My first Paper Peiced Landscape Mini Quilt.

Wow March already and I haven't blogged in ages.  I have posted on my Instagram and FB accounts, but I prefer to spend my free time sewing, rather than typing I guess.


So I'm writing this post because this project has been a  LOOOOONG time in the making.  I can't even recall when I started this project.  I'll have to look back through my pictures and see what I have.  This has been a true labor of love because I had to learn many new techniques just to make it.  I had to learn EPP, regular paper piecing, applique, and throw in a bit of landscape quilting.







My inspiration was this picture.  I'm still really proud of this make.  This was my most advanced pattern to date.  I started sewing to make cute dresses for my daughter. I started with the basic pillowcase dress, and slowly they became more involved.  When I made this dress I was really blown away with how it all came together and that I'd actually made it.  I'd fallen in love with this fabric and had been waiting for just the right pattern to come along.  The Cecily Rose (currently in retirement) from Pollywoggles Patterns was a hit.  AND it's reversible!!!!  

It was also one of my first actual photoshoots, and I fell in love with this shot.  So I decided I wanted to immortalize it as a quilt.  But in order to have it come together as I was picturing it my head I had a lot of homework to do.  I took a class on English Paper Piecing, at The Sewing Cafe.  I had been hearing a lot about EPP as it's called in the sewing community, and it intrigued me.  I'm not usually much for hand sewing, I love my machine, but sometimes it's nice to have something I can do while riding in the car, or watching the kids play out front so I thought why not.  So from that class, I got my tree, that I appliqued on the quilt. 

Here is a shot of the backyard, the tree on the right is a Crab Apple and it's lovely in bloom, hence the colors I chose in my applique tree.







The section with my daughter was total trial and error I printed the picture out and drew on it and cut it and really just ended up free handing a lot of it. I'm happy with how it came out.  I got to this point, several years ago, and it's been hanging off my bulletin board ever since.  I wasn't sure how to finish it, I'd lost my vision so to speak. 

Fast forward several years and I was talking to my husband's Aunt on Family Day and she talked about this amazing quilt she's wanting to make.  And some of the squares she mentioned would be really cool for landscape quilt techniques, so I mentioned that to her.  And when I did it reminded me of my poor Lil quilt hanging on a pin.  Then a few weeks later Heidi of Pollywoggles was making a color-blocked hoodie, that reminded me of a landscape quilt as well.  So I pulled the dang thing off the pin and decided I'd just finish the thing once and for all so I can actually enjoy looking at it. 


 Now my skills have changed since I started this.  I feel the fabrics are a bit busy now (but I was using what I had on hand).  I would have done things a bit differently if I was starting now.  But I'm still in love with this picture, and this dress (which sadly doesn't fit anymore, but it still one of my absolute favorites)

I couldn't decide if I wanted to hand quilt the entire thing or not, but I decided no, it wouldn't get finished and end up sitting and waiting for a few more years ahahah.  So I machined quilted it but did hand-stitched the binding, and hand appliqued the tree on.