They pinned and stitched and cut and ripped their way through four weeks of challenges, and on March 25th a champion emerged in the Moda Bake Shop Sliced! competition. Angela Pingel, who runs the blog, Cut to Pieces, was the Grand Prize winner with her adorable Owl Tag Along toddler backpack.

Just a little over a month ago, dozens of sewing and crafting enthusiasts sent in their projects to Moda Bake Shop in hopes of being chosen to compete in front of the Sliced! panel of judges. Following these initial auditions, four creative folks made the initial cut. Contestants had five days to use their sewing and design talents to develop a project, using a sewing basket of mystery items given to them on the first day of each week. Once they completed their project, the panel of judges critiqued the projects from each challenge and Sliced! one contestant each week.

Below is a college of just a few of the amazing project photos sent in over the course of the competition.

For the final week, the remaining TWO competitors were required to create a project of their choice that used a zipper, grommets/eyelets and fabric from a layer cake. Yours truly was a judge for this finalist round!

Beth Studley of Love From Beth submitted the Mum's Day Tripper diaper bag with a coordinating changing pad and toy from. Angela Pingel of Cut to Pieces submitted the Owl Tag Along toddler backpack.

The backpack won the day, and Angela won an amazing prize package, valued at over $4000:

• A Janome Horizon 7700QCP sewing machine
• Assorted precuts from Moda Fabrics
• Two ArtBin Double Deep Satchels and a Storage Cube
• Legacy Eco-cotton Batting
• Luna Queen Soy Soft Batting
• The Mighty Bright Floor Magnifier and the Lighted Seam Ripper
• A Rowenta Focus iron
• A Sewline gift set
• And, Moda Bake Shop's Fresh Fabric Treats book

The first, second and third runners-up also received generous prize packages. You can read more about first runner up, Beth Studley here.

Meet the winner

We spoke with Angela after the judging was completed about what made her decide to enter the Sliced! competition, what was her favorite 'ah-ha' moment in terms of creativity and inspiration, and what it was like to work through 'sewer's block' each week with just five days to design and create!

Angela Pingel: I was excited, nervous and anxious each week as Moda announced who would make it on to the next round. I've gotten quite good at twiddling my thumbs ;-). As you might imagine, I was through-the-roof thrilled to find out I'd won.

I am a self-taught quilter who has been sewing for over 20 years. I made my very first quilt during my senior year in high school for my college dorm room and even made my prom dress junior year. My degrees include a BA in Mathematics from Saint Mary's College and an Associates Degree in Interior Design from Ivy Technical Institute. I have been published in 101 Patchwork Projects and Modern Patchwork by Interweave Press, 99 Modern Blocks by C&T Publishing, and was featured on Moda Bake Shop prior to deciding to enter the Sliced! competition.

I maintain my blog, Cut to Pieces in my "free time" between sewing and raising my sweet little two year old daughter with my husband.

I saw the announcement for the Sliced! competition on the Moda Bake Shop site, and knew immediately I should enter. I'd never entered a competition at that point, but I had a 'feeling' this one was right for me. I'm an overachiever (or 'Type AAA' as I like to call it) so I made two audition pieces. I was delighted to have one of them accepted into the final four of the Sliced! competition.

Each week presented a new set of challenges, both from Moda Bake Shop and in my personal life. It is difficult to maintain a regular schedule when deadlines are looming. The first week, we made pincushions (again I made two in order to make sure I really liked one of them). The next week was aprons, and boy was I glad to have a little background in sewing garments for that challenge. For the final round of the competition, we got choose what we wanted to make with our sewing box of requirements. Oh sweet cruelty! I think the hardest thing for me was choosing what would best showcase my strengths and appeal to the judges. I lost a couple of days with indecision, and experimented with multiple ideas before I settled on the toddler backpack. Although I was certain this was the right direction, it wasn't any easier from that point forward! Designing, sewing and photographing something of that complexity in three days is a bit of a task. Not to mention I was dependent on the cooperation of a two-year-old for my final photo shoot! Thankfully the stars aligned, my daughter loved the backpack so much, she had no problem with me taking her picture.

It has been a wild ride and I find myself having more sympathy for anyone on a reality tv show competition.  :)  Thank you so much for having me here on Sew4Home and a huge thanks to Moda as well.

Make it yourself!

Visit Moda Bake Shop for the Owl Tag Along toddler backpack 'recipe' as the Bake Shop refers to their instructions.

Angela explained on her blog a little about the construction of the adorable owl face: "The belly pocket is made from two Sherbet Pips layer cake pieces for a sweet front pocket. And the wings are made from a layer cake piece from Wee Woodland by Keiki and only attached at the top of each wing to make them fully "flapable." The face is made from one Bella Solid layer cake piece in snow, some left over French General for the eyes and a small piece of Kate Spain's Central Park for the nose. The eyes and nose are made the way I do my doll quilts with a fusible and top stitching. The fabric for the eyes is less than an eighth inch."

Congratulations to all the Sliced! contestants. Your creativity is boundless, and we are all more inspired thanks to you!