Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop- Next Stop: Segovia

Welcome to my stop on the Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop!  Thanks to Laura at Quokka Quilts and Katy at The Littlest Thistle for giving me the motivation I needed to learn the art of English Paper Piecing.

When my husband and I got married almost a decade ago, our lives were in transition and we didn't go away on honeymoon.  A couple of summers ago, we decided to go on that "honeymoon we never had" (our third).  On a whim, we chose Spain.

One of the cities we visited was Segovia, which is famous for it's 2,000 year old aqueduct system:

 the Segovia Cathedral:

 and the Alcázar of Segovia (rumored to be one of the sources of inspiration for the Disney Castle):

 My inspiration photo for my EPP blocks is a picture of street signs leading to the Alcázar.  I used Palette Builder at Play Crafts for the colors:

Pulling fabric was a challenge since most of my stash is packed away in boxes at a friend's house.  From the limited selection I had access to at home, I pulled a Jennifer Paganelli Bell Bottom print in green, herringbone in yellow from Riley Blake's Apple of My Eye, Kona Cerise, and Heath in black.

Working under a very steep learning curve, I went with EPP hexies and stitched up a few Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks.

I think I'm officially addicted to English Paper Piecing!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit Susan at Patchwork and Play Margo at Needle Little Balance for the next stop tomorrow.

And if you want to play along, details about the blog hop are here, where you can find a list of all the stops, a linky party with prizes, and a list of lovely sponsors who made it possible.  Go check it out!

Paper piecing frenzy

In looking over my sewing to-do list, there's an inordinate amount of paper piecing of all three varieties.  I've got freezer paper piecing for the Piece Bee gals, foundation piecing for a blog hop, and EPP for both a blog hop and a bee.  Whew- by the end of this month I should be a paper-piecing guru! 

I've just clipped the last thread on a block slated for a blog hop hosted by Soma at Whims and Fancies.  Here's a little sneak peek:

The only thing left to do is figure out how to format my hand-drafted design into a template to share without the use of software.  Check back here Saturday for the completed block and free pattern.  In the meantime, visit The Halloween Paper Pieced Blog Hop, which runs through October 31st, for the blocks shared so far.

There are a few other freezer paper foundation piecing blocks on my short-list.  A photography-themed block, a classic British toy block, and a Viewmaster block are due (in some cases, overdue) to my Piece Bee With You beemates.  The pattern for first two have been planned, but not drafted, and the third has been provided to the group. 

Having only tried my hand at freezer paper and foundation paper-piecing, I'm excited to finally take a stab at EPP.  Hexa-Go-Go has been collecting dust on my shelf the past few weeks while I scour the interwebs for tutorials and video how-to's.  First up are EPP stars for the do. Good Stitches October block.  Rachel was kind enough to provide printables for the 6-point stars.  She also has a wonderful instructional video for those, such as myself, who may need help.  

Just to give myself a little added pressure to learn English Paper Piecing, I've joined up with the Travellin-Pic Stitch Blog Hop hosted by Quokka Quilts and The Littlest Thistle.  This blog hop runs the whole of October and November- check it out!

Linking up to Lee at Freshly Pieced for: