English Paper Piecing

 

 

 When I retired I had visions of myself relaxing with some hand stitching, so I treated myself to a kit for Tula Nova by Tula Pink, who designs English Paper Piecing patterns.  Tula Pink also designs fabric, and one can see many versions of her patterns using her fabrics on Instagram.  I however, decided to use this pattern as a way to feature my collection of Mexican themed fabrics that I've collected over the years.

 

Several rounds in, I'm enjoying this project.  The last time I did English Paper Piecing, I made my own papers and stitch basted the fabric.  Now, kits come with die-cut papers, and each piece is glue basted, so it goes much faster.  Getting a thin thread makes one's stitches almost invisible.  Check out the vintage juicer I use to hold my threads, it makes me smile every time I look at it.

EPP is not very complicated, and I got a lot of tips from Tula Pink's YouTube videos.  When I want to feel especially retired, I sit in my armchair and stitch a few seams.
 

Scrappy woven scarves on the rigid heddle loom

 

Weaving is very meditative once you get the loom warped, and one beauty of weaving scarves is that the warps are skinny and go pretty fast.  

As usual, I was using up bits of this and that, nice yarns I'd picked up at the thrift store, a mix of wool and linen in compatible colors.

I used my little loom, an Ashford Sampleit 8", a tiny thing that doesn't fit on a stand, so I use a cheap work bench I bought for 20 bucks at Harbor Freight. 

In the purplish scarf I also incorporated tiny leftover bits of yarn into the weft, which jazzed up the fairly plain warp.

Both scarves were finished with twisted fringe, which is my favorite way to deal with fringes. Some people finish their wovens by washing them so that the fabric becomes more fuzzy and tight, but I like the look of these as is.

Table Toppers

Table runners are great stash busters.  They use up not just scrap fabric, but also scraps of batting.

I used up some of my favorite scraps on this runner, and set them in my favorite scrappy block.

The one is the perfect size for my kitchen table.

I had some leftover blocks and a really nice piece of home dec fabric for this longer table runner.

I just alternated leftover blocks in a long row. 

I'd been saving an old seed catalogue with historical illustrations for the longest time, and it came in handy when I decopaged the top of this small side table.

It lives next to the chair where I read, knit, and watch movies with my eyes closed in the afternoons.

 Smokey the cat is a living and breathing table topper.  This is one of her favorite places to hang out.