You know what they say about Nova Scotia…

“If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes!”

And how true that is! 

On Thursday evening we had a n’or easter come through that started as a blizzard with blowing snow and high winds.  By Friday morning, there was a 20° temperature swing and it was a balmy 40°.  The winds died down, the snow had turned to rain and by mid afternoon, all the snow had disappeared…again!

Well, it’s a bit longer than five minutes but it’s cold again and guess what?  It’s snowing!  But wait…it’s supposed to warm up again tomorrow!

So what does one do when it’s yukky outside? 

We could curl up in our favorite chair by the fire like Frankie…

or on the sofa like Mac.

Or we could spend time in our sewing studios and play!  And that’s just what I did!

I have never made a log cabin block before and when Taryn from Repro Quilt Lover posted a short tutorial on how to make a mini Court House Steps quilt, I decided that there’s no better time than the present to give it a try.  After making a few changes, here’s what I came up with, in my favorite colors of red, tans and blues.

It measures 22” × 22” and I haven’t decided if it needs another small border or to leave it as is.   What do you think?

A few days ago, Lori from Humble Quilts posted the second step in her Pink Lemonade quilt-along.

I’m all caught up and am anxiously awaiting step number three!

Lori just finished her Dear Jane quilt and if you’d like your heart to beat just a little bit faster, click HERE and you’ll see why. 

Isn’t it gorgeous?  Congratulations, Lori!

I’m sure you’re aware of the buzz all over blogland about Jeanneke’s  ‘building houses from scraps’ challenge.  I have always wanted to make a house-themed quilt and when I saw this, I leaped before I thought and agreed to take part in the challenge.

When I found out that the blocks finished at 3 1/2”, I almost choked!

Some of the pieces would be so tiny that they’d get lost between my fingers!  I was shattered and resigned myself to the fact that it just wasn’t meant to be.

Then I began to read that some of you were paper piecing your blocks.  I had heard of the term paper piecing but hadn’t the foggiest idea of how to go about it. 

So what did I do? 

I googled ‘You Tube’ tutorials and I watched several until it finally began to sink in.

A secret that I’ll let you in on is that I’m VERY directionally challenged…just ask Mr. Painted Quilt.  Many times has he told me that I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag and you know what?  He’s right!

Well it comes to pass that everything to do with paper piecing is all “bass ackwards”!  *wink*  Oh, woe is me!

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

I knew if I begged asked that some kind blogger would come to my rescue and I was not disappointed!  Merilyn from Quiltminstrel, and all the way from Australia, came to my rescue!

Not only did she send me the greatest hand written tutorial with charts and templates but she also included a completed sample block and a little template ruler to use when folding the paper back to trim the seam allowance.

It’s taken me a few days to muster the courage to attempt one, but this morning I decided to bite the bullet and give-it-a-go!

I’m not going to say that it was easy and I did have to rip out some seams (because of the directional thing) but I now know that I can do it and I’m pumped to make a whole lot more…definitely not 365 of them…but mini quilt size for sure!

Thank you so much, Merilyn for taking the fear out of paper piecing.  Not only did you take the time to explain how, but the fact that you included a pieced sample spoke a million words to me.

Blogging friends are definitely the best!