet Clone Commander Rex – my boyo’s favourite LEGO Star Wars character.


I’m using Robin’s Egg Kona solid for the backgrounds, and of course some Sketch/Color Weave has snuck its way in too. Now I need to find a solid that suits for the fleshy tones - thinking Ice Peach or Lt Parfait. Decisions decisions.

Not too bad when you do a side by side comparison with the EQ7 sketch.

So the Star Wars quilt has begun… and patterns continue to be made. Here’s how they are looking so far (constructive criticism most welcome!).



I know Chewie, C3PO and Vader need some work. I’ll also be adding Han Solo, Anakin, Boba Fett ,possibly an Ewok and some guy with Mace in his name that my kid loves because he has a purple light sabre. Clearly I’m right up there on Star Wars knowledge. Also rather obviously, this is going to be an epic undertaking in paper piecing. But from what I’m learning, more boys don’t seem to grow out of the Star Wars fascination so here’s hoping my J will be using this quilt when he’s in a nursing home.

Oh I do have two other patterns to include but I”m iffy. I can’t get their faces – either pieced or with my shoddy attempts at drawing in Paint. 

Feel free to have a try at adding facial features (LEGO style) if you’re so inclined. In fact, if you do, and don’t mind me using it on the pattern sheet (providing it passes quality control i.e. Mr 5 and Miss 3), email me a copy. I’ll trade ya a free pattern in return. Yeah I don’t have much else to offer hehe!

Here’s what they look like (pics from Brickipedia). Told you they’re hard.

Or if you’re keen to pattern test the newest additions to the Star Wars family, drop me a line and I”ll add you to the list. Hope to have the next few patterns ready for testing over the weekend. Or you can wait til these are made available as freebies. Yep free for all!

Speaking of free… Thought I’d add in a bit of a bonus on pattern sales. I just recently reached a pattern milestone – 500 patterns sold! I’m blown away. Thank you so much for your support! Pattern profits go directly to feed my children’s LEGO Star Wars obsession if that makes you feel better (okay more like the dentist, rego, electricity bill but the above sounds way more interesting).

So to celebrate – thought it might be fun to do a Buy 2, Get 1 free kind of deal. So if you purchase two patterns from my Craftsy shop from now until 27th June , drop me an email (kristyqp at gmail dot com) with your choice of a third pattern for free (equal value and all that).



So! Whew! That’s a lot of paper piecing pattern talk. Now it’s your turn. Join the party and share what you’ve been up to!



Quick refresher on what the deal is with the Paper Piecing Party (full details here):

* It’s on every weekend here at Quiet Play, starting Friday.
* 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 ;) Last week’s winner was Ali!

LEGO fans?

 Why yes, yes we are. Well at least my son is. Don’t get me wrong – I loved LEGO® as a kid and love watching my kids play with it. But my son takes it to a whole new level. Particularly when it comes to LEGO Star Wars and LEGO DC Superheroes. We play with the bricks, play the computer games, we read the books, he wears the shirts, the pyjamas, the undies… need I go on?

So when planning ahead for his birthday in September, something LEGO was the obvious answer (beyond just the LEGO kits of course!). Naturally when a quilter starts considering gifts, it’s got to be something in fabric.

And so it started with some paper piecing patterns.

Batman, Robin, Superman and Wonder Woman

We spent many hours playing LEGO DC Superheroes on the computer – so I started with the kidlets’ favourite characters from there. J saw them and got a bit excited but then said “What about Star Wars?”.And I was so looking forward to piecing Superman. Sigh.

Okay. Sigh. Make the kid happy. Guess it is for his birthday after all. Back to the drawing board. Star Wars. Pick your favourite characters kidlet! And the list started… and kept going… and going… and going. So much for my initial plans of a 4 block cushion. I’m thinking we’re going to end up with a quilt.

I’ve started with just five of his favourite characters so far though.

Clone Commander, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2-D2 and Obi-wan Kenobi

They are mostly paper pieced – but facial expressions will have to be appliqued/embroidered or drawn on with a marker. That is  to keep my sanity when it comes to piecing these guys! I’m thinking 10” blocks for the same reason.

So this is my current WiP or as far as I’ve gotten so far. Just when I think I’m right to start piecing these, one of the kidlet says “What about so-and-so character?” and I’m back to EQ7. I will happily admit though that Ahsoka Tano is beyond my skills. I tried, failed. So she will not be featuring on the quilt. It’s possibly Yoda might not either.

This far I’ve gotten with Yoda. Difficult his face is.



In the meantime I have managed to get the rest of these patterns sectioned, labelled and started to be put them into PDFs. Including the Superheroes – even if I don’t get to make them myself! They are ready to be tested. Any brave volunteers want to help out?! Drop me an email and let me know which one of the above you like if you’re game  –(kristyqp at gmail dot com). Note: R2D2 and Wonder Woman have already been snapped up! :)

Eventually I will offer them all as freebies in my Craftsy shop - with the same conditions as the other LEGO patterns – personal use only due to copyright with the LEGO group and on this legalish note – add in the usual disclaimer that there’s no affiliation between me, my patterns and the LEGO group or the official Star Wars etc We’re just fans ).

I think I’m going to start with the Clone Commander. No idea why but he’s J’s absolute favourite. So much so he takes a little clone minifig to school with him each day (with teacher’s permission) as his fidget toy to keep him occupied when assembly is happening or other times it’s difficult to sit still!



Hopefully will have this one pieced and ready to share for the Paper Piecing Party on Friday. That’ll keep me accountable to try to get it done!

Wish me luck. Or something to do with the Force. ;)

Winter’s Lane

 I mentioned yesterday that I have recently discovered a new favourite designer – Kate and Birdie Paper Co. I first fell in love with Winter’s Lane and nabbed a layer cake. So I thought it was time to share my Winter’s Lane quilt. I actually finished this a week ago and it has already been put to good use keeping us warm on the lounge!



Now you can see how nicely it all goes together! I absolutely love snuggling up under this quilt. It makes me happy.



I don’t understand it. These are not my typical colours at all, but there’s just something about them. So much so that when I bought the layer cake of Winter’s Lane, I couldn’t bring myself to cut into it – simply sewed the squares together in old school patchwork style ;)



I backed it with polar fleece – my new fave way to finish quilts. It makes it so soft and warm. I didn’t bother with binding – just a pillowcase fliparoo and then some straight line quilting to keep it all in place.



I quilted either side of the seams so ended up with a bit of a grid pattern happening. I do love my straight line quilting
.


It goes quite nicely with my paper pieced Cardinal cushion which was made with the leftover squares from my layer cake. (The pattern is a freebie in my Craftsy shop by the way!).




Here’s the full quilt top – yep I’m being lazy and recycling the flimsy picture but that hasn’t changed so I think it’s safe to use again!



Feeling very snug and cosy as we head into winter now. I’m definitely a cold weather kinda gal. Think I’ll be rather sad when the weather starts warming up and I have to pack this away for a few months!

Linking up with Let's Get Acquainted which is at Lucy's place this week.