Pages

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Winter Nap: a paper pieced celebration

Welcome to my stop on Island Batik's Paper Pieced Celebrations blog hop!  The ambassadors were each sent one of the newest Island Batik fabric collections and tasked to use paper piecing to create a quilt that was a celebration of some sort.


My fabrics are the beautiful Peppermint Sprinkles collection, designed by Kathy Engle for Heidi Pridemore of The Whimsical Workshop.  I was so excited to get Peppermint Sprinkles, it's the collection I was most hoping for!  I love the red paired with the cooler aqua and light teal, and the winter theme with motifs of snowflakes, deer, pine branches, and reindeer.  The celebrations part of the challenge would be easy, as clearly this would be a celebration of winter. 


I do not enjoy paper piecing, so I was having some trouble deciding what to make.  Then I happened to see an issue of the British magazine Love Patchwork & Quilting at a local quilt shop.  (Issue #127)  This magazine always has some sort of extra packaged with it, and this particular issue had a bonus pattern booklet of 8 animal paper pieced designs.  The inset showed a few of them, including a penguin taking a nap under a quilt.  I snatched that issue up and impulse-purchased it for that bonus pattern!  Penguins would go great with the winter theme of Peppermint Sprinkles!

a single sleeping penguin

I took the pattern booklet home and looked at what I had gotten myself into.  The penguin wasn't going to be *too* many pieces to paper piece, and the quilt part of the block was traditionally pieced.  The original block has a fish sleeping with the penguin but I took out the fish to just focus on the penguin. I decided on a layout of nine penguins.  I used Island Batik's solids for the actual paper pieced penguins: Turquoise for the background, White and Black for the penguin head, and Orange for the beak.  

 


My friend and fellow Island Batik Ambassador Gail of Quilting Gail knew of my dislike of (foundation) paper piecing and offered to do a zoom call to show me her method of paper piecing without actually sewing on the paper.  I did find her method easier and less terrible than the way I had been paper piecing, though saying I like it now would be an overstatement.  Gail also has Peppermint Sprinkles for this challenge, be sure to visit her and see what she made with these fun fabrics!

 

back side with interfacing over the eye stitching

The pattern calls for embroidering the sleeping penguin eyes.  I used blue embroidery thread for this, and then used small scraps of fusible interfacing from making By Annie bags to seal the back of the embroidery, in hopes of  securing the stitches.  Funny moment: I had multiple conversations with my husband about the penguins, especially the eyes.  I thought each conversation included the fact that these were sleeping eyes.  Turns out, he thought the penguins were not napping, but holding up the quilts they made!!!!!  How funny is that?!?!  I guess he is just used to a lot of holding up of quilts! 😀


While most of the paper pieced quilts for this hope are foundation paper pieced, we could use either foundation paper piecing or English paper piecing.  I knew I could never do enough English Paper Piecing for a lap-sized quilt, but I really wanted to add some.  I played around with classic hexagons until I got a decent snowflake.  I thought the snowflakes would make a really fun border for the penguins, and would let me use more of the Peppermint Sprinkles fabrics.  I made four EPP snowflakes for the corners, then used my Accuquilt to cut snowflakes to fill in the rest of the border.

 

Items used in this project were give to me by Island Batik, Aurifil, Schmetz, and Oliso.

I used Aurifil's invisible thread to stitch the EPP snowflakes to the background.  I also used the invisible thread to applique the other snowflakes. As always, I did all the stitching with a Schmetz needle. Schmetz vinyl needs also do really well stitching through fusible web for applique.The piecing was done with a gray Aurifil thread.  My new Oliso iron got all my pieces nice and flat.

 


For the first time in my six years as an Island Batik Ambassador, I have only a quilt top to show you.  I really, really think that this quilt needs snowflake quilting, so I plan to send it out to a longarmer.  Don't you think snowflakes will look amazing with this??  I am debating Black vs Turquoise for the binding, let me know your thoughts!

 

Part of this challenge's brief was to be a celebration.  I like to think of these penguins as taking a winter nap on the shortest day of the year--Winter Solstice.  So this is a celebration of winter, of winter solstice, and of naps!  I'm calling it Winter Nap.  I plan for this to be a couch cuddling quit for my family.  We are biathlon fans and the past two years, have watched the full biathlon season.  A quilt with snowflakes seems perfect for watching a winter sport.  Winter nap measures 77" x 66".

 


If this is a blog hop of celebrations, what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway!  I have put together a prize package including:

  • a spool of Aurifil invisible thread, just like the thread I used for the snowflake applique
  • a package of Schmetz needles
  • a Schmetz quick pocket reference guide
  • a Schmezt photo chart of their different types of needles
  • magnetic pin cushion
  • Island Batik button

To enter, leave me a comment.  I'll pick a winner randomly on Friday May 24th.  You can comment on anything, but if you need a prompt, here are two possibilities:

  • What is your favorite thing about winter?
  • Do you think I should use Black or Turquoise for the binding on Winter Nap?

Thank you to Island Batik for another fun blog hop!  Be sure to check out all the beautifully Pieced to Perfection Celebrations!  You can find the full schedule here


30 comments:

  1. I share your dislike of paper piecing. And I have come up with creative ways to avoid/minimize it. So I understood that you chose a simple (low intensity) penguin design. That works, I thought. Supercute nine blocks and there is a quilt. But then you added the unexpected EPP. Insert mindblown emoji here. Absolutely perfect!!! Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I now enjoy watching the snow come down instead of being out there playing in it. Black binding would look good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Adding the EPP snowflakes was inspired! I think turquoise binding would be icing on the cake :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very, very cute! You did a great job incorporating all the challenge requirements into one quilt. I think the teal would make a really fun frame for that quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  5. In winter, I love cuddling up with a lap quilt and sit by the gas fireplace reading a good book. I think the turquoise would really be striking for the binding. Naps in winter are great too!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good morning Emily. Your napping penguins are adorable. They would certainly be great company during our seemingly long winters here. I was thinking about the binding, and I find it a difficult decision.Continuing with the dsrk will focus on the blocks, and they are worth it, as well as highlighting the EPP snowflakes, but then the turquoise might bring the turquoise in the block areas mre to the forefront. I'm sure that both would work well. Not much help am i? Have a wnderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my you pulled that off perfectly! So cute. I have done both methods of PPing, what I don't like is pulling the paper off.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My favorite part of Winter is seeing the beauty of the snow and crystal trees sparkle in the moonlight at 2 am. I would use black for the binding so the snowflakes sparkle.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your quilt is so sweet. I think a black binding would be best, but a Turquoise binding would still look good.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My favourite thing about winter is going skiing when there is fresh snow. I usually only ski once per year, so it has to be a good day! And turquoise for the binding, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is is a happy quilt! I do like the quiet during a snowfall (just under 6" is plenty to make it perfect and the designs the snow creates. I would vote for a teal or even multi color binding! Its so fun it can stand the bright binding.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love Peppermint Sprinkles and you quilt is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  13. How sweet your quilt is! I think I would bind in the black. It would complete the edges IMHO..Nancy.sumner@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  14. Black binding looks great. The only thing I like about winter is that I can sew more
    djcutting2(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a fun quilt! My sister is a penguin lover - she would adore this too! Although I love black, I think turquoise would make it all pop even more!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I would use turquoise to make it pop. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  17. The penguins are cute. I’m not that wild about paper piecing but I do like the results.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The napping penguins are so cute! I really like the snowflakes in the border too. I think turquoise for binding would be good.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is too cute. I would put a binding with color not black but that's me.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Such a sweet quilt with adorable, napping penguins. I happen to be in a minority of winter-loving folks. Two things that make winter special to me are: 1) I'm usually the only one on the trail walking my dog. Cold doesn't bother us. Haha!; and 2) I find that the red cardinals look especially pretty with the gray skies and bare trees.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My favorite thing about winter is not having to shovel snow and I would go with the turquoise for binding - end with a big & bright finish!

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is such a fun quilt, Emily! I love the penguins and the EPP snow flakes! Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I think black binding. In my opinion the turquoise would detract from the penguins

    ReplyDelete
  24. Your quilt reminded me of a penguin winter quilt I made for my Granddaughter a few years ago. I used the same colors. If it were mine, I would use the black/dark color for the binding. I think the teal would pull the color from the blocks and distract or wash out the borders.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is just cuter than cute. Love the little napping penguins. I would do a turquoise binding I think.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Super quilt!!! I love the cold of winter. I like the idea of turquoise for the binding, but it is your quilt! It will be beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Your quilt is delightful! And I love both interpretations - taking a long nap on the winter solstice or holding up the quilts they made. :) I also appreciate the combination of paper piecing and English paper piecing. It's a wonderful combination for this quilt! And I'd use turquoise for the binding. Thanks so much for sharing this quilt and for your post. I love your writing too!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh my goodness! I love this so much, Emily. What a cutie pie quilt. So funny that your husband thought the penguins were holding up the quilts. I vote for the black binding so it doesn't distract from the rest of the quilts adorable details. Have a fabulous day!

    ReplyDelete