(Big) City Girl QAL

It's my turn on the (Big) City Girl blog hop - welcome to Marrakech!

Situated in Morocco, N.Africa, Marrakech has been my home for the last 11 years.  Love it or hate it, it's a crazy, colourful and vibrant city known for its beautiful winter sun and searingly hot summers.

I won't lie - it took me a while to come up with a design for my block.  I can only just paper piece let along come up with a pattern (have you seen some of the amazing blocks in this QAL?!) and when I thought about this city, it is really known for its souqs, Djem El Fna square and its iconic colour.  You see, all the buildings are a dusky pink.  Marrakech is known as The Red City.

To ward against the evil eye, Moroccans believe in the powers of a palm shaped amulet called the Fatima's hand.  They can wear it as a piece of jewelery or you often see it as a door knocker (see the centre image in the mosaic below) - believing that you never really knowing the true intentions of some visitors!

Here is my block - an improv. pieced Fatima's hand in the colours of Marrakech, using Oakshott cottons.

So here's a quick and super easy tutorial!

Tutorial
various scraps for the improv.pieced hand (solids or patterns in any colorway)
Paper template, which you can download here (enlarge to desired size)
Template plastic (not essential)
10 1/2" x 10 1/2"backing fabric
Double sided fusible interfacing

Step 1
Improv. piece scraps of fabric together until you have a rectangle approximately 9" x 9". There are lots of good tutorials online. I didn't use a ruler - I just used random scraps - sewed them together - trimmed and kept piecing! Go with your heart!

Step 2
Using the template, trace it on to some template plastic and lay it across the block diagonally.  This isn't necessary but does help you position the hand on the pieced square so that you can decide where to position it.  Try not to position the edge of the template near to where seams meet, like you can see half way along the top long edge in the picture below.

Step 3
Use the plastic template to trace round on to the non sticky side of the double sided fusible interfacing and trim around it leaving a half inch or so.

Position the interfacing on the wrong side of the pieced block with the sticky side down.  Fuse the two together following the manufacturer's instructions (usually applying a dry heat for a few seconds).

Step 4
Cut around the template and peel away the interfacing paper - don't leave it on too long and be careful so that you don't pull the seams.

Fold your backing fabric in half and press with an iron so that you have a central line.  Position your Fatima's hand on the backing fabric using the central line as a guide.

Step 5
Applique the hand to the backing fabric using your preferred method - either by hand or machine. I machine appliqued using the applique stitch.

Et voila!

Thank you so much to Aylin and Amy for organizing this QAL.  It's not too late to join in - it's low key and low pressure! Why not design a block of your own for your city? You can read about the QAL here.

March Fresh Sewing Day

 1. Gee`s Bend Inspired Mini Quilt, 2. Pouch back, 3. We Bee Modern Too - February Block, 4. For the Love of Solids Mini Back, 5. do.Good Stitches (Care Circle) February Blocks, 6. Pouch Front, 7. perle hand stitching detail, 8. For the Love of Solids Mini Front, 9. do.Good Stitches (Care Circle) February Blocks

Oh my, February was one frenetic month and was fairly selfless as nearly everything I made was for someone else - either one of the two swap makes (Mouthy Stitches and For the Love of Solids) or bee blocks (We Bee Modern Too and do.Good Stitches). There was definitely a green and yellow thing going on too!

The only thing I made for myself was the Gee`s Bend inspired mini, which I love.  I made it as part of Jennifer`s super fun Modern Mini Challenge, the linky for which opens on Monday March 5.  This is my entry. It has really inspired me to use solids more and to experiment with improv,piecing.  The mini will hang in our kitchen and remind me that trying something new is fun!

I finally got my pouch finished for the Mouthy Stitches swap after the linen I needed finally arrived.  It`s winging its way to my partner and I hope she likes it.

I`m really hoping that March will be more laid back. There were times last month when it was all beginning to feel like work (because vital supplies took an age to arrive which is all stress inducing believe me) and for me that`s not what it`s all about.  So time for a breather.

Linking up with uber talented Lynne at Lily`s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day.  Do hop over and see what people have been up to the last 29 days and check out some great smaller blogs in the Small Blog Meet.

 

*Edited to add Lynne`s new button*

Losing Control

A couple of days ago, the Kona solids I ordered for the For the Love of Solids swap arrived.  My partner and I have quite similar tastes.  She likes sludgy type greens and so I ordered some peridot, artichoke, sea foam and olive and threw in a couple of blues (delft and teal) for some contrast. 

 My partner isn`t very chatty on flikr and I`m unsure whether she approves of my colour palette.  I know from her mosaic that she wants something improv.pieced and so I tried my hand at some curved piecing. I loved this, and thanks to Diane for her great video, which I have put at the bottom of this post.

Here`s a peek at another go at improv.piecing.  This was much more difficult for me and I`m not feeling the love with this one. It was difficult to let go. There`s an amazing amount of talent in this swap and I am feeling a little unworthy. I`ll stick it up on flikr and see what the reaction is. I do find some of the comments a little blunt on flikr.  I`m not talking necessarily about anything I`ve put up but I wish people would remember that if something isn`t to their taste, they can either not comment or do so tactfully.

 Okay, I`m off my soap box now.  Yesterday, I spent several hours tidying a spare room full of boxes, which hadn`t been touched since we moved last summer. It took hours of course because I sat amongst the boxes looking at old photos and wading through loads of loose papers and I found the complete set of my high school reports.  I thought I would leave you with this one for Dress Design (a C- means below average).  I was 12 years old.

Annabella`s progress has been rather slow so far but I hope as she gains experience and confidence in using the sewing machine, her progress will improve.

I hope `Warty Wordell`, as we affectionately referred to her, is proud that I did indeed make some progress in using the sewing machine, although I imagine she may indeed be in the great sewing room in the sky.

Here`s Diane`s video.