The original design for this block includes the dress, a spool of thread, and a needle, but I decided the dress would be enough of a challenge on its own. It was paper pieced and some of those pieces are tiny (all the Sampler blocks finish at 6″ square, not including the blue borders). I’ve done a lot of paper piecing, but I still found this one a little tricky. I do like how it came out though.

When I quilted it, I outlined the bodice and panels of the dress and decided to do a leaf and vine filler in the background. I chose a white-on-white print there, and I have to say I don’t like the way it quilted up. The needle holes are very large and obvious. I used the same fabric in other blocks and noticed the same problem, so I think I will take it out of my quilting stash and use it for other projects instead. Other than that I’m happy with the quilting design.

Stitching Fashion is block 28 of the Splendid Sampler and was designed by Charise Randell.

Side note on the photography: I tried using my design wall instead of my dining room table to shoot this batch of blocks. I don’t love the results. The straight-on ones are fine, and were easier to shoot because I could just stand in front of them rather than climbing on a chair and shooting downward, but I don’t think the angled ones came out as well as the ones I did on the table (like this one, for example).