I spy with my little eye...a blog hop!

Friday, December 11, 2020

Welcome to another fun day on the I Spy blog hop! I am so excited to be one of the designers sharing about the new book from Kimie and Missy of On Williams Street! I love their design style, and this is their very first book! I jumped at the chance to make something from the book for the blog hop!

I knew I wouldn't be able to make the whole quilt with the timing of the blog hop, but I did want to make something fun! The blocks in the book are grouped by type, so I thought about doing the trains, planes, and automobiles, then I thought about making all the winter and Christmas blocks. But then I had an aha moment! I could group the blocks in a way to represent books! Like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish! That led me down a fun brainstorming session that landed at Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar book pocket pillow made with paper pieced quilt blocks from the I Spy book

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking the inks, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you're new here, hello! I'm Laura! I design quilt patterns, and I'm a self-proclaimed deal hunter! Be sure to join the popular Quilting & Sewing Deals Facebook group where I post sales, deals, and coupon codes from all around the web!


Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar tells the story of a caterpillar who eats through lots of foods, gets a tummy ache, eats through a leaf, then builds a cocoon, and finally becomes a butterfly! It's a story my boys love, and they were excited to help pick out the blocks I'd make.

I Spy quilt book with 100 paper pieced quilt block patterns

The I Spy book has patterns for ONE HUNDRED 4" foundation paper pieced blocks! There is such a wonderful variety of blocks, that the number of projects is really endless! Make just a few blocks for placemats, reading pillows, or a playmat, or make all the blocks in a fun 100 day project! Each block has a difficulty rating of 1 to 3, and I found them to be very quick and easy to put together. Right now, you can use the code ISPYBLOGHOP to get 10% off the book!

Simple paper piecing

Solid fabrics are a great choice for the blocks, as the fabric isn't directional. The blocks also don't have to match in a certain color palette, so it's great as a scrap quilt! I gathered an assortment of Kona cotton solids from my stash and put in a neutral Aurifil 50wt thread.

Paper piecing mess

The blocks went together quickly, and I was able to remove the paper during breakfast!

Removing paper after foundation paper piecing

There's just something so cute about tiny things, and these 4" blocks really make me smile!

Paper pieced quilt blocks for an I Spy quilt

I cut 1 1/2" strips from my background fabric (Kona White) to make sashing between the blocks as well as a border.

Paper pieced quilt blocks for an I Spy quilt

Here's a peek behind the seams!

Behind the seams of paper pieced I Spy quilt blocks

I used some colorful jumbo polka dot fabric that I got on sale (it's actually 108" wide!) for the backing, a scrap of Warm & Natural batting that was just big enough, and pin basted them with the top on my cutting mat.

Pin basting a quilted pillow top

Using Aurifil 50wt #2021 Natural White and my walking foot, I quilted straight lines diagonally across the top. I spaced them the smallest distance that my guide arm can go, which is exactly 3/4".

Straight line quilting with a walking foot

Once finished, I turned the quilt and quilted the other direction to create a cross-hatch design!

Cross-hatch quilting with a walking foot

I trimmed it to 16" square, then cut two pieces of the polka dot fabric about 12" x 16" to create a pocket pillow back. One of the pieces, I just turned over one raw edge and hemmed it. For the other, I made some red bias tape to sew along its edge.

Making a pocket back for a pillow

A quick sew around the edge, and the pillow was done!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilted pillow made with paper pieced quilt blocks

The pillow back works as a pocket to hold the book too!

Book pocket pillow

This is such a fun pillow! I think a couple more might be in my future so each boy can get one of their own!

Book pocket pillow

I was very impressed with the quality of the book and the simplicity of the blocks.

Paper pieced caterpillar and apple quilt blocks

Instead of being time consuming, they were quick and easy, which made the project fun from start to finish!

Paper pieced ice cream cone quilt block

All of my boys absolutely love this pillow! It's so fun to see their excitement over projects like this! 

Paper pieced butterfly and leaf quilt blocks

They've already started submitting their own requests for more!

Paper pieced cupcake quilt block

Check out the amazing quilt that is on the cover of the book! So cool! Be sure to use the code ISPYBLOGHOP to get 10% off the book HERE! The code expires 12/16/20, so don't wait! (Following two photos courtesy of On Williams Street.)

I Spy paper pieced quiltI Spy paper pieced quilt

Be sure to hop to all of the other bloggers on the hop to see what projects they made with blocks from the book! There are so many great ones!

I Spy paper pieced quilt book




5 comments:

  1. I just love your idea making the pillow to go with the book. I’m go8ng to be a first time gran and this is on my todo list.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great idea and I love that the boys participated and each want a pillow of their own.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What great items you picked to go with the Very Hungry Caterpillar!! Such a fun idea!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is adorable. So fun that the boys were part of the process.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the Exploding Heart quilt. Happy New Year Laura.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and for your comments! I try to reply to comments via email, so if you're expecting a response and don't hear from me, check if you're a no-reply blogger. Happy sewing!