More English Paper Piecing

I'm a bit upset this morning that I finally got a tiny window of opportunity to try and catch up with my long arm sewing jobs and what happens?  Yes, my machine broke down and now I need to wait until my husband gets a chance to look at it or wait until Monday to sort it through with my tech guy.  Grrr...

Actually, I haven't had much time at all these days to go downstairs to sew!  I have been taking my English paper piecing with me everywhere and am getting a few done now.  Keep in mind that my hexies are only the one inch size as opposed to the Hexy MF Quilt Along size which are 1.5 inches.  I've decided I am going to need about a 14 x 16 row lay out, which equates to 224 flowers (1568 hexies).  I've made 54 thus far and I thought I would share with you a few things I have learned about English paper piecing since I started this project.

1.  Basting with glue is so much faster than thread basting.
2.  Karisma pens and Sewline pens are equally as good as the other.
3.  Use Superior Botton Line thread for hand sewing--it is so fine it doesn't show and twists less.
4.  If you need to condition your thread you can use an old candle--no need for fancy products.
5.  Use a longer as opposed to shorter needle length.  It will save your hands from cramping.
6.  Tie a knot in the thread around the eye of the needle so the thread doesn't slip out.  Much easier.
7.  If you live in Australia and want to order papers BPPatch is a good place to get them.
8.  Store your project in a small container and take with you everywhere!!

Sliced Apples QAL Finished

A while ago my friend Pam started the Sliced Apples Quilt Along.  You can also find the Flickr group here.  This was a nice diversion for me.  I used three charm packs I had of American Jane's Le Petit Poulet that I had on hand.  I paired it with Kona white and the base of the quilt went together in a day.  However, as with most of my projects, it went on the pile with all the others that need to be hand sewn down.  I have an ever growing pile of those that I hold back sharing with you until I can finally motivate myself to get that job done! 

My favorite part of this quilt???  The quilting pattern of course!!!  I chose a chicken wire pattern by Anne Bright, which I hope you can see in the close up photo.  I thought it complimented the fabrics perfectly!!

English Paper Piecing

This weekend I discovered a new QAL that you can learn more about here.   My new obsession!  Thank you Danielle for pointing out this QAL to me and sending me off on yet another tangent...  But really she was just the tipping point.  It all started about two weeks ago when I was delivering quilts to one of my local quilt shops.  The owner and I somehow got into a discussion about English paper piecing and by the end of it I had two packs of 100 one inch paper hexagons in my bag!  I really didn't think I would do something with those packs right away.  Then last week I was basting a handful of quilts to be hand quilted for another customer, one of which was entirely made up of hexagons.  It was so beautiful!  I was swooning the entire time I spent basting it. The quilt along and my new assortment of Atsuko Matsuyama fabrics sort of clinched the deal.

I spent all of Friday night basting while watching Wimbledon -- go Roger!  By Saturday I had used all the papers up and tested out sewing the flowers together this morning.  Ahhh, I'm sure I should be doing something else in the long list of things I ought to be doing, but it's weekend and that is the excuse I am going to use:)

My First Lone Star Quilt

Not too long ago I posted a progress shot of this quilt on my design wall.  Now it is finished!  I just sewed down the last bit of the binding this morning.  I made this as a trial of some of the Quiltsmart products that I ordered in to sell.  Wow!  All I can say is that the Quiltsmart made a somewhat difficult quilt very easy to put together.  The joins came together neatly with the iron on interfacing technique used by the Quiltsmart products.  My only concern originally was that the extra interfacing would create a thickness/bulk in the quilt that I might not like or have trouble quilting through.  No, not a problem!  I don't really notice any extra bulk and of course on the long arm, not a problem to sew!   The only difference was that my long arm needle got dull a little faster than normal.  I will definitely make this quilt again!! 

I am very tempted to hang this quilt on the wall somewhere.  The question is, do I have wall space big enough somewhere to hang it? 

Little Apples Quilt Finish!

There has been a lot going on around here, but I've been mostly unable to post due to terrible internet connection.  However, after many many hours of complaining with our provider, our phones suddenly shut down two days ago including mobile phone and since that time we've had a good connection.  Knock on wood.  We are fairly certain they needed to upgrade their system as even mobile phones were dropping out, etc. Ah, life in the country.  Still, I would rather that than live in the city!!!

I'm on a roll with finishing quilts of late.  I'm up to 10 quilts that need the bindings sewn down at the moment, so I'm hoping to get some photos that are not too terrible with this winter light to show you!  The above quilt is a Garden Fence quilt using Aneela Hoey's Little Apples range for Moda.  I used a dark blue solid to give the quilt a bit more of a masculine look as it will be used by my boys. 

Happy 4th of July everyone!  It was our 6th wedding anniversary!  Yes, we got married on the 4th of July--mainly so that it would help my husband remember which day it was that we got married:)  !!!