Mardie is catching up on all her posts...

Most of these squares have been sent off long ago...in fact, I sent of Amy Gardiner's without taking a picture first! With great embarrassment, I present the following: For Camie, Kristin, Jen, Nicole and Amy C.

(Why, Oh, Why is Kristin's square off to the right like that!!! Arrrggghhhhh!!)

Amy, we have books on umbrellas, ballerinas, birdhouses, homes, foreign places and ships anchors! I can't wait to see this finished!

Rose Trellis or (Hugs and Kisses) for Liz's baby Charlotte.
"Miss Kate
 by Bonnie and Camille 

Some other projects from this year:

Baby Charlotte on a simple stacked block baby quilt.
"30's Playtime" by Cloe's Closet

Railroad Crossings for my Idaho daughter Grace's baby, Andy.
Loved this "Oh, Boy!" by Blake Riley

 I am struggling with the blog... I will just publish with love to all. 

Thanks for my Patriotic Stars which keep coming in the mail! I'm so excited!

Paper Piecing Paralysis (PPP)

I am convinced this is a real diagnosis. The last time I was this behind we were working on shari's paper piecing square. Apparently I have issues with paper piecing.

Mom and I  thought we were being so smart to do this together, however the result was we ran out of mom's fabric. That was the first time we discovered our colors were slightly different!!!! So I had half a square that I couldn't finish and had to start over. We sent back the pieces I had made with my square and the fabric in case you want to make another out of that color scheme, Nicole. It's halfway done! 😉

I could blame the whole thing i pregnant brain and newborn brain but I apologize for getting so behind. 

I also want to thank you sweet friends for helping to make this darling blanket for my new babe! It's beautiful and it is our special work blanket where she rests and plays when she goes to work with me! I love it and I am so touched that you took the time to do this!!

Love,

Liz 

Well, I finally have some blocks to share!  I will say that I sewed January's block right away, and then got freaked out by the paper piecing for February and basically froze.  Then I got a big shot of guilt mixed with reckless bravery and finally just went for it.  Whew! And that opened the flood gates. Finally got all caught up and mailed them off last Saturday, so they should be arriving at your homes soon.  Here they are in all their glory.

First up is Emily's Good Fortune block.  I really liked the unusual look of this block, without too much fiddling or the need of lots of templates or y seams.

Then came my nemesis, the Castle Wall.  This block exposed my fear of anything new and of failure, but also gave me the confidence to try out more paper piecing patterns in the future. So thank you, Nicole! It didn't turn out as perfect as I hoped, but I am still happy with it, and I hope you are as well.

Camie's beautiful, cheerful scrappy log cabin block gave me a chance to dig through all my scraps from past projects and smile at all the memories.  I can't wait to see how the finished quilt turns out.

Kristin's block was another bit of a problem.  Not because of the curved seams, those were awesome. No, it was the request for different grey and mustard yellow fabrics.  I didn't think it would be that big a deal at first, just an excuse to go the fabric store.  But after visiting 5 stores, I still couldn't find a fourth grey fabric. In desperation, I asked my local quilting friend if she had any in her stash.  She did, but it was a big dark.  I hope it doesn't ruin your whole quilt!

Liz's blocks were super fun.  Not much thinking, just randomly dividing up the fabric and going to town.  I also loved being able to purposely sew a little squittywompus, and have it add to the block, instead of ruining it.

Another one for Nicole-

Here she is- in all her glory! 

                    Hope you likey....

   

Turrets & drawbridges

For Nicole...

I love the precision of paper piecing!  I'm sorry that the points don't all line up.  I hope it's close enough.

em

castle wall love

It's not perfect but I did it (and I have to admit it WAS rewarding after I figured it out- with help)!!!  I do love the colors and the pattern is beautiful.  I look forward to seeing the quilt when it's finished.  I'll get those threads trimmed before I put it in the mail. :)

Here's the polaroid quilt that I finished.  I chose a meander stitch and I am happy with it.

Lastly, I'd like to share a quilt my 9-year old made last summer.  She wanted to do it ALL herself (with my instruction, of course).  After months of her almost finished quilt sitting in her room she finally hand stitched the binding.  I just pulled it out of the dryer this afternoon.  I won't tell her that her brother crawled and danced all over it.

Castle Wall Love

I fell in love with this 30’s vintage quilt a couple years ago but those Y-seams, blah. 

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. 

When I saw this paper pieced version pop up on my Pinterest feed it was like the stars aligned. 

I love paper piecing.

I love castle wall.

Quite serendipitous. 

I hope you don’t mind making a girl’s quilt dreams come true!

Ladies, I’m not going to lie. 

Good news… I’d say the complexity of the paper piecing is pretty darn easy: not a bad project to start with if you’ve never attempted paper piecing before.

Bad news… it is time consuming.  It took me a couple of nap times, plus some to complete.  

Here is my version.

I debated for a long time on which fabrics I should choose but in the end I chose to stick with red, white and blue.  If nothing else it will make this ex-pat a little less home sick. 

If you’ve never done paper piecing, or if it’s been a while, or if you know how to do it perfectly well but want some tips on how to do it better, then look no further than this tutorial.  I use some of her techniques and leave some at the door (like when she says don’t bother using a ¼” ruler when cutting the excess fabric on the seam, she be straight up crazy). There are bunches of paper piecing tutorials out there.  I don’t care which method you use.  Choose one that works for you.  

Fabric is in the mail.  

I hope you find this project as fun to do as I did. 

Thank you ladies!

XOXO,

Nicole