Paper Piecing Party and what else I've been up to this week

I've been quite busy this week! Apart from finishing my And Sew On May block, I've also been doing some other paper piecing. I saw a nice butterfly pattern on thesmilingcat and was inspired to make one. Not sure what it will become yet, maybe I'll make some more and turn it into a wall hanging or quilt for my daughter.

 I linking this up to Quiet Plays paper piecing party. Take a look, it's great to see what everyone else has been working on!

I've also been working on something that isn't paper pieced!!!! Shocking I know! One my husbands workmates invited him to their daughters 1st birthday party, so of course I had to make something for her. I decided on an owl and was inspired by lots of different pictures and patterns. The wings are little pockets and I've added a pocket on the back as well with a G for Grace.

I made her a matching owl card. Hopefully she is an owl fan (isn't everyone?!) but I'll have to wait to hear the verdict. My daughter was trying to stop me wrapping it up, so I might have to make one for her as well!


Hope everyone had a great crafty weekend!

And Sew On - May BOM

Where did May go? Seems like only yesterday I was posting my April block!

As usual I waited til the last minute to start and finish my block for Quiet Plays BOM. This one is called Keep Calm and Press on and I found it came together quite easily. Of course I made mistakes as normal, On the first section I sewed the wrong line about 3 times and was rather close to having a tantrum!

Apart from the seam ripper getting a lot of use, I'm rather keen on this one. My last couple of blocks have been a bit plain and boring, so I wanted to put a bit of colour into this one! Don't think I'd have this wallpaper in my house though. I was a bit worried the red iron wouldn't stand out enough against the background, but I think it's turned out really well!

Great block thanks Kristy, can't wait for June's block!

Vintage style 60's mod toddler dress

I'm rather proud of myself! I've made my first dress for my daughter! Sure I've made T-shirts (neckline way too big) and refashioned a couple of skirts (Bit too short or they fall down easily) but this was my first attempt to make a dress.

I was inspired by this dress from doublestitching. Unfortunately I didn't have any fabric quite as funky as hers, but I remembered I had a rather psychedelic skirt that I bought at a car boot. I mistakenly thought it might look quite good on me. However it might make a great dress for her!

I used the tutorial from doublestitching, but decided not to make a collar as I didn't have enough fabric. I found some buttons the perfect colour and it was finished.

Of course its not perfect, it took much longer than I expected, the stitching isn't great, so don't look too closely and it's rather too large for her, but at least she'll be able to fit into it for a while! Despite these issues, I was really proud when I put it on her, although she didn't pay any attention to the dress and just carried on creating havoc. Never mind!

I 'm going to keep an eye out for some 60's style fabric to make another dress.

Note to self: must remember to take pictures before someone gets their sticky paws on it!

I am linking this up to We did it Wednesday on So Much Ado

Snip it real good - BOM for April

I finished just in time! 

This is my completed square for Quiet Play's 'And Sew On' paper pieced block for April. It doesn't come out well, but the background fabric is green, not grey. 

The block came together well and I'm happy with it, but I was slightly restricted by my scraps. I only had dark grey left for the scissor blades, but I would have liked to make those and lighter grey and then made the handles a darker colour. 

It was a good design and I think adding the loose thread really finishes it off nicely. I might go back and add some loose threads to my March block when I get a chance. 

I can't wait to see what the next design is and luckily I don't have long to wait! 

Paper piecing addict - My first design!

I'm hurrying to finish my And Sew On April block at the moment, but just wanted to show you a couple of paper pieced blocks I made for the craft club I attend. We're currently making a sensory patchwork blanket for the library where we hold our meetings and it was decided we would do blocks based around the seasons.

This is my winter block, thank you to 3and3quarters for helping me decide to make a paper pieced wonky log cabin block! Don't you just love the little penguin? It took me longer to decide on fabrics than actually sew it together. I enjoy paper piecing, especially when it's all on 1 sheet of paper!

This is my spring block. I decided to make a picture block of a bunny, but had an image in my head and couldn't find a pattern to match it, so I made my own! It took ages to work it out on paper and it's not perfect, but I'm really pleased with the outcome and I think I'll try and design some other blocks in the future. I used a slightly stretchy furry fabric for his tail and stuffed it so it would be nice for the children to feel. I also used a ribbon to create a bow. You can't see very clearly, but he has little stiched whiskers. Now I have the design, I might have to make it again for my daughter, she seemed to quite like stroking his tail!

I got lots of nice comments from the other members, but most didn't seem to understand why I prefer spending time sewing it to the paper than having to cut out exact shapes before sewing. I think I have to work on converting them to paper piecing!

Hopefully I'll post my completed 'Snip it real good' block over the next couple of days.

Happy paper piecing!

And Sew On - My March Block

It's been a busy month so far, but I've managed to squeeze in making my block of the month for the lovely project over on Quietplay.

Looking back on it, I think my bobbin colours look a bit too subdued compared to my other two blocks. I think I was more focused on finding fabrics that had an interesting thread type pattern, rather than thinking about what colours they were!

A few of my lines didn't match up and don't look too closely at the gingham pattern, but overall, I'm quite pleased with it.

Hopefully, I'll have a bit more time spare in April, so I won't have to rush that block! Not that I'm making excuses honest!

I'm looking forward to the next challenging block and I love keeping an eye on the other finished designs to see what colour and pattern choices they made. It makes me feel better to read that most of them have some issues like me!

Thanks again to Quietplay.

For the love of frog........

You may remember this time last year, I blogged about my frog birthday present and card for my husband. Well, it's that time again and I decided the theme would be....... FROGS! Original I know! I've made him a quilted applique wall hanging, and appliqued t-shirt and of course a frog card.

The box of frogs isn't quite as wonky in real life honest! 

Here's a close up of the writing and the cheeky little frog.

This is the t-shirt. I'm not sure if this frog has an attitude problem or if it's just rather confused! 

I quite like this shocked, rather squashed looking felt frog card. It looks like he's thinking 'HOW OLD??!!!!'

Hopefully my husband will like them! I'd better get planning next years froggy presents now!

What do you think?

I've linked up to We Did Wednesday