Thursday, February 12, 2015

Sewing With Nancy...

So my cute friend Nancy wanted to learn how to paper-piece and came by to spend the day with me in the sewing room.  Yes, I was "Sewing with Nancy"!! *Ü*


Her adorable wonky house  pattern gave instructions for "Template piecing", aargh!!
1)  TRACE all the lines of each of three patterns on to separate papers.
2)  CUT out each individual section for every little piece of three different houses.
3)  ADD 1/4" to each and every side of each and every little template for all 27 pieces.
4)  TRACE around each piece on your fabric, then CUT out each individual section for all eight houses, labeling each of the 72 pieces so as not to get them mixed up...
5)  STITCH the blocks together.

Haha, yeah, right.

Instead, I gave her my basic paper-piecing lesson:
1)  COPY patterns by running them through the printer.
2)  SLAP your fabric on the back side of the paper
3)  STITCH on the lines of the paper.

OK, there is a little more to it than that, but man, if there is an easier way, you know?  You can check out a pictoral tutorial paper-piecing lesson here >> "FooTStePS" (Fold, Trim, Stitch, Press, Smile!).  And just look at the result:  Big Smiles!


REPEAT:  Fold, Trim, Stitch, Press... She's still smiling, I can tell!

 ...more smiles!

Chhek out her directional background print - on grain, and all facing the same direction... YES!  By George, I think she's got it!

Then put a bird on it.

  Look what Nancy did!  Awesome!

And... here's what I did.  Made an owl pincushion and put a faux-piped binding on a mug-rug.  Then I made one measly, teensy little paper-pieced mini.  I used the "Add-an-Eighth" ruler for this one.

She'll be 3/4" square when she's finished.
Maybe I'll finally get that new lanyard done that I've been meaning to get to.

All in all, it was a productive, fun day, "Sewing with Nancy"!  And a bonus?  Chocolate Oreo shakes at our local hangout, the Dairy Keen.  A great reward for a perfectly productive day.  Looking forward to the next Sew Day (Wednesdays, my house)!

9 comments:

  1. OMGosh! That is the cutest, teensiest block I've ever seen! Did you draw this pattern yourself?

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    1. Thanks, Lace Faerie - yes, I did the little girl pattern - included in my "Sew Tiny" mini paper-piecing pattern available on my Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Quiltscapes. She'll get a button face, now I just need to find a button that's tiny enough.

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  2. Too tiny PP dolly for me! Not the NAncy I was thinking I would see at your house. The houses are very CUTE!

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  3. I want to come over and sew!!! I clicked on the link but it said it wasn't available....help I need this lesson!

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    Replies
    1. Oh thanks, I'll go check it out...

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    2. I have a little slideshow of the steps here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltscapes/albums/72157631724056045

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  4. That is such a lovely quilt! Your friend did a great job and so did you as a teacher :)!

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  5. That was a clever title for the blog post ;), lol!

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  6. You took a "tedious" project (HATE TEMPLATES); and turned it into something really fun for your friend Nancy! Paper piecing always gives such great results. Love the faux piping binding. I use "Susies Magic Binding" as my #1 binding choice, as I hate to hand stitch. Love your tiny girl!

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So happy you stopped by for a visit! Thank you!