Hmm. So I find myself obsessed (nothing truly unusual there…) with my new project. I am working on an English paper piecing (EPP) quilt, using a Northcott line that I absolutely fell in love with when it arrived at the store. The name of the line is Hopelessly Romantic and I am hopelessly in love with it. I was gifted with a half yard of about 10 of the patterns and wasn’t sure what to do with it until the Merlot spoke to me… Grandmother’s Flower Garden. So, I set about learning how to do EPP and figured I would finish the quilt eventually.
Grandma P’s Flower Garden quilt
Well, looks like eventually will be much sooner than I originally thought. Between discovering the value of having a handwork project to do, well, anywhere, and it has gone fairly quickly. I understand from other folks that they’ve been working on theirs on and off for years.
And years.
That said – I’m excited that I might actually finish this one this year! I decided to take you on the journey with me, just in case you find yourself adding this to your Quilt It List! I’m going to split this project journey up into sections, because, well, too many words. The first will largely be the inspiration and the tools.
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Inspiration
Grandma P’s Flower Garden is my quilt title and the design is definitely not new or unique. It is, as I understand it, one of the most commonly started and most commonly unfinished quilting projects. I can see why – I’m sure that people get tired of feeling like they’re not getting anywhere. I like the portable nature of EPP and the fact that I don’t need a machine to do it – handwork has always been something I’ve enjoyed.
A search of Pinterest did not disappoint for examples of these traditional quilts. I have chosen to put sections of background leaves in between the flowers – in lieu of surrounding each flower. The name of this quilt is in honor of my Great Grandma – Ardath. She was an amazing woman who brought much joy to her family over her long life. Side note – in May 1980, we all stood on my grandparents’ deck at her birthday party and watched as Mount St. Helens blew her top. Grandma P had a fascination with the mountain ever since then (that we both shared until she passed). If you haven’t ever been to the volcanic monument and have a chance to go – I highly recommend it. It is an amazing example of the good and bad power of nature.
Anyway – so as I have been haphazardly going through the process of this Quilt It List project, I decided I will one day release a pattern. I don’t know precisely when that will be but I must put Grandma P’s name on it and in that way, share her inspiration with everyone else! For now, I’m going to share some of the highlights of the road so far (wink wink, Supernatural fandom 😊)
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Cutting hexies for English paper piecing
Accuquilt GO! Baby cutter and hexagon die
Enormous amounts of 1” hexagons required for Grandma P’s Flower Garden – and it isn’t even a huge quilt. I was aiming for lap size and to be honest, haven’t gotten there. I wasn’t going to add any borders but have since decided to do just that. It feels like cheating, but I see myself completing another one of these in a more true and scrappy fashion, so for this I’m just going to do what I want with this one.
So that said, how does one go about cutting all those hexies? Well- all kinds of ways, but since I don’t only quilt and have lots going on in life like everyone else – I opted to take advantage of a little tool called Accuquilt GoBaby! If you haven’t seen them, check them out here – and see what you think. I will at some point do a pros vs cons on this particular item as I’ve thought about it – a lot. For now, I’m going to go with the related pro- I cut over 600 hexies for this project in about 2 hours.
Tools of the EPP trade
So – as I have discovered with all things quilting, people have their favorite tools and methods for EPP as well. The following are my faves, along with the rationale.
Accuquilt
So I will tell you that AccuQuilt has a specific EPP hexie template available that cuts both paper templates and fabric hexies at the same time. I didn’t buy that one – I opted to get the one with three sizes of hexies instead. I did that for two reasons – one, because I might want to use a different size, and two because I’m leery about the longevity of the blades cutting the paper. Ever catch your kiddos using your fabric scissors to cut paper?
Paper Pieces
Instead, I opted to use the AccuQuilt to cut the fabric and I purchased copious amounts of Paper Pieces forms. They are reusable and pretty sturdy and fairly reasonable in price. I did buy way more than I need, anticipating that I may not get to them right away. You may or may not have a need for that but I wanted to be able to assembly line it – and have them ready to go.
Glue
My preference is Sewline glue sticks. I know lots of folks who swear by dollar store glue sticks, but I have kids. I’ve experienced the horrors of even the best glue sticks.
They don’t stick.
That’s what I envisioned – getting to the flowers a month later only to discover I have to re-glue them. That is not to say that I haven’t had to do that at all – but definitely not as much. My favorite part is they also sell refills – and they’re easy to replace!
Thread, Conditioner and Snippers
Thread – choose your favorite thread (read: favorite sturdier thread) and if you’re not interested in matching colors or your fabric is multi colored, try using grey. It’s a bit of a chameleon colors and will blend better. I haven’t graduated beyond grey, just saying. You can also use hand quilting thread, in which case, skip over the next item.
Thread Conditioner – I am a convert to thread conditioner for EPP. I dislike having my thread tangle or knot or break. I also don’t like having to stop and start too often because my thread is shorter. Currently, my conditioner of choice is beeswax, though I plan to try another thread conditioner. I will definitely share my preference after I compare 😊 Update: I tried and have been using thread magic. I like either one, but the reason I might be inclined to use the thread magic over beeswax is that it doesn’t crumble. Otherwise, they seem to both fit the bill.
Scissors – my favorite snippers are Easy Kut spring action scissors. They’re a total thumb saver- and not at all costly. I have multiple pairs floating around now.
Those are pretty much the tools of the EPP trade that I’ve chosen to utilize up to this point. I will continue this journey another day!
Happy Quilting !
Amanda