Patchwork, Please!

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Earlier in the week I mentioned my pre-ordered copy of Patchwork, Please! by Ayumi Takahashi came from Amazon. By now I have gone through it quite a few times and pretty much want to make everything!  Ayumi’s blog, Pink Penguin was one of the first blogs I started following when I started sewing again. I have made several her tutorials and really like her simple, clean style.

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But as of this week, I had never paper pieced before except for a Riley Blake quilt block. I was a little nervous about how a novice paper piece crafter would do, but after reading the directions and looking at the pictures (and about a million You Tube tuts!) I cut out the pieces as described and decided to give the pincushion tutorial a try.  Here is the final result:

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It’s not book-worthy, but for a first-timer with no experience in this craft I am very happy with the turnout!  I learned quite a lot about the techniques and patience that goes into paper piecing.  And now that I have my first one under my belt, I have jotted down notes to use on future projects.

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Another wonderful perk of this book is that there is a Flickr group called: Zakka Along 2.0 – Patchwork, Please! . This group will be for a sew-along that starts in June and covers projects in this book. Head over and join so you can share what you’ve made from Patchwork, Please.  Co-hosts for the sew-along is Debbie from A Quilter’s Table and Lindsay from LRStitched.  If you click on their links, you can find out more detailed information and great contributors that will be guiding us along.

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I can’t wait to get started with the sew-along, but for now the pincushion is a pretty good first effort don’t you think?  If you want to see more sneak-peak pictures of this fabulous book head over and visit the Flickr group and take a peak. You’ll be happy you did. It’s a great book for beginners to advanced. A welcome addition to my sewing book collection! Have a great weekend everyone ~

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12 Comments

  1. I was looking at this on Amazon last night! I might have to get it … but sadly no time for a sew-along. Love your pin cushion! Janelle

    1. It’s a great book and the price here is better than some I’ve purchased. So many of her tutorials would make great gifts too 🙂

    1. Thanks Debbie! I had a lot of fun once I got the hang of it. I’ll link up my post over at Flickr shortly 🙂 Cindy

    1. Thanks! That’s one of the reasons I chose it to be my first piecing. I needed a new pincushion plus I new the pieces would be minimal. I can’t wait to
      see what everyone does.

  2. Oh Cindy I had no clue you are still new to paper-piecing until I read this post! Your pincushion turned out so wonderfully I thought you are a master of paper-piecing!! Thank you so much for your lovely words about my book 🙂 So happy you like it!!

    1. Thank you so much! I have been a follower of your blog for some time now and really enjoy reading and seeing your work. Congrats on the success and I can’t wait until the sew-along begins.

  3. Wow! It looks beautiful, and I love the colors you picked. I haven’t paper pieced with a machine before, and I’m looking forward to learning it with this book and sew along.

    1. Thank you Liz 🙂 I had never pieced anything so machine is all I know. I just practiced a bit on some scraps and played with the stitch length too. My Janome has three speeds, so I did the slowest so I wouldn’t mess up LOL!

  4. I adore this pincushion and can’t wait to make mine. Because of this project, I just had to have this book, and the sew along is already fun. I beg to disagree, though…your pincushion is QUITE bookworthy! I love the subtle colors and your workmanship is excellent! This one would have sold a lot of books, too, had it been the cover girl!

    1. You are too sweet! Thank you so much for the kind compliments and encouragement 🙂 Ayumi’s book is great isn’t it?! I have learned so much from this book and am finding patchwork so relaxing. Not to mention a great way to keep my mind busy when my 9yo has hockey at 7:30 in the mornings LOL 🙂

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