Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Trained Pattern Tester

I've been doing a little pattern testing for Ester of iPatch. She's working on a Chugging Along pattern that includes a locomotive, train station, passenger car, caboose, coal car, freight car, and water tower so far...


I couldn't resist, as my son is a major train fan. He has quite the Geotrax collection, and has been known to take up the entire living room floor with his tracks and such.


I've learned a couple things through testing paper-pieced patterns.
1. My printer thinks it knows more about paper-piecing than me, but it doesn't. This results in it printing at sizes other than 100% if I'm not careful about preventing this tendency. That's no fun for me, as it means pieces don't fit together or blocks aren't the size I intended.
2. Like babies, paper-priced blocks are all the more cute because of their itty-bitty components. However, this does mean adorable, tiny animal eyes or, in this case, train wheels can take a really, really long time to piece.


I'm still not certain if the rock fabric is too realistic in comparison to my other fabric choices. What do you think?

I have discovered that I would like to add some of the other blocks Esther has created to this train when the pattern is released.

I'm linking up with:

Needle and Thread Thursday  Catch a Glimpse Button

Happy Valentine's

I decided to get a little festive for the upcoming holiday. The appliqué robots came from the quilt pattern Robot Riot.


I'm linking up with:

        button

Friday, February 7, 2014

UCMQG Medallion Quilts

During Quilt Bliss retreat, I attended a trunk show presented by the Utah County Modern Quilt Group.


Last year, they challenged themselves to create modern renditions of medallion quilts. I think each and every one is astounding!






To see more, check out their Flickr group.