before I fall asleep at the keyboard...

I've been planning and promising (threatening?) to post a picture of my little boy Lucas for a while now so here he is. This picture was taken during our trip to the Dominican Republic in January. He was picked to be part of the dolphin show at Ocean World. Pretty cool, eh?

2 more blocks done.

Okay... so I really should be going to bed... but I just have to brag a little bit. I made 2 blocks this past Saturday! I know they were two easier blocks... but it was still 2 blocks. I made B13 - Four Corner Press and C1 - Trooper Green's Badge. I used foundation paper piecing for the Badge and it was much easier than Papa's Star. It's nice to see that I can learn this technique... I just need practice!! :)

I also did a little more of the applique on Jane's Tears. One more "tear" to applique and then I'll trim it up and post a picture of her too.

Strike 2

Well... I made another Papa's Star... and thought I had it. Serves me right for trimming it down late at night. I trimmed it with the wrong point facing up. It's not too big a deal except that it means my center star is pointing sideways.

I realized too that the triangles that form the star points are not all the same size (as measured from Brenda's book). That would explain why mine are not all the same size. I'm glad it's not just my crooked sewing.

I find that tiny little "errors" really stand out in the scans. I pulled the fabric a bit here to line things up better (but don't tell anyone!!). You can hardly tell with the actual block and yet in the scan it's very noticable!

I think I'm going to leave this block for a bit and try some simpler foundation piecing. Maybe then I'll have better luck with this one. I'm not going to let it beat me!!!! :)

D3 - Jason's Jacks

I managed to finish a block this week. It was my first applique block too. Looking at the scan I can see that I should run an iron over it!! LOL

I've started another hand sewing block - reverse applique this time and I might try to get something done with machine sewing while Lucas has his nap.

Must... get... off... computer...

:)

What the ?!?!?

Okay... so I tried foundation paper piecing as Brenda outlined in her lesson. G6 - Papa's star. Obviously I missed something. It's not just that the points don't quite line up... and the center is actually off-center... and one point of the star is much bigger than the others... and one point of the star is a bit smaller than the other...

My biggest dilemma with this block is that somehow I'm short of material. I know finished is better than perfect... but it does have to be a 5" block... and this one can't be cut to 5"!! LOL

Back to the drawing board. I debated whether to try a different block and come back to this one later, or to try this again right now, and I think I'm going to tackle this again while it's fresh in my mind. I've got 1 or 2 things I'll do differently. Either way I'm happy to say that I've finally tried foundation paper piecing!

I'm also working at scanning in some pictures and maybe soon I'll post a picture or 2 of my little boy. He's absolutely adorable... but I suppose I'm a little biased.

Progress

This weekend I finally added the label to this baby quilt and was able to deliver it to Emma! I think it is one of my favourite quilts I have ever made. I like that some of the blocks are off kilter and I'm absolutely crazy about these colours. It's one more project off my WIP list. I have another baby quilt on that list. Although it's already been delivered to the babe I have a label now sewn for it which I will add next time I visit. So... it's pretty much done but I don't feel I can cross it off my list until that label is firmly attached!

As for Dear Jane... I prepped 2 blocks for applique at the beginning of last week. I started to sew the one but it took me a bit of time to figure out an applique stitch that I was happy with. I think I've got it now but I've been so tired lately that I haven't done much more on it. This will be a better week - I'm sure of it!

What was I thinking?

For some reason I decided to keep going with Brenda's lessons. I started working on Papa's Star today - the center star. It was really teeny tiny pieces but it was mostly rotary cutting and sewing which is within my comfort zone. I'm going away for a couple days though starting tomorrow so I probably won't have a chance to work on the rest of the star (and try paper piecing for the first time) until I get back. I don't have a picture but my center star turned out not too badly. My points don't all line up exactly but I'll see what it looks like as I keep working on the block. The pieces are so small I'm not sure I could get them lined up any better even if I tried again. Maybe it would even be worse.

I had hoped to have a couple of the applique blocks ready to take with me to work on but it doesn't look like that'll be happening. Oh well... probably won't have time to work on them anyway! Talk to you when I get back.

G8 - Justin's Comet

Well... I completed my 3rd official block today. I started it last weekend so I managed to get it done in less than 1 week. I used one of Brenda's lessons from the software and used freezer paper templates to complete it. My first time using freezer paper!! It's not perfect... but I think it's not too bad for my first try at a new technique!