A Birthday Present

Many moons ago (about 50), I bought a quilting book that contained patterns for knights, dragons, unicorns, fairies and all sorts of mythical beasts.

I immediately bought fabric to make a birthday present for my niece who would be turning ten.  I had it all planned out with her favorite color and everything.  I jumped right in, and after one day, unfortunately, I jumped right back out again.  Don't ask me why.  Well, about 10 days ago I was thinking about what I would get her for her birthday this year and I thought 'Hey, why don't I finish that quilt I started for her ages ago,' so that's what I did.  It took me about 5 days to finish it.  And to think, it's been sitting in my sewing room for 6 years!  

The method of creation is called paper piecing and it is much too difficult to describe in words, at least for a visual learner like me.  I only understand it when I am actually doing it.  Ask me to explain it and I am at a loss for words.  Consequently, I took a few more pictures of the process.

So here are the different pieces for the dragon.  You sew fabric on to paper and sew on the lines.  It's quite easy once you get the hang of it.  I promise it is not as hard as it looks.  

Here is the completed dragon.

Here is the back side of the dragon.  You can see where all the different pieces connect.  If you can imagine it, the front of the dragon is a mirror image of the back side.  

Here is the wizard I made.  It only had four parts and was much easier.  I had originally meant to create a fairy instead of a wizard, but my niece has changed since she was ten and I thought the wizard would be better.  Her favorite color has also changed but I'm pretty sure she's not too picky about color.  She's more of a free spirit in that way. 

Here is the finished product.  It is about 18 by 23 inches and my camera doesn't show the true colors. I was very pleased with it and intend to create other paper pieced quilts in the future.