Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop

It's my turn today on the Travellin' Pic Stitch blog hop - the brain child of Katy and Laura who have just returned from their own hop through national parks in the US.  If it's your first time here then welcome - I hope you'll take a look around!

I am a Brit but for the last ten years, I have lived in the Moroccan city of Marrakech in N.Africa. If I'm not sewing then I love to get snapping. Living here is incredibly inspiring and a bit of a sensory overload. You either love it or hate it. Some days I love it...some days I...miss the old country.

Take a look at some of the tile designs I found...you see them everywhere here...see what I mean about the inspiration?

I love those clamshells! That's my son there...when he was aged one and half.

So when Laura and Katy invited me to join them on their blog hop, it was a no brainer. Especially given that I had discovered English Paper Piecing (EPP) in the summer with this project. My 1" aqua, orange and grey hexies.

Aqua, orange and grey hexies

In Marrakech, all the buildings are painted a pinky red colour and it's known as the Red City or Rose City. So I chose this photo I took in a vegetarian restaurant to show you the type of  interior you might find here and the red/pink coloured walls I mentioned. The lantern, ornate railings and low seating are typical.

The Earth Cafe, Marrakech

Using a palette builder at play crafts, I created a palette for an EPP block. Play Crafts is incredibly easy to use.  You simply upload a photo and within seconds you have a palette which can then download it.

After pulling some suitable fabrics, I used some of Lynne's lozenge templates to create the bathroom tile block from the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters book.

The original block pattern was on point but I think I prefer it this way round.  After appliqueing the block to a square of Kona Regal, I trimmed the corners so that it became an octagon - the shape of many of the tiles you see here in Morocco.  I'm not so sure this looks like a Moroccan tile as the prints are too large - perhaps a 1970s Moroccan tile? I would like to try this block again using smaller geometric patterns.  I think they would look great.

This post is part of the Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop.  

From 1st October - 30th November we are hopping all over the world EPP-ing in some fantastic locations.  Check out the full list here and be sure to check out the other participants.

On 30th November it's over to you to link up for a chance to win these fabulous prizes! You'll need to take a photo, create a palette and do some EPP using it.

Thank you to the fabulous sponsors Paperpieces.com, Fabricworm, Pink Castle
Fabrics ,  Marmalade Fabrics, the Fat Quarter Shop, WantItNeedItQuilt, and Aurifil!

Full details of the competition can be found here.

Tomorrow, be sure to hop over to my lovely bloggy friend Sarah at Narcoleptic in a Cupboard. She is a fabulous quilter and lives in the most beautiful part of the world!