Party on, fussy cuts and a 2014 QAL teaser!

Wake up Santa! It's time for parties and I've got several to attend. They are great fun but they do cut into sewing time so my posts may be a little sporadic over the next couple of weeks! But rest assured that I am finding the time to work on your 2014 Quilt Along (QAL). The quilt will measure approximately 40" square and the installments will be biweekly. The first will be in early January. I work fast but am trying to time myself so that I can give you an idea of the amount of time I spend on each step.

Two days ago I showed you how I use templates to select fabric for fussy cutting. Today I thought I would show you what I do once I've selected the motif!

The first step is to select the motif. I place my template on the fabric and I use a fabric marking pen to draw the shape just inside the window.

I then cut it out with scissors adding at least 1/4" seam allowance all around the patch. I find a more generous seam allowance is better for English paper piecing. You can always trim it down (as I do at points) but you can't add more fabric!

To cut more patches that are identical to the first I place the patch I just cut on my fabric being sure to line up the print at landmarks such as corners. Notice how the patch's print lines up with the fabric at the corners.

I pin the patch to the fabric and cut out the next patch with scissors. I repeat until I've cut all my patches but I always use the original patch as the pattern for cutting the others so as not to introduce any distortions.

I use a stationary store glue stick to glue my papers to the patches. All I need is a little dab of glue in strategic places to hold the paper in place. I turn all of my patches wrong side up and I glue my paper to the original patch. The remaining papers are glued to the patches making sure that the corners of the papers hit the same landmarks as with the original patch.

The result is that when basted and stitched together the blocks are pretty close to being identical if not identical! I can't show you what the finished block looks like because that would be telling but I will do so in a future post! Could this be a 2014 QAL teaser?

Or is this a 2014 QAL teaser....variegated DMC floss? Embroidery floss....another of my addictions! But who could resist such delicious colours? Not me! Every time I see a display of embroidery floss I always pick up a skein or two of variegated floss to add to my collection!

You can make such pretty little embroideries with variegated threads. Aren't these berries cute? With a plain red floss they would have been flat but with variegated floss they seem to glow!

And what could this be? You'll just have to wait and see!

Until I post again, party on and hope you find the time to take a few stitches in whatever you are working on!

p.s. for hexagon fun be sure to check out A Quilting Reader's Garden for her Hexie Friday Finish Link-up. You can share what you are working on!