Happy Sewing

Happy Sewing.  That was our instructions and inspirations for February’s Blocks for Kathy.  She sent us a gorgeous collection of fabrics (which I was hoping she would because she owns the lovely Pink Chalk Fabrics Store).

So it didn’t take me too long to decide what I should do for my block. When I think Happy Sewing, I think about all the friends that I have made through the online world…finally finding fellow women and men who love the designers that I do. People think quilting can be amazingly beautiful and not just for their grandmother. People who are all over the world!! And if it weren’t for the occasional language oddities that we all have from our culture, I wouldn’t even know that the person couldn’t live around the corner. In some ways, these friends understand me in a way that no one else can even begin to.

So I wanted to make a block that reflected those feelings. And I loved the idea of doing a block designed by one of my fellow quilters and one that had an international aspect to it. And so I ended up using a pattern from Lynne and creating a union jack block. I’ve always loved the blocks that other people make and wanted to give this one a try.

Unfortunately, I cannot show you the entire block because part of the pattern is top secret… but don’t worry. There will be a time when I can show it all to you and more. 😉 But I did end up using almost every fabric that Kathy sent, you just won’t see it in the block. The whole block is pretty cool, but even just the center is awesome.

Yet again, I did a block with many small pieces, and was fairly labor-intensive. But the finished product is definitely worth it. I feel more and more confident with my paper piecing skills and hope to branch out and design some blocks that are not geometric that need to be paper pieced. I love the crispness that paper piecing brings to quilting. But it is a bit more work usually.