Peaceful Stitches

I’ve been reaching for my needle and English paper piecing more often in the last week. What about you?

Sitting down with hand sewing instantly calms my body and mind. After a few minutes a restful rhythm settles in, and time passes more gently somehow. I have a little more patience, a little more peace and perspective. I can literally feel the difference inside, my whole self slowing down over simple shapes and carefully chosen fabrics.

These are Ice Cream Soda quilt blocks, a pattern designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth. She’s a creative based out of Australia, who ships recycled paper piecing kits all over the world. The Tales of Cloth shop has a bunch of intriguing patterns, but Ice Cream Soda is one of her biggest hits. I’d been wanting to make it for a looooong time, and finally got started last year.

The blocks are not-too-complex, not-too-simple, just the right size and scrap-friendly too. I’m making mine in a controlled, cool color scheme, but scrappy Ice Cream Soda quilts are also super delicious!

I usually cut fabrics for 4-5 blocks at a time. I cut another batch recently, using the Tales of Cloth acrylic templates to fussy cut with ease.

Guess what? I finally chose a background fabric! When last I asked for your help, I had a feeling that none of my available choices were quite right, given that I couldn’t make a decision. With color, it needs to feel right, but that feeling was elusive before.

One day I pulled out a small piece of FreeSpirit Designer Solids in Caribbean. My reaction was instantly positive, so I ordered yardage. Now that I can lay all of my blocks on this soft aqua color, I know that it’s the background for me. I love that it contrasts with almost all of the colors in the outer rounds of my Ice Cream Soda blocks. It adds some color without distracting from the intricate blocks themselves.

Looking at my blocks with a birds eye view helped me find a block that isn’t working well. The double star center looks muddled and undefined. Can you spot it?

The disappointing block is the one with the blue plaid outer fabric (toward the right of center). It’s not terrible, but it could be better, don’t you agree? I decided to remove the blue plaid outer pieces. Using some new fabrics, I will create two more successful blocks from this muddled one.

There, isn’t that better? Now, off to slowly savor the stitching!