Oh my goodness, is it already Friday? I've got plenty to show you, but I always forget how long the blogging takes.
I've been collecting my favorite Carolyn Friedlander fabrics for a special project (a couple of these aren't her's)
and when I saw this pattern come out last fall, I just had to have it!
So, when I was ready for a new start, I pulled out the pattern and . . . . . . NO!!!! It's that "paper piecing" that everyone keeps talking about that I have steered far away from.
So, I found a friend who has paper pieced before and I parked myself, (sewing machine included) in her sewing room for a few days, (bringing snacks always help with that)
It was a bit slow going at first, and there were some lessons to learn along the way.
1. always mark your little papers
2. it pays to invest $10 in a package of Carol Doak's Foundation Paper, 100 sheets. It's just like that thin paper we wrote on as kids a gazillion years ago.
3. keep your seam ripper close by.
4. press to the dark side (learned this one when it was too late :(
These houses took me about an hour each, they're only 5" square, yikes! I hope you're impressed.
then an 8 house wall hanging . . .
I have a few favorites:
and a few more:
I even took the time to make a sleeve for hanging purposes.
I've tried using the clear thumb tacks, that works for a while, but not long-term. I tried sewing the triangles into the corners, that didn't work (it sagged in the middle).
This has turned out to be a great system for hanging a quilt, my favorite tutorial is here (she learned this system from a quilt museum). I found some good instructions for making the sleeve here and here.
It was an investment of time (3 trips to Home Depo), but now that I've made a few and corrected my mistakes, I've got it down and find that it's a secure way to hang a quilt.
I'm so proud of myself!!! ok. seriously, if I can do this paper piecing thing, surely you can! I think my next one will be that circle of geese I keep seeing.
I'd love to give away my little outhouse scraps to someone that appreciates them. If you'd like them, tell me which 2 fabrics in that stack at the beginning of the post aren't Carolyn Friedlander's.
linked:
whoop whoop
finish it Friday
Well, you certainly picked a fairly simple block for your first paper piecing escapade. They're cute as the dickens -- and a pretty elegant outhouse, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteReally cute little houses, and you did great replacing those squares. I once had to pull apart a fully quilted quilt to switch two patches sewn backwards. Not an easy or quick task!! Just visiting from Finish it Up Friday. But, don't enter me in a drawing for the scraps, I have more than my share, LOL!!
ReplyDeleteLove your wall hanging, it turned out beautifully!! Some of the fabrics are difficult to see but I'm pretty sure that the wide black and white striped fabric is not Carolyne Friedlander's.
ReplyDeleteGreat color palettes in both your quilts! And congrats on tackling paper piecing! I'd love to win your scraps but I can't pick out the non-matching fabrics. The black and white stripe for sure, but not sure about the other ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat little out houses. I have a quilt on my bed that needs a repair job kind of like yours did. My dog chewed open nail polish on the bed, two little spills. Which fabrics, The black and white strip and then maybe the black and white plaid fabric.
ReplyDeleteI too have forced myself to learn paper piecing during the last couple of weeks. I am beginning to really like it. I try to some every night until it becomes a natural thing.
ReplyDeleteI love your houses. Paper piecing makes everything so exact. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI love Carolyn Friedlander fabrics. I'm pretty sure the ones that aren't hers are the black and white stripe and the black and white check. I've been searching for the Architexture "trees" (they look like the trees in plan view on architectural drawings). Fingers crossed that I win!
ReplyDeleteNice houses. I think the black and white stripe and the black and white check.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is just awesome! I am not familiar enough with Carolyn's fabrics to know which two are not from her line. Can I still be entered in the giveaway? Oh, what I could do with those scraps! Scrap quilts are my favorite projects. (shirparks@gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteI can't guess on the two non-Carolyn fabrics but I can say that this quilt is gorgeous! I love all your fabric choices, particularly the blocks with the darker background. Beautiful. And thanks for the hanging sleeve tutorial!
ReplyDeleteLove that pattern! Your quilt is cool. I think the 2 non-Carolyn fabrics are the text prints.
ReplyDeletei don't know which aren't but maybe the pebbles and the blue cross hatch to the left of it? i love this pattern but i'm not into starting EPP!
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ReplyDeleteI love Carolyn's fabric. I think its the black and white small boxes and the black and white large stripes.
ReplyDeleteI already have the pattern. Just been waiting to get enough of her fabric to make it.
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