Saturday, January 9, 2016

2016 Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Getting Educated

The biggest accomplishment this week was surviving a full five days of work.  It's amazing how hard that is after having two weeks off.  Well, maybe that wasn't the biggest accomplishment this week.  Yesterday was Drama Teen's 17th birthday.  She didn't mention till Thursday night that she really wanted cookies and cream cupcakes from the bakery downtown. I had planned to do an ice cream cake, as that's been her favorite.  Thankfully the bakery had a few cookie and cream left when we went by at lunch yesterday.  She was happily surprised when dessert was served.  




Mom messed up by not having any candles in the house, but Drama Teen was happy to make do with a long fireplace match.  Hard to believe she's only got one more year of high school.  

With all the celebrating last night, there wasn't much time in the sewing room,  This year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge project is taking a bit of preparation before I can start sewing.  I finally got the patterns printed to size, selected the two Vintage Dresses to make this month, and picked out the fabrics. 

Vintage Dresses by Charise Randell

After looking at the minimal directions, I decided to educate myself a bit more about paper piecing.  The only project in my repertoire was really simple, nothing like these dresses.  There's a Craftsy class on paper piecing by Carol Doak in my library that I haven't had time to watch yet.  So I'm go to watch a bit of that before I get started on the piecing.  Hopefully that will save me some grief and unsewing down the road.  

That's all the rainbow scrap stitching I've managed this week.  You can find some pretty, blue scrappy projects linked up to Soscrappy. 

30 comments:

Karen said...

I am sure the dress blocks will be beautiful. I wouldn't have the patience to make them.

scraphappy said...

Those dresses are going to be beautiful. They do look complicated, but paper piecing does make it easier to make odd angles. Imagine how good you will be by the time the year is done!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

Carol Doak is supposed to be a very good instructor in paper piecing I bet it will help

Quiltdivajulie said...

I completely understand the lack of sewing time -- I managed to pull out my scraps and make a couple of decisions but the rest of the week was devoted to real world matters. Here's wishing you good luck with the paper piecing project and class!

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

That is such a cute pattern! I really enjoy paper piecing so I hope you have fun with it. Happy birthday to your "little girl"!

Julie in GA said...

Good luck with your paper piecing. Carol Doak is an expert at it and is sure to give you lots of good instruction. Can't wait to see your dresses!

Barbara said...

Oh my gosh! Drama Teen is 17! I can't believe it. Even in blogland they grow up too fast.

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Happy Birthday to Drama Teen! :)

Gretchen Weaver said...

I paperpieced most of my Jane quilt. After about 5 blocks, you will get it down and it becomes so much easier. It is going to be a very cute quilt. Blessings, Gretchen

PaulaB quilts said...

Sounds like a good grounding in piecing will make it,easier in the long run. Good luck! The dresses are really pretty.

Cathy said...

Good luck on that paper piecing. I've tried it a couple of times and I don't think it's for me but I do love some of the paper pieced blocks I've seen out there in blog land. Your vintage dresses will be so cute. And it sounds like you will pick up a new skill. Good luck! (I didn't have to get used to surviving 5 days of work...I didn't have any time off during the holidays except Christmas and NY...so you were lucky)!

Kathy S. said...

LOVE those vintage dresses. You'll get the hang of paper piecing quickly. I know it. Happy birthday, drama teen! What a great day for her. :)

gayle said...

Those dress blocks are going to be a great RSC project. I'm a fan of Craftsy classes, so I'm sure you'll get a lot out of the Carol Doak class. Good luck!
(I want to try paper piecing one of these days, too, but I think I'm going to try doing cows. It's more up my alley...)

Chantal said...

Gorgeous dresses. Will make an AWESOME quilt. You have more patience than I do to make something like this. Good luck with your goal. Can't wait to see more. ;^)

Deb A said...

Happy Birthday to your daughter. I love learning new things and paper piecing is always a fun tool to have in your pocket. Looking forward to seeing the dresses next week.

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

Those vintage dresses are adorable and I can't wait to see what you do with them. My biggest stumbling block with PP is remembering if the fabric should be "right or wrong side to paper" when starting. :) Have fun with your class!

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Happy Happy Birthday DT!!! And oh kate I know what ya mean...this was such a long week! I missed my sewing.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Happy Birthday, Drama Teen!!!

Marti said...

Happy birthday to Drama Teen. I've heard a lot of good things about those Craftsy classes. Can't wait to see your first dress block.

Ellen said...

Those dresses are going to make such cute blocks!

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Wow, this is going to be a wonderful project. Love the dresses and look forward to your progress.

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Wow, this is going to be a wonderful project. Love the dresses and look forward to your progress.

Magpie Sue said...

Good luck with those paper pieced dresses. They'll be fabulous!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Can't wait to see them. Love those patterns.

Dasha said...

What a lovely pattern for those dresses. They will look gorgeous in the colours you have chosen.
Just remember to trim your seams and press after every seam. You'll be right.

Sheila said...

What a cute blocks! Happy Birthday to Drama Queen : )

Cheryl said...

Great pattern, can't wait to see the finished blocks.

Katie Z. said...

She's can't be that old!

Lara B. said...

That is such a great idea Kate to do the Rainbow challenge with these dresses. After one or two, you will totally get used to how they go together.
I love your daughter's face as she looks at her giant match. A memorable cupcake, LOL. Love her t-shirt too!

AnnieO said...

Happy Birthday to DT! I like her Tshirt's saying :). Paper piecing isn't my favorite but sure is the best way to get highly detailed results with bitty bits of fabric!