Month 8 - Trellis block

I'm late again with this month's installment of the Nellie's Niceties Mystery BOM. This month is a foundation pieced block that I've called Trellis for fairly obvious reasons.

Trellis is a 12" block and even though it is foundation pieced it still goes together very quickly. As usual it looks pretty in a multi-block setting.

Here's one I made earlier ;)

If you fancy having a go yourself you'll find the info sheet, colouring block and templates here.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #trellisblock. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x 

Running late - Month 7 Crossroads

Time has flown past again. It appears I've missed our 5th blogiversary! I'll have to remedy that very soon with a giveaway but for now I'm belatedly sharing this month's Nellie's Niceties Mystery BOM block.

Shock, horror, it's another EPP block. I've called this one, Crossroads.  

It's a 6" block that produces a pretty secondary pattern as usual when used in mutliples.

The pieces sew together very quickly which makes it a satisfying "sewing for fun" project. Here's one I pieced last night.

I'm intending to make another 3 so I can make a 12" block out of them for my sampler. If you fancy having a go yourself you'll find the templates, info sheet and colouring sheet here.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #crossroadsblock. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x 

Mystery BOM Month 6 - Fiesta block

This month's Nellie's Niceties Mystery BOM block is yet another EPP block. Sorry if EPP is not your thing but I'm in a hand piecing groove at the moment :) I've called this one Fiesta. It's a 6" block, slightly tricky but still fun.

As is typical for my designs there's a nice secondary pattern in multiples.

You'll find the free templates, info sheet and colouring sheet on our website. Here's proof that the block actually works in fabric ;) 

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #fiestablock. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x 

Let's go fly a kite - Mystery BOM month 5

This month's mystery block is a 6" EPP block that I've called Let's go fly a kite.

As you'd expect there's a cute secondary pattern when combined in multiples.

You'll find the info sheet, templates and colouring sheet on our website. The block goes together in a couple of hours and should be suitable for everyone from confident-beginners upwards. I should probably have ironed mine before taking a photo but that was too much like hard work ;)

I thought you might like to see my sampler progress so far, please excuse the masking tape.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #letsgoflyakite. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x

Hexiestar tamed

Before I launch into the latest month of the Nellie's Niceties Mystery BOM  I thought I'd update you on the continuing saga of the trapped nerve. It turns out that I have 4 bulging discs in my neck and degeneration in 5 of the bones in the same area of the neck. Just in case that wasn't enough I've also got 3 partially torn tendons in my shoulder, nerve impingement, tendinitis and bursitis. According to the physio the shoulder injuries were probably caused by sewing related tasks. Who knew that quilting is an extreme sport?! Needless to say I feel justified in the amount of moaning I've been doing about the pain I've been experiencing ;) I'm now awaiting an appointment with the specialist but I have been warned not to expect them to be able to help. To top it all off Jess is having a rough time too and is currently awaiting an MRI. Such fun! If things are quiet around here you'll know why. I'm still very active over on Instagram though as that doesn't involve as much time or planning.
Right, now on with the BOM.

This month I've re-visited an old favourite, the Hexiestar and given it a bit of a face-lift to make a 12" square block.

As usual it produces a secondary pattern when combined in multiples.

You'll find the free PDF templates, info sheet, block layout and colouring sheet on our website. I like to layout my paper pieces in advance so I fiddle around with placement if I'm using prints. 

Thankfully I'm using solids this time. I glue baste all my pieces because I like the speed and precision it gives. One of the most common questions I've been asked about piecing the Hexiestar is how I baste the narrow triangles, so here's a pic to show you. 

I generally start by piecing all of the narrow triangles to the hexagon, then filling in the gaps as I go but in order to get some daylight progress shots I skipped that plan this time. I do recommend referring to the block layout sheet as the pieces are not equal sizes in the Hexiestar Tamed block. 

When filling in the gaps I start at the base of the narrow triangle and work my way out to the  point.

When it comes to capturing the point of the narrow triangle you can start at the point and work your way back down to the base of triangle if you are nervous about it.

I'm usually gung-ho about it though and just catch the two in-fill triangles together when I get to the point.

Continue until the hexiestar is complete, then "tame" it by adding the corner triangles.

Ta-da. One Hexiestar Tamed block.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom #hexiestartamed. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) 

Catch you soon x

 

Edited to add: You can now find bonus 6" Hexiestar Tamed templates on the Mystery BOM page of our website. You're welcome, enjoy! x

Promises - Mystery BOM Month 3

I'm a day late posting this month's mystery block so please accept my apologies if you were waiting with baited breath. 

This month we are English Paper piecing a block that I'm calling Promises.

 I've prepared templates in two sizes this month: 6" and 12" so you have options for different projects. As usual there is a secondary pattern when multiple blocks are pieced together.

Some of the piecing is a bit fiddly but I hope you'll think it's worth a try. I recommend starting with the pieced kites. The templates are the finished size so you need to add your seam allowances to the fabric when cutting them out.

 This is how I pieced the rest of the block.

One quarter done then repeat the process to add the remaining sections. Please excuse the bumpy circle in the middle of the finished block, I haven't removed the papers yet. You'll find the information sheet, colouring sheet and templates on the website.

I was thrilled to find Wendy's Rolling in the clover block in our Flickr group again this month! It's nice to know I'm not sewing alone :) 

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) Catch you soon x

Rolling in clover

A new month starts today so that can mean only one thing, it's new Mystery BOM block time!

We're "Rolling in Clover" this month. This 6" English Paper Pieced design is a little tricky to piece in parts but well worth trying out.

As with most of my designs it tessellates to produce a secondary pattern.

You'll find the information sheet and templates on our website. I'm giving a little bit of guidance this month as it is a little tricky. You'll be printing the block off as whole then cutting your paper pieces from it this month.

As usual I glue basted all of my pieces.

By far the trickiest piece is the green one! For the best results when basting I clipped into the corners leaving only a few threads of fabric to catch when sewing.

When joining the shapes I started with the trickiest piece. (I use Aurifil thread to stitch as I find it doesn't tangle or snap!) I stitched from the tip of the triangle, right sides together with it's corresponding blue shape and continued in the order as shown below. 

I followed the same process to attach another of the green pieces to the opposite side of the blue shape as shown below.

Next step is to sew the second blue piece to the other side of the tricky green piece as shown below. Starting at the base of the blue shapes and working continuously around the green piece in the same manner as before.

Repeat these steps for the bottom half of the block, then join the two halves together. I started stitching from the centre of the block outwards to make sure that my centre points matched. Finally add the orange pieces to the corners of the block. I stitched the long edges together first then worked up both short sides from the base.

Leave the papers in while pressing if you intend to add further blocks, otherwise remove the papers and press well to remove any little lumps from the green bits. This block took me around an hour and half from start to finish in between cooking and watching the rugby.

I was delighted to see two Star Central projects added to our Flickr group for the first month! This first one is by Diane. I love that it's been turned into a project already!

Diane's photo from Flickr.

 The second one is by Wendy. Lots of yummy favourite fabrics in these!

Wendy's photo from Flickr.

If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some more of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom. Tell your friends, the more the merrier :) Catch you soon x

Mystery BOM

I've been playing with EQ7 again, it's rather addictive! I'm enjoying it so much that I thought it might be fun to offer up a new block each month as a Mystery BOM. I'm expecting that the blocks will all be paper pieced in some way. I hope you'll consider sewing along with me so I'm not Billy-no-mates.

To kick off this time it's a 6" foundation pieced star block - Star Central.

I'll be making a sampler with the blocks that I post each month  but you can of course do what you like with yours.

Each month I'll post the templates, a colouring sheet and info sheet on our website so that they're all in one place. I'll obviously blog it too so you know when the new blocks are released. If you decide to join in I'd love to see your versions and it would be great to be able to share some of your work here along with our Flickr group and of course on Instagram #nelliesnicetiesmysterybom.
So there you have it, month one up and ready for use now. Tell your friends if you feel so inclined, the more the merrier!
Catch you soon x