Although some of my best sewing friends are quilters, it’s something that I have never tried. But a few weeks ago I suddenly decided I just had to have a go. So I tried my hand at making a disappearing nine patch quilt…

Then I thought I’d have a look at paper piecing and, guided by my great friend who owns Craftyangel, I made a QuiltyPie pattern into a Christmas cushion…

And you guessed it, now I have yet another craft addiction! Paper piecing was made for me. I love geometric shapes and have loads of random cotton I’ve bought over the years convinced I’d make dresses from it all to use up. It’s also a great way to use up your little fabric scraps.

The way it works is that you print out a pattern onto paper and then sew fabric onto the back of the piece of paper. It’s like a little puzzle, which I also love. Slowly but surely it comes to life as something fabulous. And when you finish your piece, you carefully remove the paper from the back. The fine sewing line has perforated the paper enough to make this quite easy to do.

Having already completed the QuiltyPie Joy project, I thought I’d have a go at another and bought the fantastic pencil pattern the day it was released.

What fabric to use though? Years ago my lovely mum gave me a fantastic colourful duvet set. When the duvet got past its best I decided to keep the pillow cases in my fabric stash. They are very colourful. And that yellow bit, would be perfect for a pencil, so I decided to upcycle it.

First of all I took the pillow case apart. I didn’t unpick it, I just cut it so all of the different colours were separated.

Then I selected the sections I could use on the pencil. Yellow for the main body, pink of course for the eraser on the end, I hoped the cream section would work as the tip but I wasn’t sure, and purple as the nib. The only piece of fabric I used which was not from the pillow case was a tiny bit of grey for the metallic bit of the pencil which holds in the eraser. It had to be grey or silver in my mind to look like a real pencil.

And here is the finished transformation. Within two hours it had gone from pillow case to pencil, and has made a great gift for my friend and artist @block_graphic_life_ It is winging its way to her as we speak!

If you like this project you can find the pencil pattern here and the Christmas cushion pattern I used here. Thank you @quiltypie! (check that)

Best cake for this project: Battenburg – has to be, it looks like it is paper pieced

Best music for this project: Aerosmith Walk This Way

Costs:

Pattern: £2.76

Fabric: Upcycled a pillow case and a scrap of grey

Total: £2.76