Paper-piecing adventure

July is Kati's month for our Sew Beautiful Bee. She sent us glorious stacks of gray and yellow fabric, along with a request for (preferably) paper-pieced stars. My paper-piecing experience is very limited, but I decided to give it a go, and I'm really happy with the result!
 
 I found some gorgeous Pioneer's Compass blocks made by Jen Johnston on Flickr. She linked to a downloadable pattern from eQuiltPatterns. I downloaded it (for the low low price of 99 cents!) and got to work. It was a challenge for sure, and my seam ripper was always close at hand. The site lists it as a difficulty of 1 (out of 5). I'm glad I didn't try a more difficult pattern!
 
It's definitely not perfect, but I'm quite proud of my effort! I cannot WAIT to see how Kati's quilt comes together.

WIP Wednesday

What can I say, it's summer! This weekend was packed with my son's birthday party, fun with family visiting, and running my first 5K, so ye olde sewing machine has been collecting dust. BUT I have a lot that needs to get done, and WIP Wednesday always helps me stay on track!


Finished:
~ Not a thing. ~

 In progress
Happy Drawing Baby quilt

A friend of mine is having a baby soon, and I need to make a gift! I'm thinking I'll put my stack of Happy Drawing fabric to use with Jess' Jungle Path baby quilt tutorial. Need to get on this!

Hand-quilting great-grandma's quilt
I've made some progress on this. I'm trusting I'll have a lot of hand-stitching time while watching the Olympics. (CANNOT WAIT)

Bee blocks
Have you noticed July is quickly coming to a close? I must get caught up on my bee blocks.


do. Good Stitches Host Swap

I got this fabric from Superbuzzy. It's going to become a tote. Very soon.

Diaper bag for Claire
My little niece has requested a toy diaper bag. Need to get to work on this asap!
Tula Pink Quilt!
I'm excited to make a quilt using The Birds & The Bees. Soon!


Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Postage Stamp quilt
Arcadia Quilt


To do:
Half Moon Modern quilt borders
Swoon
Hand-stitched class homework
teddy bear sleeping bags
Tracey's French Kisses
June block for do. Good Stitches
July block for do. Good Stitches Yellow/Gray star for Kati
Bag for me

Head to Lee's to see what everyone else is working on!

WIP Wednesday!

I'm kind of on an every-other-week thing with WIP Wednesday this summer. We were on vacation last week, but I have a few things to report.


Finished:
French Rounnieres cathedral window pincushion.


Woodland Tails quilt
I finished up this quilt using the panel from the Woodland Tails collection. Of course, this simple project managed to give me fits! The quilting took forever because my machine was having tension issues. But it's cute!

Love the little creatures. (What quilting fabric needs--more skunks!)

I used a stripe from the same line for the binding.

I used this Woodland Tails print for the back, plus some Michael Miller Couture Cotton in Olive.

This one will be making its way to my little Etsy shop!

 In progress
Hand-quilting great-grandma's quilt
Remember this quilt? I dusted it off (again) to resume hand-quilting.
Half-Moon Modern/Hexagon Park

Awaiting borders. Still.



Handstitched Class

I really intended to work on this while I was on vacation last week. Fail.

do. Good Stitches Host Swap
Fabric is on the way!

Diaper bag for Claire
My little niece has requested a toy diaper bag. Need to get to work on this.

Completed tops awaiting quilting:
Postage Stamp quilt
Arcadia Quilt


To do:
Half Moon Modern quilt
Swoon
teddy bear sleeping bags
Tracey's French Kisses
June block for do. Good Stitches
July block for do. Good Stitches Yellow/Gray star for Kati
Bag for me

Head to Lee's to see what everyone else is working on!

French cathedral

My mom has developed an affinity for pincushions, so I made this one for her collection.

I used my French Rouenneries charms and this tutorial by Kim at My GoGo Life to make it. It's deceptively simple to make (unless you're my mom--then it was extremely time-consuming and difficult).

I definitely see more of these in my future...