Over on Instagram I’ve been a part of the Snowball Block Challenge. Yesterday was the finish! Did you see my project? Follow me at debbiewendtquilting! There were 16 designers that took the challenge. The snowball block was our start and it must have a solid center. I got my idea a few weeks ago when I was teaching a Mini Paper Piecing class to my guild. One of our projects was a pillow with LOVE on it. I replaced the O with a heart. All the blocks were paper pieced and made into a pillow. I quilted around the letters and heart highlighting to pieces of the heart. For some strange reason I saw a bird head in the heart shape…BINGO! There was my challenge idea. A LOVE Bird! The eyes of the bird could be the snowball block. I like my funky bird!

The first bird I made had the sparkle in the eye looking the wrong way. oops, remake. I also made a one with more color under the eyes. I went with the rounder bug eyes. Hence my funky bird reference. It was a lot of fun and I’ll be adding the bird to my LOVE Heart pillow pattern. The pattern will be on my website on Feb. 28th. Keep your “eye” out for it there.

The sparkle was on the wrong side because I marked my while look at the back numbered side of the paper piecing pattern. NOPE, it is reverse from how it will show on the front. So, keep this in mind if you want to color a specific paper piecing piece.

#1- Remember paper piecing is constructed in reverse, meaning the pattern/design/numbers are on the “wrong side” of the paper and you add your pieces to the opposite side. Keep this in mind if coloring a specific area.

#2 – Mark your paper piecing pattern. Make notes and coloring hints right on your pattern. After sewing the paper is removed and it saves time.

I hope you followed along and got to see all the challenge pieces. Or go back and take a look! There was a very wide range of finishes. We will be doing a new challenge next month. I’m in, so I hope you’ll follow along. I’ll let you know the details as soon as I know them.

in quilting,

Debbie