recent paper piecing adventures.

after making several big quilts in a row (halloween economy block, scrappy christmas tree, gnomes, amh flying geese, and stay gold bear paw), i needed a little break. it was time to work on something smaller, more intricate, cheaper, etc, so i started the search for a new paper piecing pattern. lo and behold, i happened upon a small etsy shop that sells national park blocks, and i was off to the races.

the first pattern i chose was delicate arch from arches national park. since a lot of the the pieces were super tiny, and also because i had a lot of options that would work for my desired color scheme, i decided to go with solids. here’s the preliminary stages….

and the final product. i love it so so so much. it’s about 12.5″ square, so the plan is to make four of them into a little wall hanging. unfortunately, as of right now, the pattern designer only has a few options in her shop, and of those, only two that i am interested in. but i’m getting ahead of myself.

while i was perusing around for national park blocks, i also came across another designer who makes really cute geometric animal patterns. she had put out a call for pattern testers, and i “applied” and had the opportunity to test out her new geometric lobster pattern. again, i went with solids, mostly because i was afraid i wouldn’t be able to catch pattern errors if i deviated too far from the original pattern. plus, it’s cheaper. plus, either side of the fabric can be used, which makes for better economical use of the fabric.

anyhoooo. it also had a millionty small bits, but it came together perfectly, and i definitely love it. i plan to turn it into a wall hanging for anna. but for now, it’s on my design wall, amongst the national parks.

upon completing the lobster, i turned my attention back towards the national park blocks, this time opting for acadia national park. i maybe picked up a few more solids to make this one happen, but i was hoping to capture the coral colored rocky granite coastline and it turns out coral is not a color i have a lot of. well, now i do.

again. so many tiny pieces. but so much love.

lastly, i opted for yosemite national park and it’s iconic half dome rock formation. yosemite wasn’t really one of my favorite parks, but of the options available by this designer, it was my new best option. this one was quite frustrating. i really struggled to get the last two halves to line up. and it seemed like the pieces were exponentially smaller than the other blocks. those little trees. some of the tiny slivers. it’s very lumpy on the back, i promise. but, i’m pleased with the overall outcome and i can’t wait to add the final(?) block to the collection. i’m just hoping her new pattern release is glacier or joshua tree. 🙂

since i finished this one up a few weeks ago, i’ve sort of hit a wall with paper piecing, so i have plans for a mindless(ish) patchwork quilt. maybe. or maybe not. we’ll see….