Sunday, February 19, 2012

Paper piecing


It is a nasty day in ENC. Snow is predicted to the north and west of us.  We are on the snow rain line,  lots of cold rain.  A good day to stay in and sew!  I finished the placemats for my daughter in law.  I was really pleased with the way they turned out.


































I was really taken by this quilt but I had never paper pieced.  I tried to piece it on my own.  I am not even going to show you that.  I went to YouTube.  Did you know you can find almost anything on YouTube!  I followed a couple of videos and this is my first two attempts at paper piecing.








 I need some good advice on paper piecing.  I honestly had a fit with it.  I think maybe I didn't cut my pieces big enough.  HELP!  I would love to make that quilt!

 I have always wanted to do a value quilt.  One where the blocks are arranged by color and value.  To be honest this looked better on the wall than in the picture.  This may have to wait until another time.
Somehow this is harder than I thought it would be.

















We took the grandkids to the circus.  Who enjoyed it more,  the adults or the kids?  A good time was had by all! 


I am working on finishing a couple of things.  First the quilt for my other daughter in law.  This is the scrappy nine patch.

This picture turned out so nice I decided to show it again. 

















The back.
















This is the quilt I made for my daughter in law's Relay for Life team.  They are going to sell chances on it.  I love the way this one turned out. 

















The back.
















I spent Friday cleaning out more of my mothers stash.  If you have ever wondered what will happen to all those projects you never finished stay tuned!

8 comments:

Helen McNaught @ AuntyHennys said...

Hello True Blue!

You HAVE been busy! Love all of the quilts and YES.... paper piecing can drive you insane! I have paper pieced two projects and both nearly put me off sewing:-) You are right.... you need chunks of fabric to allow for the flip back and fit the shape bit. I found PP used lots of fabric but of course the end result is a perfectly pieced creation. I did a Mariners Compass wall hanging which is sadly still in a box somewhere, never completed and a tablerunner from a pattern in a book which had a mistake in it and my friends and I didn't discover it until it was too late so we had to "fudge" here and there. The mistake was in the fabric allowance!!

Good luck with it all!

Barb said...

Love the placemats and enjoyed seeing all of your quilts...well not all...some!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Love those placemats and the Relay raffle quilt.

As far as paper piecing, I tend to use it only for New York Beauty type patterns. Otherwise, I free piece. Good luck on your quest to learn how!

elle said...

WOW! You have some amazing things finished. I do believe you are well into a creative break through.

Sharon said...

Great stuff! I love the placemats - very fun! Nobody better spill on those! :)

The quilts are fantastic. I love the 9-patch with stars.

As far as the paper piecing, I've done some. It drives me crazy after awhile. Yes, you need to use bigger than you think pieces, at least until you get used to it. I always cut too small! Just keep practicing - it does get better. But I'd think you could do those fish free-pieced somehow. Just a thought. . .

Darn, that work verification is too hard! I can't read those ink blobs!

Lori R. said...

I love to paper piece! Come on over for an afternoon sewing session.

Anonymous said...

I managed to commet in under 15 mins! Yay to no recaptcha :) :) :)

Katie said...

If you can find them, any book by Jane Hall is fabulous. I also learned great technique from Spellbinding Quilts by Maaike Bakker.