English Paper Piecing Challenge!

Last January, our Paper Pizzazz group was issued a challenge.  And now we have the results to share with you!  Each person interested in participating was given a pack of little 2 1/2" squares of Flower Sugar by Lecien.  Lecien is a Japanese company whose designers have created some wonderful fabric lines.  I like the quote on the front of their website:  

"Make Stuff and Be Nice!"

Paper Pizzazz is our English Paper Piecing group that meets monthly for inspiration, learning, sharing and socializing.  It's the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 1PM.  The challenge rules explained that they needed to use at least one Flower Sugar square, and the projects needed to be something that would contain something else.  They could use original patterns/designs or published patterns, and add any fabrics they might need.

We have 7 challenge projects on display, with a wide range of ideas and styles!  What a creative bunch!  We are offering everyone a chance to vote for viewer's choice, and a prize will be awarded!  Voting ends on Monday, 6/12, so the days are counting down quickly!

Even if you can't be here to view and vote, we like to share the talents of our customers--thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge!

Putting the Pizzazz in the Paper!

The art of hand sewing is not fading away for this group of women!

Each month, on the 2nd Tuesday, you will find them sitting down with needle and thread and an English paper piecing project.  Our Paper Pizzazz group has such talent and varied skills.  Some have known how to do the stitching for English paper piecing for a long time, some are newcomers to this.  Some like traditional, some like a little more whimsy and bright colors.  Some stitch fast, some stitch slowly, and there's no expiration date for how long a project can be "in the works"!

We enjoy the inspiration gained from each other, resurrecting old ideas and creating new ones.   Stitching by hand is such a fundamental form of the craft of quilting.  It's a very tactile aspect of what we do, very "in touch with" the fabric, thread, needle and the paper shapes.  We are always learning a little something new, whether it's how to combine shapes differently, how to baste the quickest and neatest way, what needles feel the best in our hand, what threads pull through the fabric smoothly, and how to keep it all organized!

Here are some examples of individual projects that are underway--

Jean's block partially assembled.

Lynette's hexagon medallion that keeps growing!

Deb's carefully planned and partially stitched hexies.

Pam's collection of hexagon "flowers" made from the remains of other quilts.

Andrea's nearly finished hexagons, which was the subject of much admiration
and discussion on finishing techniques.

Mary's "wheels" made of reproduction 1930's fabrics.

Our group is casual and open to anyone interested, no matter your skill level.  When Lynette started her medallion project shown above, she was a rookie at this.  But she was game to learn something new, and committed to using fabrics she already had on hand.  And look how far she's come!  That could be you!

So next time we get together, October 11 at 1 pm, maybe you can be there to pull up a chair and join us!  Last week we sampled a new recipe I had for a dip that is near and dear to my heart.  It's made with Cookie Butter, and if you haven't yet tasted Cookie Butter, just get yourself over to Trader Joe's and pick up a jar!  I am not kidding when I say that my day starts out best when I have Cookie Butter on my toast!  We sampled this dip on apples, pretzels and Bugles.  The Bugles make a good little scooper for the dip and still pop in the mouth in one bite!  Here's the recipe, which I found on this blog.

1/2 cup cookie butter
8 oz. cream cheese, warmed to room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Whip it all up with a mixer so it gets some fluffiness.  And eat!  How simple is that!?

Our Winter Classes

We have been working hard to make many new samples to inspire you to take one of our great classes this winter.  It's the perfect time to sit down at your machine or pick up needle and thread.  This doesn't show all of them, but you can see the entire list on the website.
Please allow a little time for the slideshow to load.  Call 651-429-1039 if you have any questions.

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Show and Tell by Alice

Last Tuesday, we had a special treat in the store.  One of our fave ladies brought something unique for "show and tell"!  This work of art was made by Alice from 1/2" hexagons with the English Paper Piecing method.  That's a lot of little pieces!  I didn't measure it, but I think it was about 4 feet tall.  It was framed under glass, so that's why you see some reflections in it.  The frame itself was another part of the art, since it was made from floor board planks from her grandma's 125 year old farmhouse.  Thank you so much for sharing, Alice!

Paper Pizzazz

Next Tuesday, June 9, our Paper Pizzazz class will be meeting again.  Our shape of the month is called the Chrysanthemum, similar to the dresden fan.  I have made these samples, and directions for the little spring top purse will be available to those in the class.

This variation uses the chrysanthemum plus those skinny points in between--

The Paper Pizzazz class is great for anyone who wants to learn about English Paper Piecing.  We start you out on an easy hexagon block to learn the basics, and then you can go on from there!

And here's a peak at the unfinished blocks for the July shape---

The honeycomb shape is used in the Lucy Boston quilt, also known as the Patchwork of the Crosses.

My blocks are somewhat more contemporary instead of using the traditional Civil War reproduction prints.  I like to stray from the path on some of these things to get people to look at the original with a different perspective!

Anyone is welcome to come to Paper Pizzazz, just call us at 651-429-1039 to reserve your seat!  We meet from 1-3:30 on the second Tuesday of the month.

28, 29, 30, 31

The saga continues with blocks 28-31 of the City Sampler from Tula Pink's book 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.  Kristina has combined more interesting prints from her scrap bag (box/bin/room).  The theme of rectangles is present here.  So many combinations and arrangements of the simple rectangle!  One thing you see as we go through these blocks is that they are not highly complicated, but take some planning to get colors where you like them best.  The good news is that even if you end up with a color in a less desirable location, either you can let it be because there are so many blocks to look at, or you can do it over because it's just one block, not a whole quilt!

And onward with our tour of sewing rooms!  Thank you, Jeanne, for these pictures.  Only 1 thing missing--sewing machines!  Have you converted to hand work only?  I think not.  Jeanne works in our Bernina Sewing Center and teaches classes, both for the Sew Center on the machines, and for the Quilt Shop on quilts and techniques.  That's Jeanne, below, on the left, getting ready to demonstrate machines at the Minnesota Quilters' Show a year ago (or maybe 2).  And wouldn't you know, there's Carrie in the pinkish shirt doing a photo bomb!  She shows up everywhere!

And in the picture on the right, Jeanne is at one of our retreats and using the Bernina software on her laptop to give directions to her machine.

Jeanne's sewing area does double duty as a guest room, and the last time she had to clean it up for guests she snapped these pictures.  Shelving units full of organized fabrics and projects.  And the cabinet on the far right is a Murphy bed.

The slide-out baskets hold a lot of stuff and nothing gets lost in the back of the shelf.

 Something tells me there's a machine (or 2 or 3) in there somewhere, and I think Jeanne owes us a couple more pictures, right?  Jeanne helps facilitate our store machine embroidery retreats (read about them here and here)and does a fantastic job of answering 20 questions all at once.  She has been a godsend to me as I learn about machine embroidery, always patient with my questions and never making me feel like an idiot!  That's a special talent.

And just a little more inspiration!   A report on Works In Progress.  Kristina likes to do just a bit of English Paper Piecing, another good use for all of those little random scraps.  Just look at what she has made--

With the traditional little hexagon templates, she has been making these "flower" blocks.  This is the basis for the traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  I am not sure, but I think that Kristina's pieces are the 1" size, meaning that each of the straight sides of the individual hexagon measures 1".  Sometimes she works with smaller sizes.

A calm color palette

A more whimsical color palette.
And her little storage box with neatly filed little hexies ready to go.

6-pointed stars made from diamonds.  This is an entire kit, Diamonds in the Sky,
of conveniently pre-cut diamonds and papers.
There is a picture visible of the quilt pattern underneath.  

And non-paper-piecing related--

a great scrap quilt that is a log cabin variation, random strip widths added to reach the size that Kristina has chosen.  Bright and colorful!