use it or lose it

Since attending Penny's retreat back in April, I haven't really done much, or should I say any, paper piecing. It's a shame, since I learned some really cool things. It's amazing (and scary) how quickly I forget things. Melinda and I decided that we are going to try to keep up and hopefully expand our skills by making one fancy block a week. Tara, Audrey and Carmen may be joining in from time to time, too.

At the retreat, Penny had us make a sketch of something we wanted to make. She showed us how to number it, then paper piece it. I wanted to make a mini place mat, and I thought a bowl and spoon would be kind of cute.

This block was my first attempt. It turned out ok, but I wanted to remake it and see if I could do it again, without supervision. (Ha!) My goal was to make it less wonky this time. Some of the curves on this piece were intentional, but it was causing some unnecessary work, and more importantly, unnecessary seams.

I used blue Saral transfer paper when I reworked my pattern. I love how it looks like a blueprint! The transfer paper works so well for this. It sure beats tracing on a window. :)

I was working on this block yesterday, and man, oh, man, did I struggle! It was so frustrating! I did a ton of stitch ripping, to the point of my paper almost wore out completely. Thankfully, something clicked eventually and I remembered what I had to do. What a relief!

The second block turned out much, much better. It actually lays flat! I love the vintage floral fabric on the bottom, which came from my Grandma's house. She had a small fabric stash and I'm so happy to have the chance to use some of it. Won't this make a super cute mini mat? I'm excited to do more paper and improv piecing after this success. And before I forget, again! :)

You can see Melinda's fancy block here.