Paper Pieced Cupcake

First off, I'm having major camera trouble. It just might be time for a new one. Yesterday was a fun day paper piecing. Today I was going to finish it to show you. Maybe I'll get there yet, but I have to show you what I've been doing.

The pattern is part of a sew-along that caught my eye at a blog called Shape Moth. Here's a picture of the pattern I am working on. If you've been visiting here for a while you know I love cupcakes. I'm making mine with chocolate frosting. This is the first pattern in the series of one a week. This being the third week, you can purchase (inexpensively) the first two. If you like paper piecing, check out her patterns.

Now here are my pictures (the best of them) to share with you. You may have to squint your way through them.

First the tools.

First up with red handles: paper cutting scissors. Next, my fabric cutting scissors. Never the twain shall mix. Of course the rotary cutter and small ruler. Above the ruler sits the scissors I use to cut the threads on my paper pieced (and other) projects. They are curved so that when you pull up on the top thread and clip, usually you cut the bottom thread as well. Less clipping

My preference for pins for paper piecing are the flat heads. They seem to stay out of the way and easily found with their colorful tops. You are wondering why the magnetic pin catcher is in the bowl? Well, I'm a pin tosser and sometimes they don't make it.

Of course my stiletto, tweezers and seam ripper. I keep those three tools in my shallow keeper--formerly the grease catcher from the George Foreman small grill

This small iron is a dandy. It is as hot as a full iron and when unplugged it stays warm for five minutes or so. The wooden finger presser helps a lot in between. However, everything gets a final press with the real iron before assembling of the sections.

Yes, here's my mess of the 16 sections. Again, please excuse the awful pictures. I didn't even crop them when I saw how bad they were and how editing tools didn't help. I'm off to try to make some progress on a finish project.

Marcy