English Paper Piecing

My hexagons arrived today!  I immediately had to try them out:

This is just a leftover strip of fabric from my yoyos.  The hexagons have 3/4" sides, which makes them 1.5" across.  When I got the package they were smaller than I expected!  But now that I have worked with them I find them very comfortable.  In some ways they are probably easier to work with than larger ones.  I can already see that they are going to become extremely addictive.  I only bought a package of 125, and I can feel myself tensing because I know I will run out quickly.

Here is the back:

I used a combination of techniques gleaned from various sources.

• The Paper Pieces website recommends 2" squares for the 3/4" hexagons.  They also recommend leaving the seam allowances untrimmed.  This makes them easier to baste as well as just saving a step with the cutting.  I cut a 2.5" strip down to 2" squares with scissors and by eye, so some of mine may have been a little larger.
• I picked up two helpful tips from the video embedded below.  First, I didn't baste through the paper at all, I just took a tack stitch in each corner.  You can do this easily with the smaller pieces.  Then the basting doesn't need to be removed when you are ready to take the paper out!
• The second helpful tip was to baste and sew with the same thread, all in one step.  This is easy and works great.

The stitching does show a bit with this technique.  Here I used 50 wt cotton in a neutral colour, but I think I will try to find some 100 wt silk, which will hopefully be a little less visible.  I prefer not to use nylon thread.  The Paper Pieces instructions suggest 6 - 10 stitches per inch, but I found I was taking 11 or 12 stitches per 3/4 inch.  That's what looks good to me, anyway.

Here is the first video.  You can skip over the first 5 minutes or so if you are planning to use fabric squares.  Right at the end she also has a great tip for basting larger pieces.

This second video also has some helpful tips to fill in the gaps:

I am trying not to drop everything and start this right away!  My first plan for this technique will be to use it for the centre panel of a 16" x 20" wall hanging that I will adapt from the book Fat Quarter Quilting by Lori Smith.  It is a great book, I will have to review it soon.  After that I have a much bigger plan in mind!

Free Motion Quilting Inspiration

I know I have been quiet for a few days now, but that is because I have been massively productive!  I always get an energy spurt in the spring, so I am trying to make the most of it.  I'll share some of my work in the next few days, but in the mean time, here is an inspirational quilt by another TQS member, Terry Knott from Boring, Oregon:

Bursting With Joy

All the colour on this quilt is thread!  And it is all free motion quilting, no machine specialty stitches.  Terry was kind enough to also send me her Smilebox slideshow, with close-ups of all the stitching.  You can find it here.  If you go to the last slide there is a photo of the label.  428 hours of stitching and 29 bobbins full of thread!  Here's some additional background on the quilt from Terry herself:

In October, I took a "ZenSuedeled" class from Sue Patten and drew the outline of the shapes. It took me a couple months to find a backing fabric that I loved and then I purchased six cones of Superior's Highlights 40 wt polyester thread and one cone of Superior's Rainbow 40 wt polyester thread. I started stitching the first of December. Before this quilt, I was comfortable stitching pebbles, small stippling, meandering and was making progress on feathers. I wanted to be more comfortable stitching background stitches without marking.

The thing I like the most about Terry's quilt is that even though it is machine quilted, it still has a "hand drawn" feel to it.  I am finding that I have a strong dislike of computerized quilting.  It always looks too rigid to me, and lacks "flow."  Terry's stitches are lovely and even, but they don't have that impersonal feel that computerized stitches would have.

I was very inspired by Terry's quilt, because I really want to bring my free motion quilting up to this level.  Terry suggested that just 15 minutes a day would improve my skills quickly.  I find that idea to be very appealing!  I immediately started to think about a 30 day challenge to quilt every day.  I think September will be an easier month on Sedona Star, so I may think about doing it then.

I am not a great finisher of 30 day challenges - my 30 day drawing challenge fizzled before it really got started.  Last spring I did a 30 day walking challenge, which lasted about 15 days before my outdoor allergies completely paralyzed me.  But in both cases I still learned something valuable, so it may be worth starting even if I don't finish.  Maybe I can re-vamp that drawing blog!

Even More Collector Blocks

The other day I had reached the saturation point on Sedona Star, but I was still in the mood to sew, so I put together a few more square in a square Collector Blocks.  Do they ever seem easy now!

The ones on the top and bottom right are Kaffe Fassett's Lichen design.  I love this design, and I am very unhappy that it has been discontinued!  I particularly like the way the grey/brown one at the top plays well with the spotted background fabric.

I may make up the last 10 of these later today, but first I want to make at least half of another Month 4 ring.  Lots to do!