Ms. G, the queen of my long-arm world, hates paper piecing. Like really, really hates it. We once worked on a collaborative project that involved this technique, but she couldn’t get behind it. I was a new quilter at the time and I used YouTube to teach me how because I was too embarrassed to display my ignorance to my friends (the quilting equivalent to keeping up withe the Jones???). I found that I liked paper piecing — a lot. Perhaps the reason for our conflicting opinions on paper piecing is the fact that she can sew a straight line without a guide. I can’t. The seam side of Ms. G’s quilts look as neat and as orderly as the front. Mine definitely do not.

Paper piecing is the quilting equivalent to painting by numbers, don’t you think? The picture looks nice, but there is no creativity involved.

Anyway, the last time I saw Ms. G she took a moment to unburdened herself. She shoved a few paper piecing books and patterns in my hand and hustled me out the door, clearly happy to see both of us gone. I could barely get out of town before I had to pull over and pour through the treasure. I was giddy! What a jackpot!

I immediately fell in love with a project for a mini heart sampler. The copyright date on the package: 1994 — nearly vintage, but never opened. Until tonight. Dun dun da!

Although her designs are still available on the web in resale form, there appears to be no digital trace of dearest Granny N. What a shame.

This evening I dug through my scraps in order to honor Granny. I will not share with you that many of those scraps are presently scattered on the floor as I await an organizational brainstorm, followed by a cutting table shopping trip. But, alas, my scrap fabric did not support my artistic vision. So I cut up some nice big fabric pieces to get the look I wanted, thus created new scraps — it’s a vicious cycle, isn’t it?

I do hope I made Granny Nanny proud tonight. I think instead of a sampler, I’m going to make a set of placements featuring these 3.5″ cuties.

And thanks Ms. G for thinking of me! You can dispense with your cool stash of paper piecing patterns in my direction any time.