Welcome Quilting Gallery friends!

Long time, no see!

The last time you stopped by might have been the Ties That Bind Blog Hop in the spring of this year. Or maybe it was the Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along & Super Deals for Christmas in 2011. However long it’s been, or if it’s your very first time to visit Sewhooked, I’m glad you’re here!

The fabulous Michele is always creating new ways for quilters to connect and have fun! This Swap is one of them and I hope you have as much fun creating a fun mini quilt for your partner as I did creating this quilt pattern for you!

I’m a sucker for Sunbonnet Sue. When Sue visits my house, she plays by my rules, which means she’s paper pieced!

And now, what you’re here for,  Sweet Skating Sue, the pattern for your Paper Pieced Mini Quilt Swap!

12″ (12 1/2″ unfinished)

Now available:

Get this complete

printable tutorial including

pattern for just $3 on Craftsy!

Haven’t signed up yet? Just click here!

In addition to sharing your photo with the Quilting Gallery’s flickr group, I would love to see your Paper Pieced Mini Quilt Swap project in the Sewhooked flickr group! Three participants will win autographed copies of Spring/Summer 2012 Quilt Sampler Magazine, a generous donation from Honey Bee Quilt Store in Austin, Texas!

The following is a quick paper piecing tutorial specifically for Sweet Skating Sue.  Keep scrolling to see detail quilting photos and how I prepare my mini quilts for hanging!

Need more instruction? Learn to paper piece with me now through December with my full-length video workshop available only through STITCHED. Membership gives you access to over 20 classes AND instructors and registration is now only $40!

Click for details.

Step one is the easiest! Print your pattern.  For best results make sure scaling is set to none so the pattern will print at actual size.

Gather your fabric. Your scarf can be one color or two, it’s up to you!

In this sample, both parts of the scarf are made using one batik fabric. In the pink version, I used two different fabrics to represent the front and the back of the scarf.

Let’s prep that pattern! Cut the pieces apart using paper scissors.

Units B1 and B2 will need to be joined to create one Unit that we will call B. I like to use glue for this. Just a little does the job, and unlike tape, you don’t have to worry about accidentally melting it to you iron!

Using a light source will help you line up those pieces!

Set your  sewing machine for a short stitch. I like 1.5 on my machine.  A shorter stitching will make removing the paper easier at the end and will also help to keep those stitches in place when taking the paper out.

Time to sew! For Unit A is a great place to start! You will need background fabric, Sue’s coat fabric, a rotary cutter, a postcard, an Add-A-Quarter Ruler, an iron and an ironing surface. If you don’t have the ruler, you can use a regular rotary ruler. No rotary cutter? Just use scissors!

Now we’re ready to go! Your first piece of fabric (A1) will go RIGHT SIDE UP on the BACK of the pattern paper. Use a light source to make sure your fabric covers all the way around. Paper piecing is a great use for scrap fabrics. You can also cut a piece out that is slightly larger than your shape. Pin this piece of fabric to the paper.

Place the pattern with the printed side up and place your postcard (mine is spiffy and from Australia!). Using the postcard as a straight edge, fold along the line that is between the 1 and 2 on Unit A.

With the paper folded back, place the Add-A-Quarter Ruler on top of your fabric. The ruler has an edge that will butt right up against the paper, making it super easy to get a perfect 1/4″.

Use your rotary cutter to trim!

Note: If you’re using scissors, just estimate 1/4″. Paper piecing is absolutely doable with just scissors! It’s stitching on the paper that makes your block come out perfect!

This is your 1/4″ seam allowance after using the Add-A-Quarter Ruler.

And this is what it looks like from the other side!

***On the side of the fabric you just trimmed, place the next piece of fabric RIGHT SIDE DOWN. You will repeat this and the following  few steps for every pattern segment from here on out.

I like to audition my fabric pieces before stitching. Simply fold the fabric up along the stitching line to make sure it will fit. If the fabric is too unwieldy, you can also pin along the stitching line before opening the fabric.

Stitch exactly on the line, taking one or two stitches before and after the lines that intersect the 1-2 line.

Be sure to snip those threads!

A1 and A2, stitched together! Press open as you go.

And this is what it looks like from the pattern side.

Repeat from the instruction marked *** for the  rest of the pieces on Unit A.

Unit A, all stitched!

And from the paper side!

We’re going to repeat the process on Unit B. I will go through a couple of extra steps here to show you how to deal with the crazy angels.

Remember, that first piece of fabric goes right side up!

Trim with your Add-A-Quarter Ruler & rotary cutter!

1, 2 and 3, stitched together

Now, here is where it gets a little tricky. We’re going add piece 5, which is long, skinny and pieced at an angle. If you know the following shortcut, no paper pieced pattern will ever daunt you!

Place a long strip of fabric, wrong side up on your cutting surface. Place the pattern on top, making sure the edge between 2 and 5 will be covered. Center the fabric so there is plenty of fabric to go over the long edges.

Fold back the paper using your postcard.

Cut the fabric with your rotary cutter.

Turn the fabric so that it is right sides together with the edge you just cut lined up to edge where 2 meets 5. Center the long piece of fabric over the fabric already stitched to the paper. It’s going to look wonky and sideways, but I promise, this is right!

Here is what it looks like from the front. If you’re not sure, remember you can audition your fabric!

Stitch along the line.

Fold out the paper, and guess what, it covers perfectly!

Pin the fabric to the paper so that it doesn’t flap around.

Unit B, with all the fabric stitched in place!

Continue with the above instructions for each remaining unit until they all look something like this.

Find the edge where Unit A will join Unit B. Using a rotary ruler, trim along the seam allowance that is printed on the pattern. If your seam allowance is not perfectly 1/4″, use your ruler to make adjustments and find the appropriate width.

Trim the seam allowance on Unit B where it meets Unit A, just as you did above.

Push a pin through Unit A at the corner adjacent to Unit B.

With the fabric sides of the pattern pieces facing, push the pin through the adjacent corner on Unit B.

Line up the seam allowance and stitch. If you need to, you can pin before this step. (This is Sewing order A>B, as listed on your pattern.)

Remove the paper in the seam allowance. It will tear off easily. Repeat for both sides.

Press open as you piece the units together.

A & B, stitched together. Repeat the above steps using the straight pin to stitch together the rest of the pieces. The sewing order is on your pattern.

AB>C

E>F; G>H

EF>GF

D>EFGH

DEFGH>I

ABC>DEFGHI

If you have a 12 1/2″ ruler, now is the time to use it! If you do not, use your rotary mat to square up your block.

Ta Da!

And now…a little bonus! I will show a little of the quilting process for the pink version of Sweet Skating Sue!

Curious about Free-Motion quilting? Leah Day has the most comprehensive FMQ tutorials anywhere!

Quilt Sandwich. Yum!

I used a combination of FMQ and straight line quilting on this project.

Mmmm, metallic thread!

Sue, you look fabulous!

And a little white Fairy Frost to finish!

Motion commotion!

Another shot of that yummy silver thread!

This Sue’s scarf comes in two colors!

On small projects like this, I like to add fabric squares that have been folded in half to the back top corners before adding my binding.

This gives me a super easy label…