stepping out

I am a non-quilter trying to do quilty things.  Does that make me a quilter now too?

I have seen paper piecing around and never really got the hype of it.  I didn't really like all the little pieces and all the seams that showed in the end product.  

But sometimes you have to make things that someone else will like, so you end up trying new things.  Like paper piecing.  

I joined the Modern She Made Swap on Flickr because I like the challenge of making something other than clothes.  I make clothes to sell, but I make other things to try new techniques and then give away.  If I tried everything I wanted to try and then kept it all, I would have a lot of stuff.  I think I have enough stuff, though one day I will have to make something for me.

Maybe, if my partner doesn't like this, I will keep this project.

I had won a subscription to the magazine Fat Quarterly about a year ago and the final issue I received was about paper piecing.  This little girl with her balloon were one of the features in the magazine.  I thought she was kind of cute, but did not have any intention of making her.  

Then this swap came up and I thought, why not try that little girl!  

Well, one reason to not try her was because I had no idea how to paper piece.  And another was because the project was labelled intermediate, level three.  

But I like a challenge, so I printed the pattern and got to work.

And what a work!  I had only done one practice run on a very very simple diamond pattern, and now there were all these little pieces!  The biggest thing for me was making sure I had the fabric positioned correctly.  I did a lot of seam ripping because I guessed wrong.  

Next time, I am going to try something easier and a little more geometric.  

I did the balloon first and that seemed to go pretty good if you discount the picking.  But the girl was another story.  All the parts!  And then everything had to match up!  She was looking a little wonky, but I kept going.  In the end, I think she's not so wonky after all.

I squared the block up and surrounded it with some Kona Pacific.  

Now I have to decide if she is good enough to send to another person.  Is she something you would like to have?