I took time over the weekend to make some progress on a small wall hanging I started earlier this year. Remember this little bird block? The last time I had him out was in April. Since the wall hanging is fall themed, I think I better move a little faster on this project!
So I dug out the kit and cut the fabric needed to make the leaf blocks. These are 1-1/2″ unfinished HST’s. Wowzer, that is tiny!
The instructions wanted me to cut the squares for the HST’s at 1-7/8″ and assumed that after sewing them they would be a perfect 1-1/2″. Um, that never happens in my world especially with such tiny pieces…..so I cut the squares at 2-1/4″ and then trimmed the half square triangles to 1-1/2″ after I made them. I know some quilters don’t like to make pieces oversized and then trim but I do. That way I’m sure to have the correct size pieces for the blocks. After putting the leaf block together I decided I really don’t like working with such small pieces. I love the look of tiny piecing, I’m just not good at doing it. Hmm, maybe I need more practice! 🙂
I didn’t really like the green fabric that came with the kit so I dug through my small stash to see if I had a different fabric I could use. I found this beautiful piece of hand dyed fabric gifted to me by Julie of Pink Doxies. Just look at all the different shades of green in the fabric. Pure yumminess!
It’s absolutely perfect for the leaf block.
This one little block is all I managed to finish. t’s a baby step but it’s movement forward. It’s my very loose goal to have the wall hanging pieced by the end of the month. I have one more leaf block to make. All the pieces are ready, so it will only take a few minutes to put it together. And it looks like the pumpkin blocks won’t use as many pieces in them; I think I can reach my goal.
Now, what’s happening in the longarm studio you ask? Well, it’s been a busy week in there. I just finished a custom quilting job but can’t show it to you until the quilt is back with its owner. I’m excited for you to see it though – I really love how it turned out. Another custom quilt will be loaded today and hopefully I can get it finished in a few days. There’s lots of negative space to play in so that will be a lot of fun.
One of the quilts I can show you is Laura’s wedding quilt. There are signature blocks on the back of the quilt, and pieced blocks on the front so basically it’s a two-sided quilt. It was a bit of a challenge to get the top centered to the back and it’s certainly not perfect but I think it turned out okay. The important thing is that Laura was happy with it. Initially she asked for some custom quilting. After looking at the quilt top and back, we decided an all over design would be a better option. It just wouldn’t look right to have the front custom quilted with no control over how the back would look.
Front of Quilt 
Back of Quilt
Today I’ll be doing some final prep work for the Razzleberry class I’m teaching tomorrow. I’m excited for it to start. I’ll also be starting the quilting on the next customer quilt. It’s going to be a busy week!
Now it’s your turn to share….what project are you working on that has you excited to be in your sewing space? You can link up any blog post, Instagram or Flickr pic – here’s how:
My piecing is less accurate on my Janome, or maybe I am just too fast.
Oh so tiny! It’s right on the border of my comfort zone! Looks like you should have this finished up pretty quickly though, since it’s a small wall hanging.
Your little leaf is great. You are absolutely right that the fabric they chose was, um, blah. Yours is much better! Making one of the little blocks each week should get you so the last week you can finish the little wall hanging. It’s going to be very cute.
The hand dyed fabric is perfect for the leaf! I would have up-sized the squares and trimmed down the HSTs, too. When sewing small, every tiny bobble seems amplified and I’m not one who nails the 7/8″ to perfect 1/2″ HST either.
Lol, you sound like me. If I made hst the way a pattern suggested by the time I finish squaring it up it is too small. So I just quit making them or I would make them using a pp method. They really intimidated me until I received the AccuQuilt GO!, now I love making them and I don’t trim off 3/4 of the block. Thank you for the linky party.
Oversize HSTs are the only way to go! I like a perfect block and I’d be hard pressed to get it if I didn’t trim! Also, I’m not a fan of 7/8″ cutting!!
I was so happy to read that I’m not the only one whose blocks rarely come out exact. I much prefer to make the block larger, then trim, especially with those teensy units! Still, that bird is adorable, and the green you chose is perfect for those leaves! This will be a very satisfying finish, so enjoy the process! Can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on at your longarm, and I hope your Razzleberry class goes well!
I hear you on the tiny piecing. I’ve been working on tiny sawtooth stars forever as part of a Bonnie Hunter mystery. Making those little flying geese has been a challenge. Your leaf turned out nicely, so you got the hang of it. Cutting larger and trimming to size is really the best way to go (or maybe it’s the least frustrating?).
I’m with you on tiny piecing projects: I love the look but don’t necessarily love the process. So a small project is probably just right. That green leaf is so pretty!