I get to be first up on our “Shine Bright” tour and I am excited to show you what I have been working on and some thoughts about a woman in my life who was a shining example to me. First up, the paper piecing! I haven’t had a ton of time to quilt lately (although I do have a quilt that took me over 3 months to finish to finally show you;) but I have been working on some quilting-on-the-go lately with some English Paper Piecing.
Here is the latest project I have been working on–some patchwork epp blocks with Shine Bright Fabric. The paper piecing themselves are the Elongated Hexies from Sue Daley Designs and I’ve been putting them together to form these fleur de lis looking blocks that showcase four different fabrics. If you haven’t tried Paper Piecing, it’s so fun! I even did a fb live about it a week or so ago that you can watch how I do it if you want to see that method. Click HERE to watch it for the full tutorial!
And for my story….it’s not grandiose or flashy. It’s the story of most every Sunday afternoon when after a big Sunday dinner at my grandma’s house I would beg Grandma Lova to pull out her little toy Singer sewing machine that sat on a high shelf she had. And every time I asked, she would and then proceed to cut up some small scraps of fabric so that my sister and I could turn the wheel and sew things together over and over. I credit a lot of afternoons and that tiny toy sewing machine to starting a seed for the love of sewing in my life.
And more than her sitting and cutting up little scraps of fabric, it was the time she spent with me (and all of her grandchildren). She was a woman who shined bright because she gave of her time. She gave of herself by spending time with people that she loved. And I will always strive to follow the example that she gave to me.
~Elizabeth
PS–Did you enter the giveaway for a bundle of Shine Bright Fat Quarters yet? They would be PERFECT for paper piecing a quilt!
