Friday Finish - LEGO Marvel Superhero Cushions

Back in the new year I coaxed Kristy to put together some LEGO Marvel superhero patterns, because she has awesome paper piecing patterning skills and is queen of all things LEGO.

Kristy has patterns for these guys and more of the team (crew? what do you call a bunch of superheroes anyway??) available for free in her Craftsy store if you want to test them out. As far as paper piecing patterns go these ones are fairly simple, I'd rate them a confident beginner to intermediate. The blocks finish at 10 inches so they're pretty manageable.

I quizzed my nephews on their favourite Marvel dudes, then decided their Dad (biggest superhero geek on the planet) needed in on the action two, and created these blocks.

In true fashion, I then stuck them up on the design wall until I realised that the twins' birthday was fast approaching and I needed to get my butt into gear!

First up, I needed to fix my face painting. Funny story, but it turns out that white fabric paint I found in my stash actually dried clear. With glitter in it. Now I love glitter as much as the next girl, but poor Hulk was sparklier than a Twilight vampire, and that would just never do. So I embroidered over Hulk and Wolverine's teeth with perle cotton and all was good with the world.

Then I decided to quilt with a zig-zag, lightning strike kind of pattern that reminds me a little of those comic book captions... I am happy with how it turned out and I hope the boys like it too.

Finally, I finished up with a solid border and I turned each block into a cushion, also in a solid.

Then I photographed them in crappy light because the weather has been blergh and I haven't been home in daylight hours. Now all I need to do is wrap them and post them before the boys birthday!

Linking up with I Quilt at Pretty Bobbins, Paper Piecing Party at Quiet Play, Needle and Thread Thursday, TGIFF, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Friday Finish.

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Paper Piecing Party On the Road: Setting Up Your Paper Piecing Workspace

First things first, a massive thank you to the beautiful Kristy for letting me hijack her Paper Piecing Party for the week! And if you're visiting from Quiet Play, thanks for stopping by! Feel free to take a look around.

Kristy is one of my quilting besties, we're in the Wombat Stew paper piecing bee together, and we are real life quilting group friends too (yes, I know I'm lucky!). She's been to my house and knows how fussy I can be about my creative space, so when I asked if she was interested in sharing my paper piecing set up with her readers, she probably figured I'd have a very particular way of doing things... and I do!

I rarely paper piece away from home because I really am fastidious about how my paper piecing workspace is set up. I'm going to share my set up and process with you - maybe you'll get something out of it, and if you've never been super comfortable with paper piecing, this might help you set up your own space.

I consider paper piecing quite different to traditional piecing in terms of set up. When I'm traditional piecing I'll do a heap of cutting first, then sew, then press in a batch later on. Having everything close at hand isn't as critical.

But when I'm paper piecing I find myself cutting fabric, stitching, trimming and pressing with every seam.  (And yes, I know it's not mandatory to press with every single seam, but I like to. Fussy, is what your call it.) Cast your mind back to high school home ec, did you learn about the kitchen work triangle of stove-sink-fridge? Well, your paper piecing work triangle is pressing station, cutting station and sewing machine. I'm a creature of comfort, once I sit at my machine I don't want to move, so I have everything at hand.

Before I start, I gather my sewing materials. A small bin for teeny scraps, small rulers, a larger ruler for cutting down large pieces, a medium sized pair of sewing scissors, an unpicker (keeping it real!) and my regular and small rotary cutters. My baby rotary cutter is the one I bought when I first started quilting, sometimes it's easier to use than the regular 45mm one when you're making small cuts.

And from the regular stationery section, a pair of paper scissors to cut my paper pattern pieces, a pencil to write what colour fabric goes on each pattern section (I ALWAYS do this) and a white glue stick to stick that first piece in place.

My pressing station is to the left of my machine (I am left handed, so you might prefer to have yours to the right). I covered small TV table with batting and calico and it makes the perfect pressing station. Credit for this idea goes to Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson!.

You can see how it sits right by my cutting table and I just have to spin my chair to press.

My cutting mat is to the left of my sewing machine so I can simply cut my fabrics and trim them up without moving.

Keeping it real moment... just in case you thought super fussy equates with neat, it doesn't!! Right now I'm piecing my Harry Potter quilt and it requires a huge variety of fabrics. All of which are right here on the cutting mat!!

My OTT Lite sits right behind me shining light on the machine. It's perfect for making sure your seam allowance is okay before you stitch. It is also near impossible to take a photo of this, but you get the idea!

I like to have my extension table on my machine for paper piecing. I figure that a larger flat surface to place your pieces on is better.

 And this is my Wombat Stew block for Ms Midge, who is our April queen. Midge has decided on a London theme for her blocks and Kristy has designed us a gorgeous collection.

Thanks for taking a little tour of my paper piecing space - now it's your turn to link up and share all your beautiful paper piecing goodness with me!

Quick refresher on what the deal is with the Paper Piecing Party (full details here):
* It’s on every weekend here at Quiet Play, starting Friday.
* Link up something you’re working on that’s foundation paper pieced
* Link a blog post or flickr photo
* Visit at least two other links and leave a comment because that’s half the fun!

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