WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN PAPER PIECING!!!

This month's Island Batik Challenge is as you see below!

At the first of the year when we get our yearly challenges, I go through and pick out what I want to do for the month's challenges.  Of course, I usually don't have the first box of fabrics yet so it is just the idea and the fabric comes later.

I am not a paper piecer.

I searched the internet for hours looking for something that struck my fancy.

Couldn't find anything.

As I was going through one of my many piles I came across this fabric.

There is a story to this fabric....you have the time?

One day in Church an older woman gets up and I am just in love with her puletasi (Samoan dress).  I start sketching on the program the design.

Later the Older lady was asking what I was doing and I told her.  Well....before I left the island she gave me a piece of the fabric from her puletasi.

I have carried this fabric around and put it in a pile of to do's.

So as I was cleaning one day trying to decide what to do for the paper piecing when this fabric showed up.

Yea me!

Now...the designing part.  I haven't a clue so it took another few days of thinking of how to make it work.

I was never good at math...trust me.  People who know I quilt think I am...oh no.....no..no.

Originally I had two designs, but my husband didn't like the second one...so out that went.

This is where I made mistake number one.......

we have two printers.  We have one that has a lot of ink still in it but does a horrible job in printing.  I decided to use this printer even tho it distorted the lines.  I thought...

Mistake number two

I thought, oh well....I will make it work, I can sew a straight line.  See me pounding my head against the wall?

Mistake number three

Ignoring that little voice that said, you have gone to all this work to design the pattern, use the better printer.

We are going to skip the printer saga for now.

I chose to use

Dear William fabric line

And also the Island Batik White Basics

It just yells ISLAND!!!

So, I had my fabric chosen, my pattern ready and printed out.

If I thought about it, I could tell you how many of these I have made....but nope....brain is tired.

I started this back in July and would work on it off and on...off and on.

Had to deal with this mess below.

That is the problem with paper piecing, is the pulling the paper off and boy, the mess I can make.

I know there are a lot of people who love paper piecing but I am sorry, I can give or take it.  Does that make me a bad person?

Here is the back of the squares after they are sewn together.

Thank heavens for HGTV....kept my mind off of this job.

                                       
                                                           More pulling off paper.

                                   Mistake number 4

So............... I like the end results but my practice square in non Island Batik fabrics made it into this quilt and I didn't notice it til it was too late.  AHHHHHHHHHH  the frustration.  I wanted to throw this quilt away, that was not the only issue.  So, I took two of the triangles that matched the rest of the triangles  and just blanket stitched them over the practice piece.  Oh my Gosh....what more can go wrong?

                                                Mistake number 5

I noticed that when I came back to my triangles that they seemed to be smaller than the first batch...or was it my imagination?  I should have STOPPED  then.
                 Are you judging me yet?

So....I had to ease in some of the blocks....Oh the frustrations,  the disappointment.  I was in love with this design.  So I eased the fabric in and then when it came to quilting it I had to just stipple to take in some of the excess fabrics.  Oh yes....you heard it here.

I did not originally want to stipple the design.  By this time I am ready to throw in the towel and just do another paper piece project for Island Batik.  Truly can it get much worse?

                                                         Mistake number 6

Do you feel my pain????  Here it comes......

HERE IT COMES!!!!


so on the back, the very bottom is some crinkles in the backing.........................HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING!!!!   By this time I look like I just had a bad perm.

That all being said, don't you just love these fabric?  I do love this quilt even tho it almost ended up in the trash bin.  My husband had to talk me off the ledge a few times but it is done and the end results I am happy with, if I ignore all the issues.  My husband said that I am too hard on myself, maybe he is right but a gal has expectations and when they are not met.......yep...time to talk me off the ledge!

Thanks Island Batik for the wonderful fabrics and the awesome challenges that stretch my imagination and abilities.

HOT ITEM!!

This octopus quilt has been a hot item lately...

.I haven't counted how many I have done in the last two months but there have been quite a few.

 I recently got an order for this octopus and they wanted the pink and brown polka dots like the one they saw.

 Thanks heavens I know where to get more fabric.

 I had enough but I was in my room late one night and was prepping this octopus

 and was able to maneuver the octopus on the pink polka dot scraps to where it would work.

 I was sooooooooooooooooooooooo excited that I wouldn't have to go and buy new fabric.

 Well...maybe it was the late hour,

Maybe it was the fact that my light bulbs were out over head

 and I was working by a lamp across the room.

 What ever the reason.

 I fused the octopus on the right side of the fabric.

 WHAT!!!!!!

 If I were a cursing woman, you would have been able to hear some not so nice words...but since I am silent in that area I just called myself all kinds of names (don't know which is worse).

 So...the next morning I make my way to the fabric store to buy another yard.

Other than that, this octopus went together like a breeze.

I don't think I have ever had a quilt go together so effortlessly.  It was a pleasure.

Maybe it was because I did it in between a project I am doing....have been doing...seems like I have been working on this one project forever and can't wait to show you.

Anyways, when I would get bored....I would pull out the octopus...and work...put it away until it was needed to chase away the monotonous routine....

The one receiving this is Samoan so I used some of my Samoan fabrics for the back.

UMMMMM Ummmmmmm stinking GOOD!!!

Just a plug for this octopus pattern,  if you would like to purchase it, just email me.