WiP Wednesday (or Thursday here)

I've been playing around with some scraps making a few potholders- always useful...

I'm posting this on my phone and I can't seem to get the photos to line up right, to say nothing of the picture quality, but you get the idea...

Linking up with Lee for WiP Wednesday 

Busy Bee

If you're a regular reader you'll know we're on the brink of moving overseas, so our house is on the market and we're busy doing all the sorts of things one has to do to finish off life in one spot before taking it up again in another; so consequently I have little time to sew at the moment.

However I did finish off a few bee blocks lately for The Simply Solids and Do. Good Stitches groups I'm part of.

This was November's Simply Solids block. Everyone had been sent the same background fabric and added a coloured solid from our stash.

I was rushing to make a couple of wonky cross blocks in "manly solid colours" for Do Good Stitches November. I wanted to get them done and put the machine away and generally tidy up for our open home so I was doing these before breakfast, thinking Oh this'll be easy, just smash them out...

Never a good plan - ended up misaligning the block on the wrong line when trimming to 12 1/2" and suddenly it was 11 1/2"! ***# never mind sew it on again, by the time it's with the others and quilted no-one will notice...!??

then didn't quite have enough fabric for the other one so was a bit loose with instructions and ended up with this wonky cross interpretation.

The Anna Maria Horner feathers blocks for Sharon for October's Do. Good Stitches were a bit of a fiddle, but fun to do.  Quite happy with how they turned out; although there's always something... I didn't notice until I'd uploaded my photos that the filaments on one feather were upside-down!

Great to be able to use pieced trimmings from my Wrenly runner and my (so far) unresolved Oakshott experiment.

The last block was for Tracey for October's Simply Solids bee.

She asked for us each to choose a block from the Summer Sampler and make it up in summery colours. I chose this Rocky Road to Kansas which is a paper pieced block.  I quite enjoy paper piecing. I haven't done heaps, but I enjoy the precise results and have gradually evolved a way which works for me to minimise the fiddling.

I can't remember where I came across the various tips which make it easier but thought I'd share the one I find the most helpful tip:

When you've put your first two pieces right sides together behind the paper I like to trim my seam allowance first. So- find yourself a(n appropriate!) postcard and line it up with the seam line and fold the paper back along the seam line.

Trim 1/4" along the line.

This is how it looks from the other side.

 Then sew and do the same for the next side.

I find it makes it easier to neaten up and I can sort of see where I'm up to somehow.

Do you have any favourite paper piecing tips?

Hexagons Bee Done and a new Blog Hop

Over the long weekend I managed to complete the June blocks for do.Good Stitches Cherish bee.
Hexagons and bees in Pale yellows, blues, creams, greys and white were requested, but hopefully the darker grey centre will sneak through!

I had a lot of fun with these. The paper pieced bee was courtesy of a free pattern from Amy at Badskirt




Also I want to let you know about the great blog hop going on over at Plum and June's, if you haven't already heard. There are a few blogs to visit each week until the end of July. A great way to find some new modern bloggy inspiration- not that there's any shortage of that, but it's always fun to discover someone else!

Friday, June 7th

Nancy @ Owen's Olivia

Amy @ 13 Spools

Ashley @ Wasn't Quilt In A Day

Casey @ The Studiolo 

Nanette @ Yeah, I Made That

Ange @ Heart Of Charnwood

Kim @ Robot Mom Sews

Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting

Friday, June 14th

Julie @ Jolie Maxtin

Melissa @ Melia Mae Quilting

Adrianne @ On The Windy Side 

Molli @ Molli Sparkles

Laura @ Little And Lots

Sarah @ Duck Egg Threads

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Cari @ There's A Thread

Valerie @ Between Quilts

Friday, June 21st

Leigh Anne @ Ella's Cottage

Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt

Sarah @ Quilt Candy

Jackie @ NW Patchwork

Liz @ Beadqueene's Bits And Baubles

Erica @ Happy Fabric

Stephanie @ Simple Sewendipity

Lauren @ Seraphym

Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts

Friday, June 28th
Green @ So Sew Green
Gwendellyn @ The Rainbow Revolts
Jessica @ Stitched In Thyme
Amira @ Little Mushroom Cap
Kathy @ Kayak Quilting
Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts
Paula @ The Sassy Quilter
Kris @ Sew Sunshine
Camilla @ Faffling that's me (copying from Adrianne)!

Friday, July 5th

Christa @ Christa Quilts!

Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce

Anna @ The Crooked Banana

Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After 

Stephanie @ Quarter Incher

Kristy & Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs

Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness

Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works

Friday, July 12th

Leona @ Leona's Quilting Adventure

Karen @ Quilty Creations

Anne @ PlayCrafts

Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...

Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm

Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain

Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Sarah @ {No} Hats In The House

Friday, July 19th

Karen @ Little Birdie Quilting Studio

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures

Katie @ Snuggle Up With A Dish From Karma 

Alison @ Making Happyness

Kelsy and Amanda @ Everyday Fray

Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room

Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

Nicole @ Modern Handcraft

Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya

Friday, July 26th

Vicki @ A Quilter's Mission

RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts

Elise @ Lovelea Designs

Elizabeth @ In The Boondocks

Jenny @ A Note To Follow Sew

Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts

Sonia @ Fabric & Flowers

Emily @ Sew E.T.

Em @ Sewing by Moonlight

Linking up with WiP Wednesday and Plum and June's  again being hosted today by Lucy at Charm about You!

Bee Blocks

Continuing my run on paper piecing, I serendipitously came across this bee block posted by Amy of Badskirt fame. It was great timing because Kim has requested bees and hexagons for June's do. Good Stitches.

One of the things I love about being in a bee is that it stretches me a bit. I only have to make one or two blocks so it's easy to try something new; and often what is requested is not something that I'd ordinarily do so it gets me out of my comfort zone and lets me learn new skills. 

Kim would like pale blues, greys, creams and yellows for this quilt. I'd have done this block in stronger colours left to my own devices, but I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product and what everyone does.

Currently this is about 6.25" across and it needs to be a 12" block so I'm trying to figure out the best way to piece it into the block... 

I'd like it to be off centre like this and I'm thinking I should've extended the original pattern to piece it, but I'm a bit stumped, never having made a paper pieced pattern before. After cutting out this paper pattern  I realised that if I do it like this it'll come out mirror image, so I need to put the bee right-side down first.  And now I'm thinking I'll extend two opposite sides  at 11 and 4 o'clock into an equilateral(ish) triangle and then two straight sides and two opposite corners? (Tried to draw a diagram but that's yet another learning curve!) I'll do it a bit bigger and trim it down I think. Is there a proper way to do this? How would you go about piecing this block into a 12" background?

Whenever I have to unpick it's usually because I've tried to be too economical with my fabric. My spatial awareness isn't good enough to orient the scrap properly if it's an angled piece and even when I try it out and hold it up to the light to check the seam allowance it seems to come out wrong sometimes. Better to trim a bit more off than have to unpick-again!

Then I just need to decide what I'll do for the second block...

I've also made blocks for May. Sharon requested pink and blue blocks like this:

Not pieced together so she can distribute everyone's colours and the scrap triangles were to be combined like so:

I've done a few more blocks for my wonky crosses and some unpicking into the bargain!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced

and with Let's Get Acquainted for the first time, hosted this time by Annabella at Life's Rich Pattern

Well You Learn Something Every Day!

I was really enjoying seeing my paper piecing come together this weekend.

So good to begin to see the pattern emerge. Above I hadn't quite trimmed the central piece to the pattern up the top. But so far so good...

But...

When I laid out the quarters it looked a bit strange. Two looked smaller than the others.

Never mind, must be an optical illusion I said to myself; it will be OK when I sew them together...

But no, two really are smaller. In disbelief I compared the torn out paper from two centre pieces and there's 1/2" difference!

I printed two and then another two and I'm pretty sure I checked, at least for the second two that there was no scaling and it was printing at 100%, but maybe I didn't check for the first two.

Groan!

I'll call this process and have another go. This was going to be a cushion. Do you think it's still worth sewing on borders in the shot cotton so the edges of the block aren't too obvious and then squaring up? Maybe it'll be hard to tell on a pillow form by the time it's curved. Can't quite face binning it...!

WiP Wednesday- A New Project- or Two

I've started a new quilt! Yay! 

Haven't finished this one yet

I seem to be dragging my feet...
but needed some new inspiration. Funny how it seems a bit naughty to start something new before finishing the last- but I'm breaking out and living dangerously these days!!

This a going to be a wonky cross quilt in the style of this by Rossie and this by Carla of LollyQuiltz. I have been collecting some text prints with this in mind and have put together a few other colours to supplement. Unintentionally this seems to be shaping up to be a similar palette to Carla and Rossie's quilts. I'm thinking that I may want to add depth to this with a dark tealy emerald in the tones of the Castle Peeps one at the top of the lower photo, but I'll just see how it shapes up as I make the blocks.

I've also started on a paper piecing project. Just a trial block to start with, perhaps a cushion, just to see if I like it enough to commit to a whole quilt.

Don't worry-I will iron them before I attempt the paper piecing! Below is my techy way of working out which fabric goes where!

What are you working on? Do you feel like a rebel starting something new while you still have something unfinished?

This month I definitely qualify as a Slow Blogger (rather like every month actually) so I'm linking up over at KettleBoiler who's hosting this month and on Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced- Two for one- is that cheating really badly?