Blocks

Finally, I got my own block finished for Ringo Pie bee, a box of vintage thread spools, I think all sewers have a box or a jar of these, you can see one of mine in my header pic.  This has been one of those things I had in my head but it took me a while to get it all done.   I used freezer paper and pieced all the bits together so that each spool was a mini block.   Damian is now fully trained in rotary cutting and as each bobbin is at least 5 pieces it really helped- he even managed to keep his fingers intact- he can be a bit blade happy with a scalpel (paper cutting not self harming) at times.    There's a bit of new fabric-a bit of In the Kitchen by Alexander Henry, some given- the bobbin fabric is from Ayumi, some stash and some vintage.  

Let's hear it for the piecing thread YLI soft touch- threads don't often get a mention- it's all about the fabric, but this is great for piecing, it is thin but strong enough and allows me to piece with small stitches without losing bulk to the seams.  I need all the help I can get with accuracy!

Ayumi knows what I like and it all comes through in this block- kitchenalia, vintage fabrics, text, and so many of her likes to- she is representing the international element of our bee by the embroidered labels-  I love it!  You've got to read the story behind this block- a funny tale of milk cartons and soap!  Click here   She has two new cute projects and pics of her fabric stash in the new Stitch magazine, you can see more on her blog here.  There are some great contributions in Stitch from other designers, especially Kevin Kosab of feed dog designs.  He has a great tutorial on his site for making a mini all purpose applique board.

UK readers- you can buy this from a UK supplier, The Contented Cat, I have bought all my issues from them and they are very helpful, this copy came the next day.

Thank you to all who wished my hands and arms well, they are on the mend x