Citron and Aqua Sampler Quilt

How did I let this stack of blocks languish in my sewing cabinet for so long (years)? I'm not sure what I was waiting for, but earlier this winter I pulled out blocks accumulated from a few rounds of the 3x6 and 4x5 quilting bees.

Glowing Star Block & Pillow

I'm excited to share not only a new project, but also a new paper-piecing pattern: a Glowing Star.

Cosmic Red and White Baby Quilt

As part of my recent dive back into doing more sewing, I decided to tackle some WIPs.  I found these three Sun, Please!  blocks (from two years ago!) and decided to feature them on a simple, gender-neutral red and white baby quilt.

This quilt measures about 42 inches square, and I love the contrast created by the simple layout and palette against the intricate paper-pieced block design of the suns.

Summer Finish Roundup

Nooootttt so much sewing over here this Fall! And it is certainly Fall up here! We've had a few very cold nights, and I've busted out my warm slippers.

As we move forward, I thought I'd record the work I did this summer as a way to reset and recharge for some cosy, stitchy evenings to come.

Back in May (ok, pre-Summer) I decided to devote my Summer to WIPs when I finished this quilt top.  I just finished the quilt as my last Summer project!  That full circle is really satisfying.

Cats love quilts.  I made a quilt that loves cats back (with a free pattern!).

Scrappy Hexie Pillow

Hooray!  Another long-term WIP knocked out: some English paper-pieced hexagons.

Over two years ago, I (temporarily) caught the hexie bug-- it looked so simple, and people's inspirational results were so pretty.

I gathered together scraps, basted them to the paper templates during a massive tv binge session, and put them in a ziplock bag.  Whenever I needed some hand work, I could pull them out.

Whiskers: a Free Baby Quilt Pattern

It's no secret: cats are my favorite.

"Cat" was my second word, I'm told.

I've got one on my lap right now (he loves computing).

If I'm at your house, and you have a cat, I'll find it and pet it. Even if there is a party going on.

(I like dogs, too, don't worry.)

Inspired by the inventive work of many paper-piecing designers, I thought about creating a cat quilt block that would satisfy my own sensibilities about using animals--not too cartoony or literal, and more geometric and silhouette-ish.

I was also a bit tired of paper-piecing for hours and only having half a block to show for it, so I wanted to create templates that would result in a big, easy quilt block.

The result:  Whiskers!

Sun, Please!

In celebration of the emerging sun this season and the new freckles on my nose, I've created a new paper-piecing pattern, called "Sun, Please!" It is more geometric than literal, and I'm smitten.

To start, I stitched a basic red and white block that matched the vision of the block I had before starting, which still stuns me in its clean lines and simplicity. I love how it turned out and want a whole quilt of them!

...and of course, I had to modify the pattern to include a skinny outlined version, too.

Paper-Piecing Tutorials: Do It Your Way

Over time, I've received many requests from people who want to learn paper-piecing, but aren't sure where to start. I've created a Paper-Piecing page on this blog that shows the basic steps I take, but I want to give credit to the amazing work others have done, and avoid reinventing the wheel!  

In addition, I urge you to find the method that looks the most normal and logical to you, since there are endless ways to achieve wonderful results.  

Little Hand-Quilted Pillow Tutorial

There's one little pillow on our couch that I insist is mine, the perfect size for right behind my head while watching junky TV.  It's about 12x16 inches, and luxuriously feather-filled.  I decided that I needed another, of course, and thought I'd share the process.  

With the directions below, you can create fun hand-stitched a pillow out of any special block of your choosing.  

Step 1:  Pick a favorite 12.5x12.5 inch unfinished block.  I used one of my recent Star Seams blocks.  

EXCITED!

I got the most wonderful package in the mail this week: the Spring 2013 issue of Simple Quilts and Sewing!

I am very excited to share that my Lone Starburst pattern is featured within, along with directions to make a pillow I created to feature it: measurements, fabric requirements, the works.

Seeing something I created in a REAL magazine for the first time was pretty surreal, and I really love the styling of the photography.

Star Seams: a New Paper-Pieced Star, If You Dare

One evening while perusing a catalogue, I found a shape that I wanted to try replicating in fabric: this mirror. I love the look of outlined stars (evidence: Lone Starburst), and immediately had visions of this new paper-pieced specimen. This new 12.5-inch (unfinished) block, which I call Star Seams, was born.

I tried it out first with some lovely scraps... 

And then twice again with more limited, deliberate selections.

The template looks quite neat on paper. However, this block is quite fussy to sew up! Warning!

Sharp Chevrons

Rainy days.

Perfect for watching old musicals, sitting on the couch with a cat or two, and some blog catch-up.

I've seen quite a few requests from you about how I made these very sharp, precise chevrons last year for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee:

Well, to make 'em, I sketched out quadrant templates on graph paper, and sewed together a bunch of 1.5" colored strips and .75" strips of white and trimmed (and trimmed), winging it a whole lot, holding the strips up to the sketch to check on positioning.

Halfway through, I wondered why I wasn't just using a paper foundation.  Too lazy and stubborn to go make copies,  I finished my blocks using the original method anyway.  Silly.

That's probably not your style, so I created a paper-piecing template, available for free via Google Doc! It's a little bit rough around the edges, but it's a pretty literal digital interpretation of my original sketch.  **If you access the templates via Google Doc, it will work best for you to download the pattern and access/print it via your pdf viewer.**

Notes on making your own: 

Print 2 copies (to make 4 units).

Printing Tips: Google docs isn't the best for printing templates, so I'd recommend downloading/saving the template to your computer, then opening it with your usual PDF viewer (Adobe has worked best for me) to print from there. Make sure that scaling is set to 100%, "Actual Size" or "none"' (so your comp doesn't try to "fit" it to a page), and measure the 1 inch scale line once printed to make sure it's EXACTLY one inch, no more, no less! Go the extra mile, and measure the short end of one of the templates, including the gray seam allowances.  It should be 2.5 inches.

I numbered the pieces so that seams will fall in opposite directions, making it easier to join the sections, and I'd also leave the paper on until the very end, but know that paper-piecing is quite personal ;) Join the sections into two A-B units, then join those two to make an 8"x8" finished block!  For the 4x5 Bee, I sashed them with 2.5" strips of white to bring the final size to 12.5".

(If you're not in to paper piecing, I also really love this tutorial for chevrons!)

I've written more about sampler bees I've been in here and here, and to refresh, each member of the group requests certain colors to receive, and then makes blocks in everyone else's colors.  So fun! 

As always, my favorite part is getting to test out all different color combinations! I think this block would also look great with a scrappy collection of fabrics (instead of making each row uniform), or with dark fabric in place of the white for the skinny rows.