Today is our turn as participants in the I Spy Blog Hop. Kimie and Missy of On Williams Street, have organized a Blog Hop to promote their new book, I Spy.
Since the main goal of our business is to help you to have the best patterns for yourself to enjoy, or for sale, we want to talk about different quilting techniques to show you how many ways there are to transform a design into a quilting pattern.
One of the techniques we love is Foundation Paper Piecing, and what better way to start talking about FPP than to show you the great book Kimie and Missy have created. I Spy is a modern foundation paper pieced quilt that contains 100 FPP blocks, to make individually or the whole quilt.
For those who don’t know it, FPP is a technique that uses patterns printed on paper, to obtain a very crisp image. By sewing the fabric directly onto the printed paper, then joining the different pieces, you can obtain very precise piercing. With this technique you can create a multitude of shapes and blocks, then assemble a full quilt, a block, or even words. Practically any image can be used as a starting point.
Our very first job used this technique. and it is a great way to make a custom pattern from photos of pets, animals or landscapes. We will be showing you it soon!
But today, we are here to talk about the book, I Spy, by On Williams Street. We are really stunned about the huge amount of work they have done (100 blocks)! It is really well organized and explains well how to sew the blocks and join them. It also includes a tutorial about the foundation paper piecing technique, which makes the book a great tool for those who want to start sewing using this technique.
Here are some features of the book we want to tell you about:
- The blocks have a modern style that will allow you to create a modern looking quilt, or create any accessory for your house, kids or pets!
- It includes a tutorial about the FPP technique.
- Each block is 4″ square and if you join all the blocks, you will be able to make a quilt that measures approximately 51” square.
- The blocks make reference to different themes: Around the
House, Playtime, Getting Ready, Dress Up, Animals, Sandcastles, Let’s Celebrate, In the Garden, On the Move, On Vacation and Let’s Eat. You will have a large variety to choose from, or make seasonable items. - Do you need a pattern to make mug rugs for Christmas? Or a cute storage basket for your kids? Here, you have so many great choices.
- Each block is labelled with a difficulty between 1 and 3. If you are new to FPP, start with the level 1 blocks, then move up to levels 2 and 3.
- In the book, each block has a dedicated page, where you can see the level of difficulty, the page for the template file, the fabrics they used, a line drawing of the block with the sections, and an identification key for colour placement.
- The book is available in a hard copy or in an ebook, so if you are far away you can get the copy easily online.
- The templates aren’t in the book, but for both formats (hard copy and e-book), you get a login and a password to access the templates. So you can print the pages as you need them.
Sarah and I decided that she was going to sew some of the blocks as she always has very good ideas. She wanted to sew 2 projects with the block patterns. Surely you will love them.
The first project was a camping themed pillow. Sarah picked five blocks: the Roasted Marshmallow, the Campfire, the Tent, the Flashlight and the Star. They all are perfect for a camping pillow. This one will be a gift for her dad who loves to go camping.
To sew this pillow, Sarah used Carolyn Friedlander fabrics. In the book, the blocks are shown in solid fabrics, so we thought it would be great to show you how they could look with printed fabrics too. They are displayed in squares and Sarah used a 16” pillow form, and for the quilting, she used mostly echo quilting and some accent quilting.that
And the second project is a bandana for her adorable Cara, her soon to be 12 year old rescue dog! When she proposed to me that she would sew this for her dog, I fell in love with this idea. It shows us the range of possibilities with this book. To sew the bandana she pieced the block into a 12” square, added a triangle of batting (fusible interfacing is an option too), then added some quilting.
You can find the book in the On Williams Street Etsy shop. To celebrate the launch, they are offering a 10% off coupon by using the code ISPYBLOGHOP from November 30 to December 16
Be sure to check the other participant’s blogs every day to get inspired, and start thinking what would you do with these great patterns:
November 30: Kimie and Missy of On Williams Street
December 1: Audrey Mann of The Cloth Parcel
December 2: Jen Frost of Faith and Fabric
December 3: Bea Lee of Bea a Quilter
December 4: Sarah Goer of Sarah Goer Quilts
December 5: Joanne Harris of Quilts by Joan
December 6: Susan Smith of Stitched by Susan
December 7: Simone Fisher of Simone Quilts
December 8: Lissa LaGreca of Lovingly Lissa
December 9: Catalina Barcelo of Amarar Creacions
December 10: Laura Strickland of Orange Blossom Quilts
December 11: Laura Piland of Slice of Pi Quilts
December 12: Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
December 13: Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis
December 14: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim
Happy stitching to you all!
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