Monday, June 29, 2015

Monday Morning Star Count, June 29th

Ok, ok, ok.  You know how sometimes you think you don't like something, but then you see your friend trying it so you get curious?

I feel.. intrigued.  Scared.  but very curious..
Next week Diane is having the next phase of her All Points Patchwork blog hop, theme:
Apple Cores.

So I volunteered to participate.  I'm nuts, right?  I am not scared of sewing curves (by hand or machine), and I can EPP in my sleep, but what has me intimidated and at the same time, motivated, is the need to thread baste through the papers.  Sure, I could finally try glue basting too, but I want to give traditional thread basting a try.   If I end up with a glue stick by the end of next week, you'll hear all about it.

So I ordered templates from paperpieces.com and I got this really cool acrylic template (I'll explain more in my blog hop post on the 10th).  I cut up some fabric and gave it a shot..



What surprised me at first was that it takes a long time to do this... I think I've just got so much experience with diamonds and hexagons (and cutting the patches with a ruler and rotary cutter) that having to slow down and cut out no more than two patches at a time just felt like it was taking forever.  My initial attempts at basting went pretty slowly too.  I think it took me about 35-40 minutes to baste these 4 templates while chatting with a friend.  I know things will speed up the more I do, but for now.. hmm.  it's not as bad as I feared.  The thread basting is calm and soothing, quite enjoyable, so long as you're not in a rush.  My blog hop project idea calls for maybe 40-50 apple cores so I've got a ways to go yet.  I'll let you know how it goes..

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7 comments:

  1. They look great. It is always nice to try something new. They do look like a lot of work.

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  2. Wacky shapes! They do look difficult to work with... though they do look neat when finished.

    BTW everyone, I can't seem to figure out how to comment on some folks' blog sites... there's an extra password step I can't seem to figure out... sorry about that!

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  3. Naaaa, you're not nuts. :) Apple cores are cool shapes that are perfect for relaxing hand stitching. I wouldn't want them for a need-it-NOW project, but they're so organic, you have to love them!

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  4. I haven't seen these before. They do look interesting.

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  5. They look nice; need a lot of patience and time, though! Nice to do when chatting with friends!

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  6. Maureen- I can't figure out how to comment on your blog. Sorry! But I love your multicolored hexies, and it's great to see your beautiful stars coming along. Well done!

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  7. Those look so hard to me! I sewed one flower together this week, but next week I have a road trip and a vacation, so fingers crossed I get somewhere!

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