Adventures in English Paper Piecing

It's official - I think I'm addicted English paper piecing!  I spent yesterday's morning nap time pouring over pictures on the web, trying to find a couple of great handwork projects to use with some new fabric coming in the mail this week.

The first block I fell in love with was the Star Rose block.  There's even a group dedicated to these beauties on Flickr and one of the members made a handy-dandy printable template so that impatient people like me can sit right down and get started.  Here's my test block:

Fabric: Verna by Kate Spain

Once I got the hang of making the kite squares and the pentagons, this block went together really quickly.  I think that these blocks definitely require a bit of planning, however.  If I were to do this one over again, I would make the inner ring of pentagons all orange and the outer ring of pentagons all pink, rather thank alternating them.  I'm glad that I took the time to make a practice block.  Now I'm all ready for my Papillon fabric to get here!  To bad the mailman never comes until dinner time!

The second block, which I haven't had the chance to test yet, is a Star Flower or Jewel Flower.  I found this great picture on Flickr!  Check it out!  I'm still working on my own template, since I can't seem to find one on the web.  Has anyone seen one?  My plan is to use my California Girl charm packs and my favorite white polka dot for this one!

... And, because it's Tuesday, hop on over to Quilt Story to see some other fantastic fabricy projects.



Happy sewing!!