I Spy with my little eye something that begins with T and something that begins with W

Welcome to my stop on Kimie and Missy's Blog Hop for their new book. These two sisters have assembled a fantastic I Spy book of 100 everyday items to Foundation Paper Piece. Their vibe is totally modern and you can find them "On Williams Street" (here). I came to "meet" them through pattern testing. Their work is very creative, take the time to have a look at it. I used an e-copy of the book for my sampling for the Blog Hop as my hard copy is somewhere in the mail system. For both formats of the book you get a login and a password to access the templates for the actual patterns you wish to stitch. My next problem was decided from 100 choices which one or ones to do. I changed my mind many times. I settled on a Tulip and a Watering Can because right now our ground is covered in snow and thoughts of flowers and gardening are positive thoughts. In the hopes of doing something different with the pattern I made one regular size and one at about half size for my two selections. All the patterns in the book are scaled to be 6" blocks. Because you are accessing the pattern templates electronically it is super easy to scale them up or down when you print them. JUST REMEMBER your outside seam allowance gets scaled also you will have to adjust that once you have printed your pattern.

Each block has a dedicated page in the book with a full colour illustration, a level of difficulty, number of fabrics required, a line drawing of the block and an identification key for colour placement. That way when you print the actual template it is totally uncluttered. You can colour in your own version on make your own code for colour placement. Printing the template uses considerably less ink that way. My second block was the Watering Can.

The Tulip is a level one and the Watering Can is a level two. There are several smaller pieces on the watering can and once it was scaled down they were really small. From November 30 to December 16 you can get 10% off the book by using the code ISPYBLOGHOP Go to https//www.etsy.com/listing/877774105.

Be certain to visit these other fabulous bloggers to see what they have spied. November 30: Kimie and Missy of On WIlliams Street December 1: Audrey Mann of The Cloth Parcel December 2: Jen Frost of Faith and Fabric December 3: Bea Lee of Bea a Quilter December 4: Sarah Goer of Sarah Goer Quilts December 5: Joanne Harris of Quilts by Joan December 6: Susan Smith of Stitched by Susan December 7: Simone Fisher of Simone Quilts December 8: Lissa LaGreca of Lovingly Lissa December 9: Catalina Barcelo of Amarar Creacions December 10: Laura Strickland of Orange Blossom Quilts December 11: Laura Piland of Slice of Pi Quilts December 12: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore December 13: Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis December 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim Piecefully, Joanne

Not Totally Witchy for the Witchy Stitchy Blog Hop

There are times when the best laid plans just don't fall into place and this would be one of them. My plan (as yet unrealized) was to create a table runner with my blocks. Indecision hit and I could not make a plan. Do I use the three blocks I have or add one more and make a square. So as I ponder this problem let me show you the blocks that are done.

The first is The Count or for some, Dracula. My number loving daughter would say The Count.

Next up is a Halloween Ghost. 

And then number three The Mummy 

When put end to end for a runner they might look like this. 

These delightful patterns were created by Rachel at One Last Stitch. She is on Facebook and Instagram. The patterns are foundation paper pieced and all finish at 10". She has only been designing for a short while but her style is unique and I must say I find it very appealing. 

So that's it from me this time. A partial fail but a partial win if you are working on your optimism. Piecefully, Joanne

Please take the time to visit these other bloggers on their special day and see how they interpret Witchy Stitchy. 

October 7

Creatin' in the Sticks

Songbird Designs

For The Love Of Geese

Quilted Delights

Kathleen McMusing

Quilts By Joanne

Whims And Fancies

Janie G. – Hosted at Just Let Me Quilt

October 8

Selina Quilts

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Days Filled With Joy

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Life in the Scrapatch

Just Because Quilts

Brenda's Quilt Blog

October 9

Home Sewn By Us

Kathleen - Hosted at Just Let Me Quilt

Quilts Fabric and Thread Tales

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Websterquilt

Seams To Be Sew

Sew Many Yarns

Kathy's Kwilts and More

October 10

Beaquilter

Homespun Hannah's Blog

MooseStashQuilting

Cynthia's Creating Ark

It’s A T-Sweet Day!

Count it *all* JOY!

Bethni H. – Hosted at Just Let Me Quilt

October 11

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Fabrication

Melva Loves Scraps
Patchouli Moon Studio

Ms P Designs USA

Karrin’s Crazy World

Patchwork Breeze

Day 10 and a recap of this week

I had a few too many appointments  yesterday and didn't get a photo up for Lines #9.

A final couple of tips to add to the mix. Make certain you have the best possible light to work in. My hubby bought me a natural light desk lamp when I retired. I was a wee bit disappointed as I thought he was getting an Ott lamp but this natural light has turned out to be a blessing. Colours look real, there is no glare, I in fact have grown fairly rapidly to love it. It can be taken to retreats but I now have a smaller Ott lamp for that purpose. Daylight is not really enough.

And Lines #10. This is that last of the Lines section of the pattern. Next week we move onto Shapes. As you move through each "chapter" the blocks become a little more challenging.
These blocks are all foundation paper pieced. There is special paper that can be purchased for paper piecing. But it is fairly expensive and not all printers love to feed it through. So I use regular printer paper. I have used both and while the special paper is easier to remove when it is time for paper removal the standard printer paper causes no difficulties.

This is the end of my week supporting Darla at Clinton Modern Creative (here). She has been an official shop sponsor of the Sew Along this week. Remember that she is offering a 15% discount on instock merchandise for the rest of the week. Just enter TRINKET15 when you checkout.
Next week another Canadian blogger will take over to show her work and support Darla. I will pop in but perhaps not as often. Thank you Darla for allowing me to participate as a blogger for you for this Sew Along. Piecefully, Joanne

Have You Seen Alison Glass' Trinket Sew Along?

This is a small sample of what I am talking about. Alison glass has created a pattern with 40 Foundation Paper Pieced blocks. Last week was the first week for this sew along and each day you make one block and post it. She has a Facebook group as a support network. But better than that she has sponsors. This week one of the sponsors is our own Darla from Clinton Modern Creative (here) a fantastic (if you like fabric) Canadian online fabric store. She is located in Saskatchewan but I feel as though I know her personally her service is next to none.
A few Canadian bloggers are supporting Darla with some blog posts especially this week as she is one of the big sponsors for week two. To get a discount of 15% at check out this week use the code TRINKET15 at check out.

I would like to add a bit about the actual sewing part of the sew along.

These are my actual "tools" for the task. You require a paper pattern. On this piece I have started you can see the fabric is "underneath" the paper. that's right you stitch on the lines you can see but build the design up in fabric on the underside that while you are working you can't see. I use my smaller rotary cutter for trimming and I have both the add a quarter and the add an eighth rulers. I am using the add a quarter for the standard sized blocks in the sew along and the add an eighth for the miniaturized block. 

I will be back with more tomorrow but remember for a discount this week use the code TRINKET15 at checkout from Clinton Modern Creative. Piecefully, Joanne