Our New Puppy - Scrappy

Sunday, October 27, 2013 No comments
Here is our new edition, Scrappy!  He is a five month old miniature schnauzer and very playful. He loves to spend time hanging out while I sew :-) and he forces me to take breaks for a quick walk here and there!

I had not thought of it, but one of my sister's asked if I named him Scrappy because I like to make scrap quilts. I laughed, but thought how ironic is that?  He really did get his name because of his personality and the way he was a scrappy little fighter with the other pups. :-) he is a funny little character!


English Paper Piecing - This Week's Update

Here is my first star stitched together. It probably doesn't seem like a lot of progress, but it actually is!  I also cut the background fabric for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt so now I can start stitching those together. 

So considering juggling multiple priorities - family, work, school (working on my MBA), training our new puppy Scrappy - I feel pretty good with this week's progress.  Hopefully I can make more progress next week!  



My First EPP Diamonds

Sunday, October 20, 2013 No comments
Okay! Here are my first English Paper Pieced (EPP) diamonds!  I used the 1 1/2" sixty degree diamonds from Paper Pieces and fabric from the Happy Go Lucky line by Bonnie &Camille. It was very fun and I am looking forward to stitching them together. More to come and very soon I hope!


Love this book!

Saturday, October 19, 2013 No comments
Quilting On The Go is an awesome book!  Jessica Alexandrakis offers the basics along with great ways to 'travel' with your quilting obsession.  I love her travel quilt and although I have not finished by hexagon quilt, I bought 1-1/2" diamonds from Paper Pieces and jelly roll of Bonnie and Camille's Happy Go Lucky and I can't wait to get started on my diamond stars! 

I purchased the kindle version of her book as it sort of falls in line with my 'on the go' English paper piecing habit :).

Check out Jessica's blog to see her work or even join her Diamond EPP quilt along! I hope to post some progress later this week.

Enjoy!

My Favorite Supplies

Thursday, October 3, 2013 No comments
Since I first tried paper piecing hexagons, I tried many needles and threads. I finally settled on Milliners Needles (size 10) made by Richard Hemming & Son, which I use for basting and whip stitching.

For basting I use all of my old thread since it gets removed any way.

For whip stitching thread I tried Superior Bottom Line, Essentials (100% cotton), YLI Silk, and Superior So Fine (#59/3 ply). While I love the way the Bottom Line disappeared, it was tricky to thread and slippery to work with. My favorite to work with is Superior So Fine. 

I get all my paper templates (hexagons, diamonds, etc.) from Paper Pieces. It saves a lot of time and I find the quality to be very good. I use the 1 1/2" hexagons.  If you choose to use the 2" hexagons, then you could use a 5" charm pack for fabric.

My favorite online fabric store is Missouri Star Quilt Co.

Sunday Morning Design Results!

Here are Gracie and Carter's designs.....Finally stitched :-)