I usually follow the rules...

I finished my homework...  I started my hand piecing classes last week and thoroughly enjoyed it..  We learned what tools to use and why..and like any good student I bought new pins and was surprised to know that two tools I had purchased in Paducah a couple of years ago now have a use.   One is the Bohin White Chalk Marking Pencil.  It is compressed chalk that comes in 4 colors and is always a sharp point and comes out by brushing it off the fabric or it washes out. ( of course with any marker, please test on your fabric first..) and the other was.....um...i don't remember...  I also get to start using all the pin cushions I have received in swaps and for gifts over the past few years...

We were given a pattern and I got one of the half square triangles pieced before class was over.  I finished it a few minutes ago....

Wanna bet I'll get in trouble??  The block we were given was card trick...this block is not card trick...
Do you think the teacher will notice?

Nancy

so here it is!!

I am so excited. I FINALLY after a gazillion tries got the needle threaded...not once but enough times to finish this...

I am not so happy with the way the upper left hand corner looks, but maybe it will be ok once it is sewn to another quarter of the block.   Want a closeup? 

I forgot that I need to clip the curved seams.  Although it does lay flat!!  I was so excited I sat and watched Survivor and did this...

By the time Krista was booted off Redemption Island and Stephanie voted onto Redemption Island..(Go Matt!) I had hand pieced the arc and started pinning it to the inside background.  And I finally had to go get a pincushion from the sewing room.  I am off today to find a Clover automatic needle threader and maybe some nice sharp pins.  I am not a pinner usually so the ones I have seem very thick.  I think I need to invest in some nice thin ones... maybe some silk pins?  I don't really know much about pins...Marsha said she will check in on my progress, so maybe she uses a certain pin?  I can look in Paducah during the show... And I am thinking of taking a hand piecing class at the Quilted Fox in town.. I know that with anything there are tips and tricks that I will not learn on my own...but it's kind of expensive at $65 for 4 - 2 hour classes...

NEWS FLASH...was talking out loud and hubby says "oh, sign up for the class"...  Yea..it starts next Wednesday..."where's the credit card, honey?"


Nancy

How did my eyes get older than me?

  Yesterday I spent most of the day doing laundry and spring cleaning.. so that today I could spend all day in the sewing room.  I got up, made french toast for breakfast and got started.   First up was to work on my mug rug for the Modern Quilt Guild swap.  I made 3 and didn't like the first 2 , so third time must be a  charm mug rug.  And it's bound and ready to go..

Amy Butler Midwest Modern

 And our guild put out an incentive to make One Star for Moda..   There is talk of a prize drawing if you bring it to the meeting... so I pulled out some of my stash and finished this off..

Remember the last meeting of the St Louis Modern Quilt Guild?  I saw a demo on hand piecing..   and all the way out to the other house I kept thinking...and thinking... maybe I could do that?  Maybe I could do Denyse Schmidts Single Girl pattern?  So....I got on Etsy and ordered the pattern here and got free shipping.  It's not a cheap pattern so free shipping was a bonus.  I wondered why it was so much more expensive than other patterns I have purchased and when it came I fully understood.  It contains full size pattern pieces and a full size pattern sheet for the quilting plus very well written instructions.   Today I traced all the templates from A to EE, cut them out of template plastic, traced them onto the fabric and cut them out... I pinned them to a piece of batting in the order they are to be pieced...  This is only the first quarter of the block..  Marsha gave us a list of the items she used and since she does beautiful hand piecing I decided to start with the right stuff and bought #60 weight thread in white as that will be my background fabric, #10 applique needles cause that's what she uses but I didn't buy a little automatic threader cause I have those red ones ( like in the photo) that I use all the time for embroidery but really how hard can it be to thread a needle?

Fabric is Central Park

So I have my fabric, pins, thread, needle..  First problem crops up immediately.. I can't thread the needle.  That hole is tiny, tiny, tiny...  So out comes the red threader that I use with my embroidery.  Nope..the needle threader won't go into the eye either. 

look how tiny that eye is

 I guess I am stuck until I get that automatic needle threader. I guess my eyes are older than the rest of me?  So anyone have a favorite automatic needle threader they use?  I emailed Marsha and am waiting for an answer, but I am not the most patient person in the world. I really would like to start this project before it becomes a UFO....  This just in...Marsha uses a CLOVER brand automatic needle threader.  I will be shopping online tonight..

Nancy