Sushi Plate Lunch Mat

Normally I'd be doing a Vintage Holiday Quilt post right now. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish my quilt top until after dark, and I just couldn't bear to take an indoor picture of this one. Tomorrow morning I'll get a shot of it on the back patio and have a post for you before lunch, so be sure to check back. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

The incredibly talented Kristy of Quiet Play gave me the chance to test one of her upcoming paper piecing patterns: Sushi Plate. This is my third try at paper piecing, and I love it more each time I do it. This pattern was so much fun to put together.

I used the newspaper print from Maude Asbury's Crabtastic collection for the background. I love using text prints, and this one fit the theme so well that I had to include it somewhere. The rest of the block is made from scraps by Lizzy House, Cosmo Cricket, Violet Craft, Joel Dewberry, and Michael Miller. I added a border of grey linen to make it the right size for my husband to use it as a lunch mat at work in his classroom -- large enough for a plate but narrow enough to fit on the edge of his desk below the keyboard. The back is just a single piece of the orange Jewels print by Lizzy House which I used for the fish on the front. While the mat edges look slightly wonky in the first photo, they're actually straight -- not really sure what was going on there, but it was probably the linen acting up a bit for the camera.

This project was such a delight from start to finish.  Be sure to check Kristy's blog if you'd like to snag a pattern for yourself in the weeks ahead. I've come to enjoy pattern testing so much. If any of you are ever looking for someone to test a new pattern of yours, just send me an email at hjstaples@gmail.com. I'd love to help you out!

Linking up to Manic Monday, Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link-up, and the return (yippee!) of Sew Modern Monday.