Another PP'd block

I finished another of the paper pieced blocks. It is a beautiful pattern but I could not sew it properly to save my life. Nothing matched up properly and I ripped out more seams than I care to remember.
I use the disolvable papers, which normally are so much easier for me to work with, but they don't take having seams ripped out very well. They'll survive one or two oops but after that the paper tears and has so little bulk left to work with. Normally the lack of bulk makes it easier for me but not when I really shouldn't be sewing. I ran out of the papers a little while ago so really have to get to the store to find some more. LQS doesn't carry them and I really don't want to wait to order them online so I think I'll take a trip out to Walmart tomorrow. Shhh...don't sic the Walmart/Quilt police on me for shopping there. I know, I really do, and if I had a lot of money I wouldn't shop there but I don't, so I do, so :P

In other quilty news, I have narrowed down my choices for the two colour quilt challenge to Lady of the Lake or various sizes of stars, probably sawtooth, although the stars and chains still keeps popping up when I think about it. Ok I am the most indesive person. And I really do want to get on with the fun part, cutting and sewing. I'm not big on the actual quilting part, and I hate, HATE, doing bindings but piecing I love.
I'll think about it some more today. I promise I will decide by Friday.

Tomorrow I have my first meeting with the Palliative Care team at the long term care centre I am volunteering at. I'm really nervous. I'm so afraid I'll make an idiot of myself. I know my stuff but it is scary going into a new setting with people who have been together a long time, and I do not know how receptive they are to my field. Death, Dying and Bereavement are not exactly big topics, even in the health care field.
And next week I start agency visits for my practicum. Things seem to be happening really quickly, even though they have been over a year in the works.
Ok deep breathes...and remember to breathe and everything will be fine...right?

Paper piecing

Before today this is the only paper piecing I had ever done. I haven't gotten to putting binding on it but it is quilted, though it needs an iron from the look of the picture, which could just be from me just dropping it on the ground for the pic.

I took a class a few months ago because it is something I just could not for the life of me figure out. It really is the easiest thing, if somewhat time consumming and wasteful. The wasteful is just because I haven't learned any of the strip methods that are out there. A few women off one of the yahoo lists say they have a few methods to seriously reduce the waste, and Carol Doak has a method also. I hope to buy her books soon. I love the designs. I have another book I got for my birthday, 365 Foundation Quilt Blocks, by Linda Causee but it is more just patterns, some great ones too.
Paper piecing came up on my the Pickle Road list and some one mentioned Carol Doak has her own list. So off I went and joined. It is really neat. She has very generously added some patterns to the list. So I decided to jump in and made this.

There are 56 pieces in one 6" square! It took forever, more because Little Bit was wanting something every 5 minutes than because it was hard. Just time consuming, having to trim and press everytime you add a piece.
I used Fusions from Robert Kaufman fabrics. I love the fusions, but especially these ones, which I think are Fusion 11. I have about 20-25 FQs of them that I use in projects.
I'm really enjoying the intercacy and accuracy you can get with paper piecing but I don't think it will be my primary method still. I like the look and simplicity of regular piecing.

Working on that block meant I didn't finish the flimsy of Day in the Country which I had planned on finishing today but that's ok.

I should be studying for my exams later this week but really don't feel like it. I wrote two last week and am kinda crammed out but one of the exams I don't feel like I know a damn thing so I had better get cracking on it.
Bye for now!