Focus
I am in laser focus mode. Our son gets married on Sunday, May 31st. As is the custom these days, there are numerous events starting on Friday and finishing up on Monday, June 1st. It is a local(ish) wedding. In other words he is getting married within driving distance, just too far away, since it is an evening wedding, to drive home again the same day. I feel as though I need to pack less for a two week vacation, than two days away for a wedding and associated activities. Not true, of course, but I don’t want to be caught without something vital.
Love Blooms
Since I was laser focused, I can proudly state that Love Blooms is done in time. Before I did any other sewing this week, I printed out and attached the label. However, since I haven’t gifted Love Blooms, I can’t share it with you. So, here is one final teaser photo.
Butterfly Sanctuary
Now that Love Blooms is complete, I could focus in on my BOM (block of the month) for Butterfly Sanctuary. Miraculously, I was able to complete Bloom, the second block in the collection, in a single day.
I’ve been paper piecing for several decades. I barely glance at patterns anymore. However, I am fascinated by the pattern with instructions that Wonderfil provides. Bloom’s handout is 11 pages long. Most of it is devoted to actual paper pieced pattern sections. There are quite few pages with cutting instructions. I’m ignoring those since they result in far more waste than I like to generate. That being said, if I were new at paper piecing the cutting instruction would be very helpful.
The “sewing” or what I think of as assembly instructions are excellent. True they are often included in paper piecing patterns. Since the Butterfly Sanctuary blocks are so wonky compared to standard blocks AND Section A is typically sewn to Section B, I found this page extremely helpful.
Paper Piecing Tip
There are two patterns to create Butterfly Sanctuary. One is paper pieced and the other is appliquéd. The patterns are similar. Since I prefer to paper piece, I am doing that option. Bloom, May’s block, has 111 pieces, all of which are odd shapes and many are slivers. Not a problem if you easily think upside and backwards, but uber difficult for those of us (ME!) who don’t.
I can’t tell you how many times in the past I have selected a scrap to use for the next piece when paper piecing, only to align it in such a way that when I flipped it into place after sewing it didn’t cover the seam allowance or worse. In one of those eureka moments I realized it could verify the fabric alignment by inserting pins from front to back at the start and stop of the next seam.
Note the pins protruding through the white piece of fabric. Before I do the final positioning I align the fabric with the outside edge of the seam allowance, but behind/above the pins. Next, I pull out the pins and slide the fabric up to the edge of the seam allowance. Because the pins were there, I could be certain the fabric will cover all it needs to cover vs. falling short. The latter has happened more times than I care to admit, when I attempt the same feat without guidance, holding the paper up to the light.
The result, after I started using pins for tricky pieces, is I finished Bloom in record time with zero reverse sewing.
Keeping It Reel
Now that Love Blooms and my Butterfly Sanctuary block 2 is finished, I turned my focus to cleaning up the studio. I find a picked up studio most welcoming. Feel free to check it out by viewing the reel on either Instagram or Facebook
Question of the Week
At what point, if any, do you read the instructions?
I’m linking up to the following posts:
I try to read the instructions before beginning something; that said, once I begin, I tend to think I know what step comes next, and sometimes get caught up short!
Why go back and reread instructions? Of course, there is nothing like creating with confidence to discover, whoops, I missed a crucial step.
Margaret, thank you for being a regular contributor to my Question of the Week.
You will have a wonderful time at the wedding and you will have all that you need there too! I’m glad you figured out a way to check the fabric will cover the space when paper piecing. I too am not one that sees well upside down and in reverse order! LOL
Thank you for the assurance and well wishes, Terry.
I expect we are not alone struggling to cope with the unique way of seeing required for paper piecing.
Enjoy your son’s wedding festivities! Your embroidery and FPP butterfly are both beautiful. Can’t wait for the big reveal of the whole secret project we’ve been glimpsing for so long!
Hopefully, the big reveal will be in the next post. At least that is the plan. 🙂
Got to love the Bernina 990. It does amazing embroidery.
Bloom is a beautiful block, Gwyned! I’ve done quite a bit of paper-piecing, but never with a block that has so many pieces. Even in simpler blocks, it’s easy to turn things around or even sew the wrong side of the fabric to the paper! Thanks for the tip about using pins to mark your spot. Like many of us who’ve been quilting for a long time, I have a tendency to “skim” the directions, thinking I already know what I’m doing. Sometimes that’s not exactly true, lol! Have a wonderful wedding weekend!
I had a feeling I wasn’t alone in getting muddled how to perfectly align scraps for paper piecing. Look closely and you will see I accidentally have a couple of my of white on white background fabrics with right sides towards the back. Since you basically have to be nose to the fabric to catch the mistake, I let it go.
Ah, skimming directions… done quite a bit of that myself.
Thanks for the well wishes.
Looking forward to the big reveal. I rarely use a pattern but when I do, and it is PPed, it takes some caution and time to get my head in the upside down world. Have a lovely time at your son’s wedding.
It seems you and I are in good company when it comes to orienting ourselves to the upside down challenges of PP.
Thanks for the well wishes.
Congrats on the upcoming wedding/family expansion. The butterfly looks great! The embroidery stitching is impeccable. And as far as reading the instructions…I’ve been burned many times.
Yes, it is quite a family expansion. My soon to be DIL comes with two brothers, parents, one of whom has remarried, grandparents, family here in the States and family in Taiwan and China. In a few hours I will be meeting many of them for the first time at a welcome backyard BBQ. Should be quite the experience.
I do have help on the embroidery. My Bernina 990 did the stitching. However, like a stitch on a machine the operator needs to know how to set things up. I couldn’t have attempted this when I first bought the machine.
What, you didn’t read the instructions first? Think that is true of most us when we think we know how to do something.
Have a fabulous time at your son’s wedding!
Thank you, Jenny. I am looking forward to it.
Your butterfly is beautiful although the pattern look daunting. I did a fair amount of paper piecing several years ago, mostly New York Beauty. Have fun at the wedding. I’m thinking that Mother of the Groom is easier than Mother of the Bride. I hope, for your sake.
I left a comment last week and it never went thru. I hope this one does.
New York Beauties are stunning blocks. Paper piecing helps with all those seams coming together so close together.
Times have changed with weddings. When both our children married six weeks apart in the summer of 2005, I was mother of the bride for one and mother of the groom for the other. Due to circumstances, I managed both weddings. This time my son is marrying into a 2nd generation Chinese family. Customs are different. He and his soon to be wife are managing the wedding. Tonight we host a welcome party. Last night her family hosted a welcome BBQ.
I’m not sure what happened to your comment last week. Comments do need to be approved by me before they can be seen. I check the spam folder and trash. Most of those comments are legit and I approve them. I have noticed your comments often land there, although not this week. I do love hearing from you and always approve your comments.
have a great time at the wedding. I love that stitching it is beautiful and the butterfly so many tiny pieces! I very often end up pretty a piece wrong in these.
Thank you, Karen. I love the stitching, too. My Bernina 990 has added new life to my quilts, now that I understand and can work with the embroidery attachment. Yes, Bloom as tiny pieces, but it also has some substantial pieces. Quite different from many paper pieced blocks. It’s been a good learning experience for me.
Your new butterfly is lovely, and yes, it’s easy to sew and then realize that the piece doesn’t cover the entire wanted area… and it doesn’t always help that I don’t follow the instructions to the letter!
Enjoy the wedding and congratulations to the soon-to-be-weds!
Thank you for sharing and linking up.
You always say the nicest things, Frédérique. Thank you.
Cannot wait to see the final reveal!! I know it’s going to be stunning.
The big reveal will be in my post.
What a beautiful butterfly!! Its quite intricate. Hope the wedding was amazing and you all had a wonderful time!
The wedding was perfect, despite its imperfections. It involved blending families and cultures. Perhaps I will share something about it in this week’s post.
June’s butterfly pattern arrived in my inbox this morning. My first glance suggests this one will be easier.