This fun paper piecing pattern, included in the bundle, was written by the talented Kristy Lea of Quiet Play.
It’s been *a long* time since I’ve done a paper piecing pattern, and thought this would make the cutest pillow as a gift for Christmas. Last Christmas, I went crazy working on a thousand last minute gifts (or eight, but who’s counting…it felt like a thousand), including our Advent Wreaths table runner. The paper piecing in the runner was minimal, so working on the reindeer is a fun challenge!
First step was to print the pattern and cut the paper piecing out. Kristy had great instructions for ensuring the pattern prints at the right scale! Once printed, it was time to cut out the main pieces and get ready for fabric selection.
Selecting fabrics is always the best part! I loved her reindeer in red, but wanted to make Rudolph…knowing a red nose would get lost on a red reindeer, I went for a traditional brown reindeer. Luckily I had *a lot* of small brown pieces left from the Easter Risen quilt. I save all my small nuggets – no matter how tiny! – in glass mason jars. It’s so nice to be able to reuse even the smallest pieces, and not waste.
Onto the sewing! The instructions in the pattern were *very* easy to follow, as were the diagrams. Having the tiny scraps on hand was super helpful, as they were put to good use – some of the paper piece sections were itty bitty! To save fabric as much as possible, I started with the largest pieces needing brown and white and worked my way down. This way, any tiny scraps that needed to be trimmed off often found a home in the itty bitty piecing needed around spaces like the antlers, tail, and legs.
Speaking of trimming…one tip for paper piecing is to use an add-a-quarter ruler. Have you tried one of these before? Love. It makes trimming so much easier, and you know you’re always trimming exactly where you need. (This pink one
So, here are how my pieces are turning out! I love the mix of the browns…they’re really different fabrics from one another, but are working together so well. I also like using the same white fabric for the entire background…it really adds a consistent feel. Looking forward to finishing this one up in the next few days!
Just for fun, this post links up at some of these great Catholic and quilting sites! It also contains an affiliate link or two, which helps me cover the costs of this site.