Snooze {a finished pillow and book tour}

Jan 10

It is my day on the Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design Book Tour! Sarah and I have been friends from the moment she started working three offices down from me at our “day job”. As soon as we heard that each other quilted, it was a match made in heaven! I’ve been lucky to have her as a friend and creative sounding board over the years. Her ability to create the most unique (and intricate!) paper pieced designs never ceases to amaze me.

And now that I have her book, I’m learning how I can create my own awesome paper pieced designs!!

For today’s post, I updated one of the patterns in her book, called Snooze. In Sarah’s design, she placed the Z’s in a large circle (similar to that of a clock that we want to “snooze” in the mornings ;-)

Snooze quilt by Sarah Sharp, quilting by Karlee Porter

I opted to piece a few Zzzz’s in various sizes to create a 12” x 16” throw pillow, perfect for snuggling during naps!

One of the things I loved most about this Z pattern is the “fancy” option that included tiny flying geese inside the Z. I love the depth and interest it adds to the overall design. The photo on the left shows a close up of the piecing on the largest Z prior to quilting.

Sarah is often known for her SUPER tiny piecing. In that spirit, I created a second “fancy” Z at half the scale of the original pattern. I will be honest though, I removed some of those lines because there was no way I could piece geese quite that small :)

The finished size of the smallest “fancy” Z is 3 1/2” x 1 1/2”, that gives you an idea of how tiny those geese really are!

The fabric I used for this pillow includes some Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cotton solids in Waterfall, Aqua, Seaglass, Bleached Denim and Mermaid Tail. I also used another basic by Riley Blake called “Shades” in Robin, Aqua, Teal, Vintage Blue and Peacock. The background fabric is their Dark Gray Linen. For the quilting, I used Aurifil 50 wt. aqua thread to create a tiny crosshatch. I think it looks so pretty on that dark gray linen.

Now that I’ve done some practicing, I can’t wait to use what I have learned in Sarah’s Design Process chapters to come up with some new designs of my own.

For a chance to win a copy of Sarah’s book, follow me @materialgirlquilts and @nohatsquilts on Instagram and leave a comment on my Instagram post found here, telling me what kind of paper pieced pattern you’d like to create some day. This giveaway is open internationally until January 28, 2019. Follow along all month to see a ton of beautiful paper pieced creations from the talented folks listed below (and multiple chances to win a copy of the book!!)

#adventuresbooktour

Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design

January 7 – 26, 2019

Monday January 7 - Plant Lady

Heather Givans (@crimsontate | crimsontate.com)

Featured Quilter: Marion McClellan (@myquiltdiet)

Tuesday January 8 - Graffiti FPP

Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com)

Wednesday January 9 - Design Prompt No. 1 - Learning by the Letter

Giuseppe Ribaudo (aka Giucy Giuce) (@giucy_giuce)

Thursday January 10 - Snooze

Amanda Castor (@materialgirlquilts | materialgirlquilts.com)