teaching sewing confidence, tip by tip

Monday 2 May 2016

A Foundation Paper Pieced Seahorse - Pattern Testing For The Tartankiwi


Regular readers will know how much I love to test foundation paper pieced (fpp) patterns for Juliet @The Tartankiwi.  

Whenever I have the opportunity to talk about fpp with newbies to the sport - and it really is a sport but with a little effort you'll soon get the hang of it and love the results - I'm quick to tell them that not all fpp patterns are equal.  There's a lot to be said for a well-designed pattern, it makes life soooo much easier for the sewist and produces fabulous results and, in my book, Juliet is the Queen of fpp design and her patterns are thoroughly tested before they are made available to purchase.


When Juliet showed me her version of the Seahorse (above) and asked if I'd like to be a first level tester I didn't think twice.

The finished piece is enormous - 50" x 50" - YES you read that right!!!

Here's my cut out and glued pieces laid out on the floor ready for me to start folding.



If you don't already have one, I highly recommend you invest in an Add A Quarter ruler by CM Designs - it's the best tool out there for all your FPP work (affiliate link).


I'm tidier and more organised than many in all aspects of my life including my sewing but I'm sharing with you here the total mess I make especially when I'm working on fpp.  It's pretty uncomfortable for me to let you see this but I'm hoping you might find it somewhat encouraging.  I'm busy these days, what with teaching, travelling and everything else and no longer post projects as I'm working on them but rest assured my life isn't always as neat and perfect as my finished project photos might have you believe,  :D 


I made the seahorse totally from my stash and I had yellows and oranges and aquas, turquoises, blues and greens pulled from their storage boxes and scattered everywhere in my search for the right colour and size piece and trying not to repeat apart from in a few chosen areas on the seahorse to pull things together.  


This is the finished back before I pulled the papers out.  
Don't you just love doing that?  But not so much cleaning up the mess it makes?!!!


I'm including this pic to give you a bit of perspective so you can see how huge the finished piece is - my husband's holding it for me and he's 6' 2".  You can also see the menagerie of 'dead' no longer stuffed animals scattered around our floor.  No we don't have small children, we have two dogs and, having brought up three small children into adulthood, I can confirm that these two dogs make far more mess with their toys than the kids ever did AND they don't tidy up after themselves, even when told.


The seahorse pattern isn't available to purchase yet - I think it's in its second round of pattern testing by now so I'll update you when it's released.


Disclosure: I do not receive payment from Juliet @TheTartankiwi for testing her patterns, nor do I receive a commission on any patterns sold via her Etsy store or any other sales method.  This post is purely informational and of no direct benefit, monetary or otherwise, to me.

In the meantime take further inspiration from the other fpp patterns I've tested for Juliet previously:
Click any of the images below to go through to my post about testing that particular pattern:

The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com
The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.comThe Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com
The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.comThe Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com The Tartankiwi FPP Pattern Testing by www.madebyChrissieD.com

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Linky Parties This post may be linked to some great Linky Parties, always a great source of inspiration too. If you click through to my 'Fave Linky Parties' page you can see where I like to share my work.

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25 comments:

  1. WOW! Your seahorse is AMAZING!
    I love to do FPP, but I have never seen Juliet's patterns before. I'll be checking out her blog now!
    Grace

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  2. Your seahorse is fabulous! Great colour choices and don't worry about showing how your creative space looks while you are working on a project. Mine looks 10 times worse! Juliet's patterns are amazing. I just bought the elephant pattern the other day.

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    1. Lol, 10 times worse Linda?!?! The elephant pattern is on my 'to do' list, I've got fabric plans for it :D - Chris

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  3. Really love those patterns. I am really "in" to pp, and am going right now to check out her blog!

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  4. I love your seahorse so much!

    Thank you so much for your kind words Chrissie. I always know that my patterns are in safe hands when I send them to you for testing. Thank you so so much for everything that you do to improve my patterns.

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  5. wow so beautiful! love the seahorse and appreciate your showing us how you made it!

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  6. Beautiful Chrissie and wow it is big! I'm with you.......when I do PP I can't stand the mess I make! It was neat to see the quilt held up by your husband and.....all the doggie toys!

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  7. That is so beautiful and so...intimidating. :) Nicely done!

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    1. Thanks Dan. If you can sew 2 fpp pieces together that's all there is to it regardless of size or piece complexity. The larger or more complex patterns aren't more difficult they simply take longer - just take it a piece at a time :D - Chris

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  8. It's just beautiful! Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party!

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  9. Amazing! I've never seen FPP in a size like this before.

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  10. Crazy! And so beautiful. Love the fabric mix.

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  11. That is absolutely gorgeous, Chrissie! Love those colours you chose and that it's a big pattern.

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  12. I've never done a foundation paper pieced pattern. Seeing this one that you have done; I can't wait to try this technique. When will this pattern be released for sale? I would like tho try this one first! Big and bold is my choice for a first try, plus this is beautiful.
    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. It's not ready yet Alice, I'll post about it as soon as it is. I love your enthusiasm and why not start big - if you can sew 2 fpp pieces together that's all there is to it regardless of size or piece complexity. The larger or more complex patterns aren't more difficult they simply take longer - just take it a piece at a time :D - Chris

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  13. I love this sort of work. Every tine I see it I think I must give this a go some time.

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  14. It looks beautiful, I'd never heard of this type of pattern before.

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  15. Oooo! BRILLIANT! - My sister is an avid seahorse "collector" when it comes to decor... Seeing this quilt has just given me some thoughts on making her "something" in a similar vein... THANK YOU for the "inspiration"!
    Oh, and don't sweat the "mess". Your place is spotless compared to my hovel! I see actually furniture and walls and floor SPACE in your pics!!
    :-D
    #CharterMemberOfTheDomesticallyChallenged

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    1. Thanks so much for the giggles. I do know that Juliet will be releasing a 14" version of the seahorse pattern too - neither are available yet, they're both still in testing phases but I'll post when they are :D - Chris

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  16. Beautiful quilt panel and love the mess. That is just a creative mess for a creative mind.

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  17. That is beautiful!! Thank you for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty

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Chris Dodsley


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