Paper Piecing Woes

Since I got home from Guatemala I've been busy catching up on blocks I needed to make for my virtual bees. I purposely left the first block in the Red and Aqua Bee Part 2 until after I returned from my trip. The block was a Colorwheel Geese block and was my first ever attempt at paper piecing. I tried to put it together before I left for Central America but I was having some difficulty learning how to paper piece so I figured I would have more time to focus on learning this technique when I returned home. I have to say that putting this block together gave me more than a few gray hairs. It was a labor of love. I hadn't been this frustrated sewing in a very, very long time. I had to rip out stitch after stitch over and over in my attempt to learn how to paper piece. Initially I would have thought that paper piecing would be easy but boy was I wrong. But after many failed attempts I finally got the square together and I must say I am pretty happy with the finished product. I love the design but I think it will be awhile before I attempt this one again.

Sewn Together April Blocks Done

It's been a while since I've posted. March was crazy trying to wrap up Celebrity Fit Club and then my wonderful and amazing fiance and I were able to sneak away for a little while and take a much needed vacation. We spent nearly three weeks backpacking through Guatemala and Belize. It was fabulous and so difficult to return home. I did buy lots of fabric and textiles while I was down there, but I'll share some of that later. Since I've been home I've been trying to catch up on some blocks I needed to finish for the Bees I am in currently. Truth be told, I finished Mary's first block for the Sewn Together Bee before I left the country but I had so much fabric left over I offered to do a second block for her. Unfortunately I couldn't get to that one until I got back. In the first one I added the pink and brown fabric in the top right little square in the middle. Mary said we could add our own fabric as long as it had small dots or circles.

Mary's first Dotty Squares block for the Sewn Together Bee month of April

I had a lot of fun making Mary's Dotty Square blocks. Sadly, as much as I had an overabundance of fabric to make all the small squares and triangles, I didn't have enough large pieces of fabric to create the large squares and triangles. Mary was fine with that and told me to do what I can. So I got the second one about three quarters of the way finished and sent it on it's way to her. I hope she likes it! I added the blue fabric in the very center of the second block from my own stash.

Mary's incomplete second Dotty Squares block for the Sewn Together Bee month of April