It Has To Be Hard To Be Good

Well, now I'm all obsessed with a new project.  When looking for new optical illusions I came across the COOLEST optical illusion in fabric I had ever seen.  This blew my mind!  This is really a flat quilt, but it just jumps out at you!

I found the free pattern, posted by a woman in Russia, at this link:

http://lerusisik.narod.ru/challenge_twisted01.html

Unfortunately, I immediately ran into two big obstacles.  One, the instructions are in Russian.  Two, it requires paper piecing - which I kind of hate, a lot.  Luckily my mom was able to help me remember the basics for paper piecing, but not even free online translations were able to do much to help me with Russian.

What the heck - I dove in.  I had a few choice words and arguments with myself but was soon happy to see the first square come together (on the second attempt).  Then, I had three!  And more choice words, and more arguments...

So now I'm on a roll.  I want to make a few more before I call it a day today.  (I hope I can focus on the outdoor projects we have planned for the weekend instead of running back into my studio to make more!)  I can't wait to see what this is going to look like!!!

Today I received a nice surprise in the mail.  The Marketing Director for P&B Textiles sent me a copy of the American Quilt Retailer magazine to show me the ad for my original pattern, What Goes Around.  I know how busy she is, so this was a really special surprise!

Ok, now back to the paper piecing!  ACK!  It has to be hard to be good...  At least that's what my grandma always said, although I think she meant it as an inside joke...