Catch Up #1… Teaching paper piecing

The first lot of news I wanted to share was that just before I left for Australia my fabulous local quilt store – Modern Domestic – asked me to teach introductory classes on paper piecing.   My immediate response was YES… of course…I want to corrupt/bring to the darkside as many quilters as I can.

class description

I love paper piecing and love the amazing results you can get from the process.  It initially surprised me that so many people had not tried this technique (I wrongly thought that everyone started with paper piecing and went from there!).

So for this class I designed a 16 inch star block, which can easily be turned into a pillow.

MD pillowsIt really is a pretty easy pattern but very effective.  This sample uses some of my Liberty bits and pieces, a splash of Kona cotton and Essex linen for the background.  I loved how this sample turned out… but I did not stop there. I also made…

MD pearl bracele star pillowA Pearl Bracelet version…of course.

If you are interested in the class you can find all the details on Modern Domestic’s website…JUST CLICK HERE.  My first class is next week, and we plan to offer this class throughout next year.

Are you bored with 8 inch green stars yet?

I hope not, as I have another one this week….

Crest star

This 8 inch star is based on a couple of patterns I have found online and in books. This 8 inch version is done for my ongoing green star quilt and you can find the PDF pattern here….Crest Star Pattern.

I am on vacation/holiday at the moment so I am keeping it short and sweet.

More green…

Surprise… I am back again with another installment of Paper Piecing Monday…. and today’s block is another nice one (though I may be a little biased!).

fan star

 

When I designed the pattern it reminded my of the fan block, which is why the block is called Fan Star… though when I sewed all the pieces together I must admit a better name would have been Pinwheel star.  Naming the blocks is the hard part for me.

Fan star piecesAny way you can find the PDF paper piecing pattern for this 8 inch block here….Fan star. Now I did promise a wip photo but this week kicked my butt and I have not done it yet… next week, I promise.

A smattering of quilt blocks…

I can not believe that June is nearly over…. this year is slipping away way to fast.  It was with a small amount of panic that I realised this week that I was running out of time to finish up some of my Bee blocks, so armed with a pile of fabric, my iPad and a caffeine enriched beverage I set to work.

First up was the June blocks for my Do.good.Stitches bee…

curved blockThe block is a great log cabin variation…Though one block does not look that exciting, put four of them together and you get a fabulous orb pattern…

Hope circle orb blocksWhile we are on the subject of Do.good.Stitches Bee blocks, here is May’s blocks which were a blast to make…

scrap cross quilt blocksI have not done a cross block before and loved how easy it was to do.  I got a little carried away with this block and made a few extra.  I used Rachel from Wooden Spoons easy dimensions to make the block…plus lots of starch!

The final lot of Bee blocks I got done this week is a repeat of a block I did last year….

Scrapbeelicious block 2Yep the mini flying geese crazy is back.  This month it was Stephanie from Quarter Incher’s turn to be Queen of our ScrapBeeLicous Bee, and she choose the Liesl Made’s Flying Geese Block.  Yipee….

Scrapbeelicious block 1So I retooled my paper piecing pattern and set to work raiding my scrap stash.  I actually think the only way to make this kind of quilt is to do it as part of a Bee (and to paper piece ti!).  There is no way you want to be making more than a few of these blocks… okay there is no way I could make more than a few of these blocks and remain sane!

As it is Wednesday there is only one thing left to do….link up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Block Rock’n Sampler quilt

After a year of Paper Piecing Monday I have finally finished a quilt from my Monday blocks.  I am very proud to present my Block Rock’n sampler quilt top.

modern sampler quilt

All these blocks are from Julie at 627Handwork’s fabulous free Block Rock’n  pattern collection.  There are only two blocks from her collection missing from this quilt – my Icky Thump block became part of the beautiful Icicle quilt and Julie’s Floyd block which I have not made yet.

Block rockn quilt detail

For the record my favourite block is this beauty….

Block Rockn favourite block

For the quilting of this lovely , I went with diagonal lines, which seemed appropriate with the off center block placement I went with.

Block Rockn quilt detail 2

For the backing I found some fabulously outrageous IKEA fabric in my stash which was just perfect.   The photo does not do these neon lips justice.

Block Rockn Quilt back

The final touch was some solid Kona grey binding, which was attached using the sewing machine.  I figured that this quilt might get a lot of love (and stains) and wanted it to be as durable as possible.  Machine binding, though not as pretty  as hand binding, in my opinion, does add some sturdiness.

Block Rockn binding

I seriously love how this quilt came together… so much so that it is staying with me.  It is going to be our couch quilt and I am soooooo excited.

QUILT DETAILS
Technique:  Scrap paper piecing
Block size:  12 x 12 blocks
Finished size:  57″ x 60″