UFP to FP

You've heard of UFO's....well I have a lot of UFPs: Un-Finished Projects.  They know me well....so they remain patient.

This paper pieced project has been waiting patiently since December of 2021 and now it's an FP: Finished Project!  I made it to be a colorful little mug rug..... I use one every day on my puzzle table.  It's just the right size for a small lunch plate or a cup of tea and a cookie.

It's all done by hand....except the quilting step. I have to limit my hand stitching....but I still find anything done by hand to be meditative.

The filtered natural light of my backyard continues to be the best for photographs. The colors just pop! And I do love the rock wall...and the woods as my backdrop.  

I wrote about my first English paper pieced projects in a post back in 2021. It's where you can see how I make and baste the squares around paper squares.

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2021/11/english-paper-piecing.html

 

Because I didn't want to lose any of the outside edges of the squares 

by machine stitching a seam, I sewed the border on by hand. 

 

I used the same technique to get a mitred corner as 

I would when I machine stitch a border.  Next I placed it on a piece of heavy weight batting that was cut slightly bigger and layered it all on top of a piece of fabric backing. 

I chose colorful variegated thread and stitched in the ditch by machine....this quilting is what holds all the layers together. I had to start and stop at the edge of the border and pull all the threads to the back and tie them off.

I actually like the effect quite a lot...

and it was way faster than hand quilting.  

and it covered up my little gray hand stitches.

I secured the border around to the back.  It got a little wonky in a few corners...it should have been narrower so there was too much fabric to maneuver.  The striped fabric might have been an odd choice to go with the batiks....but I had my reasons.  

I like the whimsical frame it adds....and although the prominent color is red...it's has the whole rainbow spectrum in the stripes....including pink! Postal tracking tells me it arrived at its destination today....and I hope the special recipient enjoys this  FRP: Finished Rainbow Project!

Speaking of pink.....isn't this a fabulous object that Kathy found!

I guess this is an IFO....Identified Found Object. 😂

Creative Spirit

Paul and I had an event in Newton Highlands today....just outside of Boston.  It was by far the nicest day we've had in a while...and we spent most of it either in the car or indoors.....but the event was delightful.

I used some of my time on the road to add another row to my little paper pieced mug rug. I had to laugh at myself when I realized I sewed a square on backwards....I'll blame it on trying to watch the scenery at the same time.

But all is well....one more long row on one side and this colorful little quilt will be ready to finish up.

What a difference a few hours south makes....spring is way further along and the trees have popped.  I would have loved a walk around the neighborhood to check things out....but not this trip.

This house was all decked out for spring!  You've got to admire their colorful and creative spirit....they'd probably like my mug rug.

Fresh Air

We took a long walk today....and although it was cold...the fresh air was amazing.

Before they built the big house....we used to stay in this little cabin.

You would not believe the colors and variety fabric and fibers that are all over the house....but that's another post.  

But here's a little update on my litle paper piecing squares.....I'm starting to sew them together in rainbow order. 

 

More Slow Stitching

I've still been enjoying a little slow stitching in the evenings now and then.....continuing with the English paper piecing squares.

This time I'm using batiks.....I love the vibrant colors and textured patterns. When I get a good variety of colors I'll start stitching them together. 

But I also did a little experiment with some metallic fabrics and made a little Christmas tree ornament.  What I like most about it is that it is all done by hand....while slow stitching.

After I stitched the squares together  I added a felt backing.....a little stuffing and a few beads.

I made it for my friend Anne....we were supposed to get together with her and her husband Dana this evening....but ended meeting virtually instead....but I did show it to her on screen.  

Anne had given me this little bauble she made in an online class with Izzy Moore....and I wanted to make something for her tree.  

Slow Finishing

I generally have several projects going at the same time...flipping back and forth leaving many of them partly done for months...or years.  I like the variety....but it's nice to finish something once in a while.

I settled in last evening for several hours of slow stitching....or maybe I should say....slow finishing. 

This post is about my process....so if the details make your head spin....move on and enjoy your day.  

Once I got my mug rug the size to hold a small plate...I was ready for backing and binding. This is what the back looked like once I took out all the paper pieces.

I didn't want to machine stitch on a binding and lose some of the border squares in the seam allowance. But I did want a binding because I like how it frames a quilt....I had to think this through.

If I do another one I will leave the edges of the squares along the outside unfolded so I can machine sew on a binding. 

To solve the issue on this one I cut a piece of stiff batting a little bit bigger than the quilt to create a border that the binding would wrap around.

I auditioned several fabrics for the border...and liked this black and white stripe the best.  It seemed to give it a little whimsy and was a nice contrast to all the colors.

I pressed one edge of the binding and hand stitched it onto the quilt with little whip stitches just like I attached the squares. I mitered the corners as I stitched.  Then I basted it on the batting and fabric backing.

I liked the addition of the black and white...so decided to hand quilt it by stitching in the ditch along each seam with black thread.  I couldn't rock my needle because the batting was too stiff...so it was up then down for each stitch....true slow stitching. I'm not all that great at hand quilting....but it worked out OK.

My binding was a little wide...but I just went with it and folded and stitched it to the back.

My apple with cinnamon snack was the test drive this afternoon. 

And this evening with a cup of tea....I officially got "below the fold" and can flip my paper over for the below the fold 1/2 of the puzzle.  

I will do a few things differently the next time around...but this tiny first English paper pieced project is finished and I enjoyed every slow stitching minute.

Gayle, a blog reader and quitler, contacted me a few days ago to cheer me on.  She's made two twin size English paper pieced quilts and has enough hexagon squares done for 1 or 2 more.  One can dream!

Colorful Squares and Circles

"She forgot about time and remembered to fill her days with everything she loved best." Brian Andreas

By the time many of you read this it will be Thanksgiving....and I wish you a delightful and joyful day....however you celebrate. Margie will join us for turkey and the fixings....interesting conversation....and a competitive game of dominoes.

I'm in love with the puzzle on my table....colorful marbles are one of my favorite things. 

And I'm auditioning the size of my little mug rug slow stitching project.  I want it big enough for a small plate....so another row or two should do it.  

All these colorful squares and circles makes me smile.

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way...things I had no words for."  Georgia O'Keeffe

Slow Stitching

Slow stitching is an ancient practice....but the term is relatively new. To slow stitch is to take time to mindfully create something by hand with a just needle and thread...or other tools of the trade. "It focuses on intention and the joy brought from creating...not so much the final result of the piece itself."

I have always enjoyed the mindfully mindless task of hand stitching.....of any kind. And I'm quite fond of this new term... so I'm going to incorporate slow stitching into my life on a regular basis...in a variety of ways. There are dozens of things in my head.

My new English paper piecing project is a perfect segue....and will be filling in the nooks and crannies of my days. And the colorful little pieces on the arm of my chair are just an added bonus.

https://slowstitching.com/

English Paper Piecing

I've always been intrigued with postage stamp quilts made from tiny stamp size fabric scraps...especially the ones that are made by hand rather than a machine.

Shirley, a friend from Lexington exhibited a postage stamp quilt in a show that I posted about here: 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2018/10/glueing-and-waiting.html

I've always wanted to give it a try.

I've been re-inspired by Sarah Cooper's English paper piecing as a way to make a postage stamp quilt. Everytime I see a post about it on her Instagram Page....I say to myself...."I'm going to give that a try"......but never have.  Just recently I saw another post from Sarah....and at about 9:00 pm I decided it was time to finally give it a try. Not my best time of day for creating....but I needed to seize my enthusiasm.  This is Sarah's quilt in progress and it can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWdvy54rb6s/

English paper piecing is a technique where you wrap and baste fabric around a paper template then hand stitch the pieces together.  It's become quite popular with hexagon quilting.  I found this image and instructions here: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/piecing/how-to-english-paper-piecing?

I grabbed a few swatches of blue fabrics and some punched paper squares and just winged it based on what little I knew.  Immediately I could tell this was something I was going to enjoy.

I'll share a bit about my process in a minute....but what I love about this technique is how much easier it is to work with small pieces...and how perfectly (or nearly so) you can match the corners. I could NEVER do that with machine stitching.

In the light of day....I was compelled to use more vibrant colors....so pulled more fabric swatches and put together a little box ready to go.  

It seemed almost decadent....but I took a little time this afternoon.....watched TV and thoroughly enjoyed myself hand sewing more little squares.

The fabric squares are roughly cut bigger than my 1 inch paper squares....which I just punched out of scrap paper.  Last night I was making more stitches than needed...today I learned that just a few were needed to hold the fabric around the paper square. Once the squares are sewn together the basting gets pulled out and the paper removed.

This was the lineup on the arm of my chair in the early afternoon light.  It just makes me happy.

And now I'll share the back of the blue chunk  from last night.  I have only taken out the basting stitches and removed the paper on the middle two squares....they are the only ones that are completely enclosed with stitches.

And this is where I landed this afternoon with the colors...just starting to sew some squares together. I would love to think I could make a full size quilt this way....Shirley's had 6,715 pieces....and that's a little daunting! For now I'm going to think small and maybe make these into a mug rug/coaster. This paper piecing hand work will be the perfect project to take on the road and when I'm having tea with my stitching buddies....or in the evenings watching TV.  What was I waiting for?