Snip it Good

Now Snip it...into shape...I am actually early to make April's 'And Sew On' paper piecing block. So I can post early to the Quiet Play collection finally.

This was a less complicated block than March's 'Spoolin' Around' block. I wanted to have a funky background and I found it in a vintage sheet fat quarter. 

I did detour from the pattern slightly when making the handles of the scissors. I hope Kristy does not mind. But I managed to cut the piecing by half.

I do wish that I had used a darker grey for the blades of the scissors now that I see it altogether.

But the four blocks look good together.

Sew Mid Century

Alyce's sideboard block arrived in the mail yesterday. She has used a clever brown fabric with what looks like coffee beans and also some text prints. She totally got the mid century colours brief.

And these three blocks look good together too.

A Spool Can't be Spooled Again

A few things have gone missing around here lately. 

• One of my daughter's school tunics, (found in her dress up box- Phew!)
• My wedding and engagement rings (I know that I put them in a safe place when my finger started to swell up but I can't remember where), (found in my glasses case in my drawer and now on their way to Sydney to be cleaned and back-filled behind the diamonds to prevent dermatitis).
• The Tooth Fairy who has not replaced Tristan's two front teeth with any coins.
• And little visiting fingers have unravelled my bobbin and my Aurifil spool these past two weekends. Now the small thread holder is missing. Lucky I have two large spare ones.

Anyway the good news is, that after many hours of finicky piecing, I have finished block three in the 'And Sew On' Block of the Month two days before March ends!

Kristy's patterns come together so easily. She will be releasing the April block anyday on her Etsy store. It will be FREE for the month of April only. I hear it goes 'snip, snip'. 

Here are my three blocks so far...

Linking up late to TGIFF.

You Little Ripper!

February's block for 'And Sew On' was called 'You Little Ripper'. Which in Australian colloquial terms means "You winner". We also say "You little beauty". Aren't we a funny bunch?

As always Kristy's block was easy to put together. I found selecting fabrics harder than anything as I wanted to tie it into my 'Measure Twice' block. I also wanted to make the detail on the seams ripper stand out by using a solid.

The only tricky bit was lining up the vertical seams on the patchwork and the seam ripper bottom to the top.

Linking up to the Feb list at Quiet Play.

The new March design called "Spooling Around" should be out any day now.

Wild and Woolly

Since yesterday morning weather conditions have deteriorated at our place and up and down the east coast of Australia. The wind and rain were shrieking outside last night and I found it very hard to sleep. That and the frightenned children who snuggled in and forced me out from about 4:30am.

A wet and bedraggled rooster yesterday

I have been worrying about our chickens and hoping no large trees or branches fall on their coop. Fortunately the roost is brick and there is access to a run and a couple of nesting boxes, however it is wet. Unfortunately we have re-scheduled our plans for a BBQ and backyard cricket lunch with friends until next weekend. Conditions on the road would be hazardous with fallen trees and large volumes of water. We've had 70mm of raing in our gauge in 24 hours.

Fran was drying the hens but it was a fruitless task given the
weather conditions and that the chickens would wander out into it.

But it has forced me to finish a few sewing projects I have been avoiding. I did some alterations and repairs to clothes and then labelled all of the kid's school uniforms, swimmers and towels. There was no fun in that but a tiny amount of satisfaction.

I did manage to complete some paper piecing blocks including my own version of the 'Measure Twice' block. If you plan to join us for the Quiet Play 'And Sew On' paper pieced Block of the Month - you have only three days to get FREE January pattern. And the same amount of time to enter your block in the fabric give-away.

Sad to hear that the folks of the Lockyer Valley have been evacuated last night and that Ipswich and Brisbane are expecting moderate floods again. It seems that the floods of 2011 are NOT a distant memory. The weather is just crazy! We still have bushfires in Western Australia and some folks in Bundaberg got hit by five tornados. I hear that the northern hemisphere is experiencing freezing conditions right now. So keep safe people.

Update: 10am - We have whole trees and lots of branches down around our 5 acres. The gusts are increasing in velocity - some clocking 100km per hour.

That's our house and in the foreground is our driveway.

I'm a Little Teapot

The Wombat Stew is back in business for 2013.  Wombat Stew is a group of 7 lovely ladies who love to quilt and also paper piece. We mostly met through Facebook's Quilt Club Australia and are made up of:

Kristy from Quiet Play

Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

Gemma from Pretty Bobbins

Marieka from Bespoke Bites

Jane from Where Jane Creates

Lara from Luellabella

and me.

This month Lara is Chief Wombat and she has asked for teapots (bless her!). Their bottom must sit on the bottom of the block and also include a selvedge. 

I had a few teapots pinned on Pinterest but this one struck me the most. There's something about the retro shape and floral design that appeals to me.

A ceramic Blossom Teapot by Swedish designer Camilla Engdahl

I had a fabric similar to this but the print was small. And Teal.

So I chose to use this brilliantly happy Anna Marie Horner Sunflower print instead. It is bold and large (and I have seen it in some lovely colourways).

A quick few messages to paper piecing guru Kristy and she whipped up a 'sweet as scones' pattern for me and sent it through as a pdf. I am sure the pattern will be available soon and if you want to be a pattern tester for this one, please email her. (kristyqp@gmail.com)

I was a bit out of practice with my paper piecing I'm afraid. I find it very hard to work in opposites and this time I used A4 copy paper that I could not see through. In general I have difficulty conceptualising things so paper piecing makes my brain hurt! My block has three extra seams than the pattern calls for due to my trimming fabric too closely as I pieced.

By the time I had come to piece the handle I was back into the pp groove and I only made one mistake with it.

And look at that selvedge yumminess! 

It is off to Lara in the post today...along with some RASK (random acts of scrap kindness).

Oh and if you'd like to try some paper piecing yourself, why not join us over at Quiet Play this month for the 'And Sew On' - a sewing themed, paper pieced BoM, where you can make this...

I still have to make one for myself. Oh and there are prizes for linking up your version by January 31st!