enchanted sal - lilly

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us on this last Sunday before Christmas and the last edition of the Enchanted Fall Sew Along. I am so happy you could make it. Get your cup of coffee, tea or morning breakfast ready to take in a little reading this morning.

Today, we are introducing the lovely princess, Lilly. She is a modern day princess and only wears her crown on special occasions and state events. She has no y-seam which makes her construction appeal to sewing novices, but I truly find the y-seam angels, fairies and princess easier to construct. There are more points to line up without the y-seam which makes it a tad trickier to sew.

So without further adieu, here is Princess Lilly. I decided to give her the original hairstyle and the mermaid style dress with a short sleeve top. Did I already mention that Lilly is one of the most versatile to make? She actually has two hairstyles, three dress forms (pencil, mermaid and fishtail) and optional gloves. This was the funnest part about designing the mix and match enchanted figures. You have the choice of how you want your figure to look. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of different possibilities to design the figures.

Let us take a quick look at Lilly in several of her outfits. Here is her 1960's sleeveless pencil skirt dress and added long gloves. She looks pretty charming doesn't she? Just skip over her hair band if you wish for a more sophisticated look.

Change up the skirt portion of the dress for a mermaid tail and gloves. She is ready for a gala! 

And of course, there is the version shown above in the lovely fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics, Mystic Land designed by Maureen Cracknell.

Wait a minute. Should she put on a crown? She will borrow the crown from Isabella for tonight. Or should she put on the tiara from Jael?

But wait a minute, there is more to play with. You can design your own brides as well. By adding white to the bottom section of the hair, you can create a veil. Or, you can omit this section and use it for hair extensions. How super cool is that??

 You can mix the other bodices in from the other templates to make your very own wedding dress as well.

 

And the very special feature of Princess Lilly is her bonus hairstyle. She kind of looks like Samantha from Bewitched with red hair! I'm in love! I know I will be making this one in the future!

I hope you have enjoyed this blogpost and seen more possibilities of what you can make with the extremely diverse pattern. You not only can make a single princess, a fairy, an angel but also brides and stylish girls for yourself or another special girl in your life. Almost all of their features can be interchanged to make new figures. You can even change the bangs and hair elements for new designs.

You can purchase the PDF for Lilly on my Etsy shop or purchase the entire pattern with all 12 mix and match 12" blocks in the pattern book. It contains full size templates, easy to follow instructions, coloring images and instruction for how to mix and match templates. Use the images and cut out the different segments to see how your design will look before sewing. You can also purchase the hardcopy patterns with 64 pages at these shops within Germany.

• easypatchworkshop
• einfachbuntquilts
• niemanns-land

Thanks for joining us. Happy sewing! Stay tuned for some more fun. We will be voting on winners for the sew along content. We will be picking one winner for the (1) the cutest ever and (2) best use of mix and match templates. Check back on the other posts for what you can win. There is still time to sew, oost and enter. Voting will take place on Instagram starting December 25, 2019 and end on 'Sunday, December 29, 2019. Hope to see you there. Happy holidays.

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Take a look at previous posts and see the other figures. 

Agatha | Babette | Celeste | Daphne | Eva | Fiona | Gigi | Hailey | Isabella | Jael | Katharina | Lilly

enchanted sal - katharina

Hi and thanks for joining us today on another edition of the Enchanted Paper Dolls Fall Sew Along. I am happy you could stop by. Grab a cup of coffee and read a little bit about the next figure in the sew along.

We are looking at Katharina today. This name is the mother of all names for me just like Catherine or Katherine. Why? Both my name and my sister's name is a derivative of this name.

On Sunday, December 29th, two winners will be picked to win two identical prizes.

• one for the cutest ever and 
• one for the best use of the mix and match templates.

Contest Rules:  

Make one figure from the pattern booklet or from the PDFs with individual figures. Sew the figure as shown in the instructions or mix and match to make your own figure. Upload the photo to Instagram or send me a copy of the photo. Enter as many times as you would like for more chances to win. We will have a social media voting on Instagram starting December 26th. Hurry up, because there are just two weeks left. Open to quilters at least 18 years of age. Void where prohibited.

Here is what you can win thanks to our great sponsors!

One set of quilting thread and three 1/2 yards of premium quality fabric sponsored by Gutermann.

 

AND one 28 mm rotary cutter, 1" x 6" ruler and mini cutting mat sponsored by einfach bunt Quilts.

That's worth a shot, don't you think?

Now on to our enchanting princess, Katharina. She was inspired by Cleopatra. Do you see the resemblance? I gave her a bit of a yellow tinted skin color. All of my figures in this quilt have different hair colors and skin colors. I wanted to have an international variety of princesses, angels and fairies. I also removed the inner stone in her crown and fussy cut the light blue print.

The one of the really cool features on this figure is that you can shorten her hair length by omitting or skipping the sewing line on the templates. This is explained in further detail in the instructions. The below examples are created in EQ8 - my quilt designing software which I also teach if you are interesting in learning.

That's all for today. Thanks for joining us. If you would like to purchase the individual PDF or paper book with all 12 figures, you can find all of them in my Etsy shop or at your local quilt store such as einfach bunt quilts or Niemanns-Land.

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Take a look at previous posts and see the other figures. 

Agatha | Babette | Celeste | Daphne | Eva | Fiona | Gigi | Hailey | Isabella | Jael | Katharina | Lilly

Please join us next Sunday, December 22, 2019 for our last and twelfth figure, Lilly.

enchanted sal - daphne

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining us on another edition of the Enchanted Sew Along. This is our fourth week in and we have a very beautiful an enchanting fairy for your this week.

If you just started joining us, I will tell you a little bit about the sew along. Each week a new figure will be highlighted from the Enchanted Paper Dolls pattern book. I may even give some tips and tricks about sewing the figure as well. ; ) If you would like to purchase the entire book or just an individual PDF of one figure, you can purchase them here on Etsy or at your local quilt shop. If you shop doesn't carry it, ask them to get in touch with me. We sell wholesale as well.

In appreciation to all who are sewing along, we are offering two prizes:

1. Cutest Figure
2. Best Use of Mix and Match Templates

We are starting to gather up the prizes for these two special winners. I don't really want you to sew along just for the prizes, so I don't like to tell about them in the beginning. They will be very interesting though and worth the effort. We will pick the two winners in December after all figures have been introduced.

You can link up your figure for the week here at the bottom of the post. The link will be open for two weeks from the start date of the post. You can also post on Instagram. Make sure to tag me and use the hashtags: #enchantedsal #enchantedpaperdolls #eppaperdolls and/or #enchanted(figure name).

I would like to make a correction on the pattern booklet. After sending the pattern out to a few people, I was corrected on how I was classifying the pattern. I stated it was a "booklet" but it really is classified as a book if it has more than 49 pages. It doesn't matter if it is hardcover or softcover. I was reluctant to do this, because I didn't apply for and buy an ISBN number. So, I am officially calling this a "book" now.

With that information, I would like to tell you a little story. When I was in my twenties, I made a list of goals for my life, wrote them on a piece of paper and kept them in my passport wallet for safe keeping. Every now and then, I look at that piece of paper. There aren't a lot of goals on there, but this one is..."write a book and have it published." My husband had to remind me of my goal. And with that, I just self-published my own book, my first book! I am allowed to check off one of my life-long goals! What a great feeling.

Back to the sew along. Daphne is the fourth figure in our book. She is an angel or fairy, whatever you wish her to be. Since I wanted her wings to be be a solid fabric on the top portion of her wing, I decided to hack my own pattern. Take a look at the red arrows below. The first foundation paper template on the left shows the original drawing printed directly out from EQ8 - the software program I use to create FPP templates. The second template on the right is how I changed it. Actually, all you need to do is draw a pencil line and sew that portion as Step 1 in the sewing sequence. You can do this on all of the templates. You can skip over some lines especially when sewing hair extensions. I tried to include every possible scenario I could think of to help you decide what you wanted to incorporate into your design.

When I pieced certain segments, I also did a little bit of fussy cutting. Depending on what fabrics I use for wings and background, I may also change up the order of the piecing or change the lines on the papers as described above. To make sure the direction is the same on both papers, I try to lay them over the fabric and cut out a large patch that covers that area.

When making the feet and slippers on all of these figures, I prefer to omit the last sewing lines and just go for a slanted piece of fabric on both sides. It is one less step I have to worry about. However, this take a little practice. That's why I left it on most of the figures in the pattern BOOK.

Once again, this is theory without moving photos, so it may sound strange. When I want my next piece of fabric to keep it's direction, I cut out a square or rectangle, hold it up to the piece I want to attach it to, fold the patch over and crease matching with the previous piece. This will give me the angle in which my fabric patch should be cut.

I then cut either directly on that line or 1/4" away from that crease to remove the corner. This is what it looks like after it has been cut. Now you have your correct angle without a lot of hassle. Just line up the edge of fabric, right-sides-together and sew along the line drawn of the paper pattern. It should match up pretty well.

 

I do this for other pieces as well. Usually just start out with a square or rectangle piece of fabric cut like a normal patch. Sew it on and then trim back the 1/4" for the next piece of fabric.When foundation piecing, I trim up my fabrics BEFORE I sew on the next fabric. This way, I can use strips, square and rectangles of fabric that will always point in the same direction. It gives the overall look of the design nice symmetry.

And now for the beautiful Daphne. I find she is rather one of the easier figures in the collection with the exception of her crown. All of the figures have one element in them that makes them slightly challenging.

I have another confession to make. She has the same feet as Celeste but a different skin color. I accidentally sewed her feet on to Celeste. I noticed on the photo of Celeste after I posted it last Sunday. Needless to say, I carefully dismantled both ladies on Monday and swapped out their feet. Daphne has a slightly darker skin tone than Celeste.

 

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Take a look at previous posts and see the other figures. 

Agatha | Babette | Celeste | Daphne | Eva | Fiona | Gigi | Hailey | Isabella | Jael | Katharina | Lilly

 

enchanted sal - agatha

Happy Sunday to you! Today is all about the angel, Agatha. She is the first figure in the Enchanted Paper Dolls series and our lovely autumn sew along. If you are new to our sew along, this will be a 12 part series highlighting each of the figures featured in the pattern booklet. You can buy the entire booklet or the single figure, Agatha as an instant download.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you to cut most of your fabric for the sashing strips and Sunkissed Cross blogs if you are making the entire quilt.

Did you miss the first post? Don't worry. You can read all about the Enchanted Paper Dolls Sew Along here.

Second, I find it a great idea to cut 3 3/4" wide strips which will allow you to cut most all of the smaller pieces. I like to cut strips of fabric when foundation piecing. From those strips, I cut the smaller patches.

Agatha is no ordinary angel either. Her detailed crown and hands make for a tricky combination. This might not be the best figure to start foundation paper piecing, especially if you are trying to sew quickly and your family keeps interrupting you. You might wind up with a figure below. Everything matches up perfectly, but oops! Something is not quite right. This was my conversation with myself while sewing. "Isn't she supposed to be wearing gloves? Oops! Oh, that's okay. You are flexible, Karen. This one has no gloves today. But wait a minute? You forgot her light blue wing segments too. Okay, when you have time by yourself (with no family interruptions), take her apart and redo the arms/wings."

 

I took her apart the next morning and re-sewed the bottom two portion of the arm segments. It probably would have been faster just to sew all three segments again, but I didn't want to waste the upper segments.

Now, she looks much better. Agatha put on her golden gloves and painted her wings a light blue.

I am really happy with the way she turned out in these fabrics. I think I finally have enough contrast going on. I thought the white background fabric might be too strong, but it really allows the color to pop. These lovely fabrics from Art Gallery are also the right scaling for these figures. I used some tricky fussy cutting on some of the patches. This is an advance technique when using and cutting directional fabric. I wouldn't recommend it for the background fabric though, but you can use it on the dress/wing sections. I am thinking about giving an advance FPP class showing these techniques. If you are interested in such a class, please drop me a note so I can organize one.

Another important tip I would like to pass on to you is about squaring up these blocks. When foundation piecing, it is a good idea to square up the block at the end and not always to trim the paper segments on the seam allowance lines. I generally like to square up and trim the segments just right before I sew on another segment. I use a real quarter of an inch too when trimming, just in case the templates are slightly off.

The outer pieces of these figures are usually filled with rectangle patches of fabric. I find providing a template for a square or rectangle a bit overdoing it. That's why I just fill with rectangle patches of a specified size. It saves on paper as well. And as you might discover below, I cut some of the patches oversized just in case the block shrunk due to too much pressing.

I used my big 15" ruler to square up the blocks. Yes, this ruler will get a lot of use in your sewing room if you don't already have one. This is one of the first rulers I bought, and it is so worth it. 12" blocks are a standard size block.

Looking closer at the markings, you can see the 6" line going straight through the middle of Agatha's dress. That is a great way to center and square. Since all of my blocks will have sashing strips in the final quilt, it doesn't really matter if the blocks have the exact amount of spacing at the top and bottom of the blocks. If you were to line up all blocks in a row without sashing, this might stand out more. But not in my case with sashing.

What more can I say about Agatha? I am in-love! The block came out exactly as I had planned it (with the exception of redoing the arm segments). The papers are left in for now. The blocks photograph a little bit better with the papers in. You can see on the sides where I filled with rectangle patches. The light shimmers through.

If you would like to make Agatha, please link her below. We all would love to see your version. Feel free to mix and match with the other figures, because that is truly the fun part about these dolls - you can mix and match the segments!

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Take a look at previous posts and see the other figures. 

Agatha | Babette | Celeste | Daphne | Eva | Fiona | Gigi | Hailey | Isabella | Jael | Katharina | Lilly

Do you remember I said I was thinking about some prizes? Well, I think we should have a link-up contest. What do you think? How about three different categories?

1. Best Use of Fabric
2. Cutest Ever
3. Most Unique or Best Use of Mix & Match Templates

We'll talk more about that later. For now, you can link up your Agatha below. I look forward to showing you my Babette next week and seeing yours as well!

Happy quilting!

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