50 States Stitching Project: Week 1

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! I've started a new long term project last week and I'm so excited to share with you today! My family and friends in real life know I love all things American! and can talk endlessly about the many, many different places I want to visit! You only have to take a look at my Pinterest board 'places to see' and realise it's actually just the U.S. I want to see, ha! So of course I love all things Americana - those patriotic red, white and blue colour's always seem to draw me in. 

When I saw that Mollie from Wild Olive had started the 50 States Stitching Club it didn't take much thought other than to jump straight in and join! It's a one-year project that will honour each of the states in the union, while paying homage to state embroidery patterns, American quilts, and kitschy state souvenirs all in the delightfully cute Wild Olive style; so expect a lot of cute smiley faces ;-)  

Each week we get a little embroidery pattern, called a 'teeny weeny'. With a short blurb about that particular state, and why the said embroidery pattern has been chosen - which I completely love, as I get to learn a little fact about the different state's each week. And yes, I have already tried to casually bring into conversion the fact that Delaware was once described by Thomas Jefferson as a diamond, 'small but valuable'. lol.

At the end of the 52 weeks of sewing we should end up with a complete set of state star blocks, and alternating stripe blocks to make a quilt. What also caught my eye with this pattern is the use of English Paper Piecing techniques! Yay! Once you have embroidered the motif it's then mounted on a pentagon shape, with equilateral triangles for the points to form a star. The only snag with the pattern for me is the EPP shapes don't follow a standard size so I can't use my Paper Pieces shapes for them, doh! the 2" size is too big and the 1" is too small... so I had to cut out my own, which I didn't realise takes for-ev-er, and isn't always very accurate I came to learn. Oh how I've spoiled myself with pre-cuts! Mollie has suggested a decorate running stitch to applique the star to the block but I've gone a little more minimalist using an invisible slip-stitch. I've chosen to keep mine with a patriotic feel using traditional colour's, and Kona White for the stars - it just felt right!

I'll be sharing along my progress each week here on the blog to help keep me on track and motivate me to stick with it. If you fancy taking the plunge and joining in the fun you can sign up here. Next week Philadelphia! Hope you can stop by. xo