Friday, March 4, 2016

Tiny Toffee Designs Blog Hop


I'm so excited to be a part of this special blog hop hosted by Susi of Tiny Toffee Designs


Heidi (aka Fabric Mutt) and I get to kick off the fun and WOW is there an amazing line-up! [Full list of people participating can be found on Susi's blog and also below.]

I've mentioned before that I am constantly being blown away by Susi. By her kindness, her creativity, and by her talent. I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to showcase her patterns. If you haven't seen her adorable itty bitty paper piecing patterns - you need to check them out. Seriously - go to her shop right now! She's releasing a complete new set called "Dream Big." 

If you are new to paper piecing, Susi has a photo tutorial on her blog that you can check out. And there are lots of great sites and videos online. This is an amazing community! And don't let the size scare you away - these patterns can be easily scaled up and down for any project or if you are a beginner and the small scale is intimidating. 

Let's get started! My favorite notion for paper piecing is my Add-A-Quarter Ruler - but for this tiny piecing you really need the Add-An-Eighth Ruler. If you don't already have one, you'll thank me for suggesting it. These are some notions I always have close by when paper piecing. 


The patterns (once pieced) are designed to work perfectly as 1" English paper pieced hexies. But really they are also stand alone patterns that can be worked into a variety of projects. I know you will see some amazing projects (and hexies, too) on this blog hop, so I decided to do something a little different with the patterns. Today, Heidi and I get to feature the "follow your dreams" pattern in her new set. 





This is similar to the flying geese found in Susi's "I Love Quilting" pattern - but the geese here change size on a slight gradient. I immediately pictured a forest of trees. Standing tall and proud and reaching toward the sky. 

I wanted to use a variety of sizes for the trees, so I enlarged the pattern to a few different scales. The tree pictured above (and all the way to the right in the picture below) is printed at 100%. The tree in the center was printed at 300%. I also enlarged the pattern and only used two geese (instead of all three) and incorporated the tree from Susi's "Christmas Delights" pattern to add some variety to the trees. Then I started working on my layout. 


See that little red hood peeking out behind the tree? I think we may be in the Enchanted Forest.


And the little pom pom detail I added is one of my favorite features. Plus, the Big Bad Wolf is here, too (made using the fox from the "Into the Woods" pattern set).


I decided to finish my project by wrapping it around a canvas to hang on the wall. It's always fun to have handmade work decorating my happy sewing space. This will be a fun reminder of fairy tales and the importance of dreaming big.


Creating your own custom canvas is not too difficult and a technique I've used before (see here and here). Maybe I'll write up a little tutorial one day.

I hope you enjoyed visiting my blog today. Be sure to check out all the other great bloggers!

FULL BLOG HOP SCHEDULE
March 4th: Heidi and Andrea
March 7th: Alyssa and Mike
March 11th: MaryKate, and Amy
March 14th: Cheri and Karen
March 18th: Jennie and Rebecca
March 21st: Amanda Jean and Sarah
March 24th: Rachel and Mollie

6 comments:

  1. I am so amazed by this!!! I already loved when you told me what you were going to do but the end result is simply stunning!!!

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    1. Yay!!! Excited for your blog hop! Your fairy godmother has been MIA (missing in action) these past few months but her wand has been in the shop for repairs! 😚✨✨✨

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  2. Such a creative way to make these adorable patterns! 💕💕💕

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  3. HI,I'm not sure which I think is cuter the "cat" or the little "tree"! So neat! Thanks for sharing! msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  4. Super adorable and reminds me of the fairytale swap that Susi hosted last year...I love that you mentioned the add an 1/8th ruler!!! Plus I spy a nifty little thread snipper. I hope you are liking it as much as I do!!! 🐱💕

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  5. Very creative! See, this is what scares me about tiny, tiny anything - accuracy. I've never heard of an add an 1/8th ruler. Add a 1/4, yes, but an 1/8th no. Thanks for teaching me something new!!

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