Paper Piecing Monday tips

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

This week as I put my paper piecing block together, I thought of what I have learnt this year doing these blocks… and thought I would share some of my tips.

So this week I choose another of Julie @ 627Handworks great blocks. The block, Siouxsie, is one that Julie has put up on Craftsy and is block 13 of her Block Rock’n series. At a $1.00 for the pattern is it a bargain. You can also download Julie’s free Block Rock’n blocks at Craftsy as well.

Tip #1… I always download the pattern to my desktop before I print. This is the best way to guarantee that you are printing to the correct scale. I had some fun issues printing directly from the website early on in Paper Piecing Monday’s life, which resulted in me have to remake some blocks. Also make sure that you tick the “print in original size” box in your print dialogue box.

Tip #1a… I use normal photocopy paper for printing my patterns. It is cheap and easily available.

Tip #2… If the block is complex or I am making it complex, I use coloured pens to mark up my paper pattern. This way I do not lose track of what colour goes where.

Tip #3… I always glue down my first piece of fabric. I go through so much Elmers glue it is not funny. I find it easier to align the first set of seams with one of the fabric pieces already stuck in place and pins cause fabric bunching which is annoying.

Tip #4… I am always generous with my seam allowance on my scraps. I have found it is much easier to work with BIG scraps or pieces of fabric than it is to work with precisely cut pieces of fabric. In paper piecing you get all sorts of weird shapes and having an abundance of extra fabric means that you can get even the weirdest shapes to work, without having to re-sew the block over and over.

Tip #5… Do all sewing with a small stitch length. I usually do my paper piecing stitching on a length of 2 – 2 1/2. This helps make ripping the paper off at the end easier, but also ensures the integrity of the sewing. Ripping the paper off the block can cause stitches to loosen and the smaller stitches helps with this immensely.

Tip #6… I use scissors to trim my excess fabric, not a rotary cutter and ruler. I find it quick and easy – I can do it while still sitting beside my machine. No one ever sees the backside of the block, so I do not mind if it is a little messy.

Tip #7…. Your iron is your friend. I iron all my seams/pieces to get them to lie flat. For this block I sewed the first two fabric pieces together on all the pattern sections and then stood up, ironed all the seams and then sat down and sewed the next fabric piece to the pattern. For last week’s fox block I used my mini iron to sew as I went. Whatever way all seams get ironed.

Tip #8… Before I sew together the finished paper pattern pieces, I rip the paper off any bits of the pattern that are bulky or intersect. This makes the block less chunky and means my sewing machine is less likely to hiccup when it hits the multiple layers of fabric/paper. With this pattern the center pieces of the block needed to be pulled. I leave enough of the paper so that you can still see your sewing lines.

Tip #9… Tweezers are an essential paper piecing tool. When you are removing the paper pattern at the end of the process, the big bits are easy but tweezers are the only way to get those pesky little bits of paper that are hiding in the corner of the block.

Tip #10… If at all possible train your husband, children or friend to help you pull the paper off your finished quilt top. It really does make life easier.

11Oct2013

Rainbow I Spy Quilt done and dusted

Posted in Finished Quilts, Project Linus, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

Week two of October and I have another quilt finished despite some walking foot hiccups and a Briar Rose obsession. This week’s Project Linus finish is a little bit of a cheat – I pulled an old unfinished top out of the cupboard and quilted it up. But it is still a finish and still counts… right?

I made the top for this quilt about 3 years ago and finishing it up was an interesting exercise which showed me how much my piecing has improved. All over this quilt there are seams that just do not align…

A simple square quilt and my edges are squiffy. I am a little embarrassed but pleased to say that I have got better over the years. Plus the small mistakes here and there do not detract from the fun of this quilt.

The colours are bright and the fabric is varied. There is so much to see in this quilt, it is going to make for a wicked game or two of “I Spy”. And it is was so easy to put together, lots of 4 1/2 inch blocks in a graduating colour scale.

The quilting is simple… more straight lines. The backing is also simple, another IKEA fabric (part of a 100% cotton duvet cover).

All finished off with some purple binding.

I know this binding is a little crazy but I was out of solid navy fabric, which is my usual go to binding for a rainbow quilt. But now I have excuse to go shopping. YIPPEE!

9Oct2013

Briar Rose wip Wednesday

Posted in WIP Wednesday by wombatquilts

This week I finally got up the courage to cut into my bundle of beautiful Briar Rose fabric. I wanted this fabric soooo much that I saved up my money and pre-ordered a 1/2 yard bundle from Pink Castle Fabrics… something I had never done before.

The bundle has then sat, untouched, on my quilting desk. I would occasionally pat it or rearrange the fabrics but I could not find the perfect block to inspire me to pick up my rotary cutter.

Fast forward to last weekend when I got a fabulous email from Katie at SwimBikeQuilt. I had won a prize during her 100 Quilts for Kids campaign… and the prize was three pattern from the fabulous Red Pepper Quilts. Needless to say there was much excitement and shouting and dancing around the house. I had been eyeing up Rita’s Labyrinth pattern for a while and was so excited to receive a copy of it in my pattern bundle. I now had the perfect Briar Rose pattern.

The pattern is so easy to follow and so fun to make. I have been having a blast cutting up my stash, laying out the block bits and choosing what fabrics goes where.

It is a refreshing break for me to be using just one line of fabric… no wading through scrap bins…. no huge piles of fabric in one particular colour.

Instead there is just a bundle of pretty on the cutting table and a yard or two of Kona Snow. Not a piece of paper in sight. (my printer is taking a bit of a rest).

Though I must admit that my blocks are not as perfect as they would be if I was using a paper pattern, I love them none the less. I am embracing the fun of making these blocks, enjoying the beauty of the fabric line and relishing the thrill of doing something a little outside my comfort zone.

7Oct2013

Foxy Paper Piecing Monday

Posted in Paper Piecing Monday by wombatquilts

Okay I could not help myself…I just had to do it…

I decided that my low volume quilt needed a block from No Hat’s In the House fabulous Forest quilt, as a not too subtle nod to the amazing quilt that inspired my low volume sampler. So I bit the bullet and headed over to the Forest QAL and picked one of their FREE paper piecing blocks.

These patterns are crazy good but complex. How complex I hear you ask… well my fox took four colours…

cut into 99 scraps of fabric…

sewn onto 27 separate pattern pieces…

that were then sewing into three sections…

These sections were then sewn together to make one incredible block.

I was so thrilled with how this block turned out and I kept shoving it in my husbands face saying “look how fabulous this is”… “isn’t this block incredible”… “have you ever seen anything so amazing”. He was not as excited as I had hoped about the whole thing. Actually his response was decidedly underwhelming. Going to have to get him to work on that.

He just keeps saying “what does the fox say“….

4Oct2013

A solid finish

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilts, Scrap quilts by wombatquilts

I committed this week to try to finish a quilt a week for October… and I mean baste, quilt and bind. I want to try to get as many quilts finished and delivered to Project Linus before the holidays. A crazy goal I know, but I have to give it a go.

To start this slightly mad schedule I decided to make another trip around quilt. I love these quilts, they are so easy and fun to make. This one is a little different for me can you tell how?

Those of you who know my work will note a distinct lack of pattern on the fabric. Yep I made a completely solid quilt. I have only made one of these before and it was a disaster, luckily this one came out much much better.

My Trip Along started life as a jelly roll, that has been sitting in my stash for quite a while….

I love the colours of the roll, but did not know what to do with it until I had to make some Bee trip around blocks recently. Those blocks inspired me to make another Trip Around quilt and so the fun started. I managed to get 16 x 12 inch blocks out the one jelly roll (with a little finagling to get the last block complete).

With the first Trip Around quilt I did I went scrappy, bright and used the traditional block layout but with this quilt I went with a wave layout.

My hand is still not allowing me to do any quilting other than straight lines, but luckily I think it works perfectly with this quilt top. I quilted diagonally across the top using a nice Sulky thread to add some shine to the stitches, my way of compensating for the lack of print on the fabric.

To finish it all off I had to find a piece of backing fabric that would compliment and offset the solid fabric front. I was thrilled to find in my stash this AMAZING Alexander Henry print.

Here is a close up detail on the fabulous jungle print. It really is the most perfect fabric for this quilt.

All that was left was to label and machine bind the quilt. Staying true to the front of the quilt I went with a Kona solid binding in dusty purple.

So one quilt down for this month a few more to go…

Fine print: I do reserve the right to subtly or not so subtly pull out of my “one quilt a week” schedule. I also reserve the right to call myself crazy for setting such a schedule.