Wrestling an Alligator

This is what part of my work area looked like earlier this week as I tried to make sense of some paper piecing I was working on.

After much fussing and fighting this is what emerged.

The pattern is from Penny Layman’s Paper Pieced Home book and the above portion measures about 16″ x 26″. There are 8 letter sized pages to print and then the sections within are cut up into smaller sections for piecing. There are very minimal directions and no pictures of the process. Obviously this project was above my paygrade as I really struggled with it, made many mistakes and tore my hair out as I went back picking out those wicked little stitches as I tried to make things right. At one point my son came to ask me a question about our business and after hearing my explanation as to why I looked like I was loosing my mind he made the helpful suggestion that I should just throw it in the garbage.

Being quite stubborn, I wasn’t going to let the Alligator get the best of me.

This is where I declared a draw and it was with great relief that I stitched the first border on.

A sense of calmness began to creep back into my sewing room as I finished up the second border.

The top is done and far from perfect… I can see why some people hate paper piecing, about 2/3 rds through this project I had crossed over and joined them ! Now I’ve got this annoying little voice in my head telling me that I’ve got it all sorted out now and I could really nail the next one. 😦

Unfortunately you cannot see the part that I am most happy with and that is the fabric selection. We have been having some overcast weather so picture taking doesn’t yield the best results. We have also had a lot of hoar frost that has dressed the yard in spectacular beauty !

Enjoy your weekend !

Linking up with CrazyMomQuilts for Finish It Up Friday.