Halfway Point

Day 340: On 6 September, I posted that I was four weeks into this project and was almost a third done. I can't count worth beans. Turns out it was three weeks in. Now it has been four and a half weeks, and I just finished adding the piece which brought me up to the halfway point. Halfway done! And entirely hand-stitched! The coloured squares each measure one inch on a side. What utterly boggles my mind is that this quilt is coming together faster than if I had machine-sewn it, and I don't think quite the entire rate of progress can be due to the fact that I hate sewing on the machine. When I think about the time involved in pinning, sewing and pressing each step in the assembly process, I can see why hand-stitching actually goes faster. Here, there is no real need for pressing until the whole top is completed, due to the fact that the pieces are whip-stitched together on the back, essentially locking them into the "pressed" position. Hand-basting the fabrics around cardstock shapes is as fast as pinning, and has the advantage of ensuring accuracy, i.e., no having to do over any imperfect meets. Sewing is slower, of course, but more enjoyable and easier to lay aside. The pattern (Ring Cycles) is a variation on Jack's Chain, and is a definite winner in my book.

Glue Basting

Day 339: I was hesitant at first, but being new to English paper piecing, I was willing to try a technique many more experienced quilters seemed to recommend: glue basting. After researching the internet extensively, I chose to go with the Sewline brand, and bought a package which included a pen and two refills, plus an extra package of six refills, having no idea how long a single stick of the water soluble glue would last. I knew it was going to be too much bother to glue each one-inch square in a 9-patch, so decided to thread-baste those, but on the other hand, the idea of glue-basting the larger pieces (the big hexagon and the triangles) suggested that I'd get a more uniform "stretch" of the fabric than I could effect with thread. As it turned out, the glue goes amazingly far. I'm only on my third refill and am just short of having half the quilt pieced, and I am very pleased with the method. Old dogs can learn new tricks when they're given the right incentives.

Three Weeks In

Day 329: I'm three weeks into my first English paper piecing quilt, and I'm almost a third done with the top. Operative words in that sentence: "the top." This is not like the hexagon quilts I've zipped through recently. When I'm done with this top, it will have to be backed, batted, bound and hand-quilted, a process which will have it on the quilting frame for at least a couple more months. I've discovered that while I like putting together the 9-patches, sewing them to the center hexagons is less enjoyable. However, sewing the completed blocks into the quilt is very satisfying. The good thing is that this quilt can be assembled one block at a time ("block" being the center hexagon and the six 9-patches and triangles surrounding it) with the addition of a few "filler" triangles to round out the curves where the next block fits in. There are other ways to build the pattern, but this one works best for me. Using this order of assembly, I never have to stitch the apex of a triangle into the bottom of a V-shape. When sewing the longer seams, I tack each junction first to be sure the "meets" stay in place. It's an extra step some might not wish to take, but I find it increases accuracy and saves time in the long run.

Footnote: I originally titled this "Four Weeks In." I can't count. I started it on 16 August, so this would have been THREE weeks in.

9-Patch Addiction

Day 308: English paper piecing has earned a spot on the list of "Things I Wish I'd Learned Earlier." I'd always thought of it as being too fussy, too much work with all that basting, too wasteful, too much trouble having to pick all the little paper pieces out when a quilt was finished. As it turns out, the fussiness is automatic (i.e., corners match up perfectly because the fabric is wrapped over same-size pieces). The basting goes much more quickly than expected and doesn't have to be pulled out. There is virtually no waste because the papers can be reused until the edges become too worn. As for pulling them out, they can be removed as soon as all the sides of a given piece are stitched to another piece, and they come out easily, even those glue-basted to the larger pieces. These 9-patches are utterly addictive! After basting 5 prints and 4 whites, I select the print I want for the middle and stitch a white to either end of it. Then I make two more strips with prints on the ends and a white in the middle, and apply them to either side of the center strip. The paper in the middle print can then be removed because it is entirely surrounded. The pinpoint accuracy of EPP is what appeals to me the most. Any variation in the length of the sides of the shapes is minor, very minor, and can be eased when stitching the pieces together. My husband was a faceter, and was meticulous about "meets," i.e., the points made when the cut faces of a stone come together. "Meets" applies to quilting in the same way. EPP makes meets foolproof! If only I had known about EPP fifty years ago. I might never have made a quilt any other way.

My First EPP

Day 306: Well, here it is: my first adventure into English paper piecing (aka "EPP" in the quilting world). This was only a trial run, but I am so pleased with the results that I will probably appliqué this block to a background and stitch it up to be a pillow top or a mat. I have already begun working on a new block, the initial phase of a full-sized quilt using patterned fabrics for the 9-patch units. Just to put this in perspective, the hexagon quilts I've stitched recently have an average of 6-7 stitches per inch. With EPP, I'm averaging 13. Even so, the pieces go together fairly quickly. It took me three days to make this block. The proposed quilt required 33 blocks. The good news is that the various pieces can be cut in multiples, as opposed to the "fussy-cutting" of individual pieces I would normally do. I suspect there will be a few to fussy-cut...cat faces, a bug or two...but by and large, I am using calico prints. This oughtta keep me busy for a year or so!

Ring Cycles

Day 304: I really wanted to start another quilt. I had a couple of designs in mind, both of which required a substantial amount of white/plain fabric, and that was going to be a problem with Joann's being a thing of the past. I will not shop at Cult Corner (i.e., Hobby Lobby), not if it means I never sew another stitch, and buying fabric on line is dicey. You have to be able to touch fabric to tell if it's suitable for a project, and much of the affordable muslin/broadcloth out there is cheaply made and thin. Walmart carries two-yard precuts of a decent quality, but the stores nearest me were all out of white. As I considered whether or not I wanted to cut up a bed sheet, I was still debating which design I most wanted to do: Double Wedding Ring (to replace the one I sold) or a variation of Jack's Chain called Ring Cycles. I'd already cut out several hundred pieces for DWR, but Ring Cycles was working on my head. I loved the way the big circles pop out of the design once a number of the rounds have been stitched together. Back off a few steps and look at the illustration on the right. Once the optical illusion resolves, you'll see what I mean.

I've spoken many times about how I prefer to sew by hand rather than with the machine, and the pinpoint accuracy of English paper piecing has always appealed to me, although I'd never done any of it. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy all the basting, but I decided to do a sample block of Jack's Chain as a trial run. I didn't want to use up my print fabrics on a test, so I pulled out the box labelled "quilt solids" and dived in. And what to my wondering eyes did appear in the very bottom of the box? Five freaking yards of good quality white broadcloth! Five yards! After making three of the 9-patches (that's nine one-inch squares for a 3" x 3" square), I'm sold on English paper piecing. Ring Cycles it is, although I'm still going to finish the sample block. Who knows? Maybe by the time I'm done sewing this quilt, we'll have a decent fabric store again.