And Then There Were Three ...

OK.  I admit it.  I am beginning to understand the addictive quality of English Paper Piecing and all those hexie projects I see in blogland.

By the time I had finished stitching the third star flower, I was already thinking about how I was going to go through my scrap bins and cut up all the smaller pieces of fabric into petals and hexie shapes to make a much larger project ... I have wanted to find a project to use up the too-small-for-most-project scraps in there. Maybe this is it.

When I uploaded the photo of the first flower to Flickr yesterday, within minutes, Amy was asking for a peek at the back.  

I'm sure there are neater ways to do it, but here's a look at the insides of my blocks.   Please remember this is my FIRST adventure in English Paper Piecing and don't judge my sloppy first efforts too harshly ... I'm sure I'll get better/neater with practice ;-)  

I printed Regina's template sheets on card stock and used a rotary cutter and ruler to cut them out. I punched a pair of holes near the center. Using one of the paper templates as a guide and an add-a-quarter ruler, I stacked the fabrics and rotary cut them with a 1/4 inch allowance around the template.

As you might guess, I cut and prepared everything for only one star flower at a time–it's just the way my design mind works, focusing on the elements of one flower/block/section at a time. But, I think this isn't the way I've seen most hexie/EPP projects progress and I need to figure out if I can shift to a way of cutting everything (or at least hundreds) of units, preparing them and having them ready to assemble. It's that kind of preparatory step that often slows/stops progress for me.  I'm focusing on that personal challenge this month and I think the blogiverse sent me this prize of an EPP project as a way to overcome it ... or at least make some strides in that direction.

Here is what my hexie center looked like after I attached the fabric. I deviated from Regina's directions a bit, but using the heavier card stock and not stitching through the paper.

I simply tacked the fabric at the corners and skipped to the next corner.

You can see how I pinned the fabric in place by going through my two punched holes.  It distorts the shape less and the pin is just going through fabric, not paper/card stock.

And here is the finished star flower, from the  back.

In theory it seems that once the surrounding pieces are sewn in place, I should be able to clip the basting/tacking stitches, remove the paper templates, and reuse them. 

This weekend on the Block Lotto's Weekend Update, I asked quilters to share their process.  I have found when I share mine here, I learn so much from the comments and discussions that follow.  Since I am just beginning my adventure in EPP, I know I have a lot to learn and would love to read your comments, suggestions and tips.   And if you'd like to share a blog post about YOUR process, please jump over to the Block Lotto and join me at the Linky party.

I'm also joining Billie Bee's Hexie Friday.

Look what Pat Made

Remember my separated-at-birth quilt, Bloom?  

I completed it in January and, as part of a blog hop, created a giveaway of small Lemoyne star-style Little Daisy blocks and some coordinating fabrics for two?



Pat was one of the winners and yesterday, as part of a pom-pom-themed blog hop, posted photos of what she did with her winnings.  Her scarf-style chatelaine is so fabulous, I just had to share.  I especially love the hand stitching around the little star block. 

Visit Pat's blog, Life in the Scrapatch, to see more photos and details about how she made it and sign up for her giveaway which includes some of my fabric squares, left over from her project, plus more coordinating fabrics from her stash. I wonder if her winner will continue the tradition?



If you like scrappy goodness like Pat and I apparently do, check it out and sign up for the giveaway.  She also has a tutorial for an ice cream cone-shaped pincushion (on the following post) that's pretty adorable. 

And if you want to make your own little Lemoyne star variation for a sewers scarf of your own, you can find the templates for the Little Daisy block on my Freebies page. 

I am sharing this post as my weekend update on the Block Lotto because I think it's far more interesting  than my plan to layer and baste my scrappy geese quilt after I return from the farmers' market or finish up directions for the May Block Lotto which I can't share until May 1.