Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition 2014.

My Umbrella Prints Trimmings project for 2014 is complete and I'm so happy with how it turned out!  I started with a pack of Trimmings in Soft.  Below is what I was sent...

And this is what it all became... Ready for a visual overload?

Clearly I'm not a photographer, and this in particular was super tricky to photograph in a way that captures the beauty of the teeny tiny hexies as well as the quilting and the table runner as a whole.  If you're on pinterest you may like to check out what everyone else has been making, and also vote for your faves here by commenting on the images.  I'm so pleased with how this finished up, and now just need to refinish our very old table and reupholster our very old dining chairs in some delicious Umbrella Prints too!!

Read on for details on how it all came together and more pics of the process...

I wanted to learn English paper piecing and decided this would be a great opportunity to give it a go, and after reading countless online tutorials settled on making some half inch hexagons {each side of the hexie measures half an inch or 1.25cm, they are one inch across the widest part - yes super tiny!},  made as many as I could {114} out of the fabrics received and played around with various layouts.

Then it was onto sewing all those teeny tiny hexies together before one of the kids destroyed the placement!  This took h o u r s...

Followed by basting and stitching to the backing fabric, which I ended up doing by hand and machine as this piece is quite delicate, and I really don't want it to fall apart after all this effort.  Though, I would've loved to keep the puffy handstitched hexagons for more of a vintage feel.

And finally quilting {hexagons + triangles} and binding using natural linen to tie in with the linen fabrics in the Trimmings and frame the whole piece.  Have I mentioned I love it? I do!

Umbrella Prints Trimmings.

It's on again, the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition. Hoping I'll be a tad more organised with it this year, but I do love a deadline to get me moving!!  I want this year's attempt to involve a bit of relaxed creativity, so I've already begun working on it, and it's certainly a labour of love.  Below are the fabrics I received...

My photos don't do them justice, but believe me, they are all gorgeous, the colours, textures and the way they all work together.  I also decided to learn me a new skill and give English paper piecing a go, so after reading countless online tutorials these have been turned into a stack of teeny tiny little hexagons.  The plan is to turn them into a placemat or table runner... I always think I'm planning something simple but it turns into something of epic proportions.  I'm wishing I'd kept track of the many hours that have gone into these tiny hexagons, just for my own interest, but I'm loving it so far and I can't wait to see how it finishes up!