Preparing for Smitten

I'm really excited about starting the Smitten quilt soon. In preparation, I decided to make Haley's English paper piecing kit. I thought it would give me some practice at piecing.


I really enjoyed making the flowers. I got a chance to practice different ways of sewing my hexs so that my stitches show less.


I found the pattern really easy to follow. I mostly used my Farmer's Wife scraps with a few of my picked out Smitten fabrics.


I'm annoyed that my button is slightly off centre, but I still love it.


I love the magnetic button snap. It's very neat and tidy. It's the first time I have ever used one. I bought it for some other project which I have forgotten about, so when I saw this tutorial I knew I had one lying around in my sewing drawer. I love the cat in the middle.


I love how the pin cushion affixes to the snap opening and can be stored away when not in use. Very neat.


I have started gathering together my tools that I'll need. I am planning on taking this project around with me a bit so a little bag of tricks is exactly what is called for. Everything fits in pretty nicely to the little pockets. The only annoying thing is that the pouch has gaps at the bottom so you can't just throw anything in it, but there is one integral pocket for those things then a divider so I can separate the bits I am sewing from my papers and thread.


So in my kit I have:

• Beige Gutterman sew all thread 
• Mettler thread. I love this thread for applique because it is so fine. 60wt. I am hoping it is useful here. I might look at the aurofil at Birmingham as so many people seem to rate it. 
• Small sewing scissors. Mine are a bit blunt these days
• A fabric marking pencil
• A sewline glue pen

I am thinking that the refils for the sewline pen are expensive and won't last that long so I might invest in some Roxanne Glue


I love the little pin cushion addition. Mine is a bit wonky but I like how I can put different pins in each little hex. I have some applique pins, some small Clover black gold needles and a few normal needles just in case.

It's a great pattern. I thoroughly recommend it. The only change I made was that I sewed my pocket in on the inside rather than the outside. This was by accident in fact, but I like it. I also secured the bottom the pouch to the dividers just at the edges so it was a little less baggy. So now I feel prepared to start in September!

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