My love for English paper piecing

An early Cornflower block, 8 August 2021

 

Five years ago I took the plunge into the world of EPP. Spurred on by the magical creations of Jodi Godfrey and Florence Knapp, I bought some 1.5" hexagon papers at Joann, then began to thread baste scraps given to me from my eldest daughter's mother-in-law, who was starting to purge her fabric stash. Most of these prints were whimsical in nature from collections of days past, and the notion of making my oldest granddaughter a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt seemed absolutely ideal. I basted hexies while visiting my mom, who unbeknownst to us was ailing from cancer; I recall sitting at her dining table while she napped, using her thread as I had run out, which now is my thread. It's very special to me knowing those threads are included in that special quilt (as I don't remove the basting threads, way too much work).

Quickly I gathered other patterns into my EPP realm. Those initial papers were stiff and I learned that while they were great for basting, when stitching those flowers into a larger whole, more flexible papers were better. I went between Paper Pieces' products and Godfrey's own papers, and to this day those are my shapes of preference. I adore Jodi's patterns; I have several of them, lol. I've made Mandolin and Cherish quilts, the Seedlings Sampler from her book, and am currently working on a Lavender, Cornflower, Myrtle, and a second Mandolin, whoa! I've also completed a second Grandmother's Flower Garden for my youngest granddaughter, and SO MANY HEXIE tops and onesies! I possess a small tote filled with finished 1" hexie flowers, I have orphaned EPP blocks that I want to use to a make a Wandering Wife quilt, and I keep a stack of completed Lucy Boston blocks in another tote, but I don't have the wherewithal to baste and sew all those joining honeycombs and squares. Hopefully one day I will machine applique those blocks to large squares of fabric, then sew those together for a completed quilt top. Yeah, I'm an English paper piecing addict.

But how does one become an addict to something so old school? I have been into handcrafts since learning to cross stitch over twenty-five years ago. I taught my kids, at their requests, to use a dull-tipped needle and embroidery thread, and my eldest is teacher her daughter the same, woo hoo! After I started quilting, I used my evenings to hand-stitch bindings or hand-quilt a project, but my goodness English paper piecing looked beautiful and doable both. I dived in with those rather stiff papers, which in hindsight was a great way to learn to baste and to stitch the flowers. But as I said, sewing multiple stiff papers together en masse was a steep curve and I quickly moved on to other suppliers.

And supplies I have, oh my goodness, but I am grateful for the plethora of shapes and sizes because I simply adore choosing scraps or cutting specifically for this or that block or pattern. I like thread basting over glue because glue is sticky and can't be done while seated on the sofa listening to sports, lol. I take a very slow approach to my slow stitching; there is no hurry, not even if I wanted it to proceed quickly. My EPP projects are so separate from what I craft on my machine, at times more fabric cut than there are enough hours in the day. It's meditative, it's creative, it keeps my hands busy and my heart skipping with excitement at what amazingly gorgeous (to me) colour and print combinations emerge. I'm not big on fussy cutting, but when I do it, the joy of precision alights my soul. And beloved scrappy assortments thrill the same.

Then there is the actual needle in the groove element; stitch upon stitch leads to this square attached to that petal, this diamond nestled against that square, a hexagon forever another's buddy until love and laundry do they part. I can sew together all the triangles I want without fear of losing their perfect points, I can arrange pieces artfully or place them as solo stars while patching blown-out knees on leggings and jeans. Scraps considered trash turn into heroes, awkward strips transform into marvelous borders, all the while slowly and silently adding into a magnificent whole that dazzles in a lost art sort of way.

Perhaps that is what appeals most, the manner of how paper pieces are brought together by an ancient but necessary method. For centuries hand sewing was the only way to fashion garments and required linens. In this rather techie world, I revel in stepping back to the past, be it in sewing or writing letters, lol, maintaining ties to undeniably necessary parts of our planet's collective history. Yes I love releasing ebooks and using a computer to write said novels, but each night I await those quiet few hours on the sofa with my papers, needles, thread, and striking fabrics. Eagerly I stitch over and over, adding to this perimeter or that stack of blocks or basting in the great anticipation of doing it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day.... I am never bored with English paper piecing; heck I would be doing it right now if not for real life. LOL; paper piecing is my haven where I immerse myself thoroughly in its peaceful cadence of creativity.

Not quite finished most recent Cornflower block.

 

Now it's time to do some laundry. But in nine hours I'll be seated with projects and US Open tennis. Nothing beats sewing while listening to the whap whap whap amid whoops and grunts. Go Coco Gauff and Madison Keys (stitch stitch stitch)!