Tag Archives: Paper Piecing

English Paper Piecing Star Coasters

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For your browsing pleasure, a photographic mish-mash of assorted English paper pieced star coasters in their various stages of construction:

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And a kit made for my little sister in law who wants to learn English paper piecing:

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It contains a Happy Doggie needle book, red, white and blue fabric, batting, felt backing, scissors, thread, thread conditioner and a little soap box to hold the paper piecing templates.  (I used 1.5″ 60 degree diamonds from Quilt Laughing on Etsy.)  I added a label for fun.

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And I have a large paper piecing project that I’ve been away from for too long, so back to it!

sarahsigres

My “To Boston with Love” Contribution

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Boston Love Banners

Watching the news coverage of the bombings at the Boston Marathon left me feeling helpless, angry and sick.  But then the world responded with support, kindness and love.  THIS is the real lesson, the part that I hope we’ll keep with us.

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild has created a project that lets crafty minded people join together to send another message of support to the people of Boston.  “To Boston with Love” is a collaborative effort by quilters to create a display swags of happy, colorful banners in a public exhibit in Boston.  If you’d like to join in, be quick!  They need the flags by May 21, 2013 for the planned exhibit in June.  Click the button below for more details, including links to paper piecing patterns like the ones I used above and where to mail your finished flags.

To Boston With Love

Much thanks to Lisa of In the Boon Docks for motivating our tiny (but growing) group in the West Virginia Modern Quilters Guild to contribute to this project!  You rock, Lisa!  

sarahsigres

Currently:

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I’m binding Africa.  That sounds like it would take forever, doesn’t it?  It’s going well so far.

Binding Africa

Maybe I’ve changed mind about how to piece the Dallas Cowboys baby quilt.  Maybe the whole top should be paper pieced stars, and the little flannel squares can be a small stroller blanket.  The bright white of the pieced blocks and the cream in the flannels just aren’t getting along, and I’m thinking of keeping them separated.

WIP: Three Stars

I’m falling behind in the Super Mario Bros. quilt along, but I knew I would from the beginning.

Super Mario Bros Quilt Blocks Four

There’s only so much time, after all.

And my 13 year old cat Aslan is spending a few days at the vet’s office.  Instead of being constantly underfoot, he’s getting some much needed medical attention.

Aslan

This morning, no one has tried to trip me in the kitchen, and it’s surprising how much a person can miss that.  His tech at the animal hospital tells me he’s feeling a little more like himself this morning.  I asked, “You mean he bit you?”  She laughed.  Yes, that’s right.  Ah, my sweet/mean cat.  Come home and boss us all around again soon.

Learning Paper Piecing

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I’m working on a baby quilt for friends of ours, for a little boy who will grow up to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys just like his Daddy.  I knew I wanted to make a quilt that celebrated that additional bond father and son will have from watching football together.  The quilt would need to be instantly recognizable by any fan … and to my mind, that meant incorporating the Dallas star logo.

I looked at a lot of star quilt designs and didn’t find anything that was just right until I stumbled into paper piecing and found this pattern from BubbleStitch on Etsy.

Paper Piecing

Did I mention that I’ve never done paper piecing?  Look at all that!  Yes, I was intimidated, but I really needed that star.  So I searched again for a tutorial on paper piecing, and I really liked this one from Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts.  She made it seem possible.  (The  star pattern is just the pattern, no instructions on paper piecing are included.)

I dove in, changed my colors around to represent the Dallas Cowboys, and ended up with this:

Dallas Cowboys Quilt Star

Not perfect, but I think it will do!  If you’ve wanted to try paper piecing, read through Faith’s tutorial a few times to wrap your mind around, then go for it!

Dallas Cowboys Quilt Star

Still more to do on this one, so check back later for the finished quilt!