in late spring this year, i caught the english paper piecing. i kept seeing my awesomely talented and kick ass friend holly harper (also a fellow CMQG-er) basting and sewing together hexes...at guild meetings, chicago stitch bitch and brew nights, or guild retreats. and for a long time, i resisted (for no good reason, i LOVE to hand sew).
then, all of a sudden, in a lull between major quilt projects, i decided to teach myself to EPP. i asked holly for some tips at the CMQG spring 2014 retreat, and then picked up a couple books on the subject (hexa a gogo and quilting on the go) and watched a couple videos on QNN TV starring the amazing katy jones, and i was off to the races.
since i have a GO! cutter, i used one of the hexi dies to cut out a bunch of scrap fabric (of which i have loads!), and then bought the 1" hexi EPP die that accuquilt now offers, to cut out the papers.
i then basted about a bajillion hexies over the course of a month or so. HOTdamn, it's so relaxing and repetitive! really easy and braindead yet productive sort of task you can do while watching TV, listening to the radio, or in the car waiting to pick the kiddo up from school. it's especially good for those times when you find yourself idly waiting somewhere (in lieu of rabidly checking Facebook and instagram on your phone to pass the time)...that sort of thing. :)
i use card stock to make my hexies. i know a lot of folks (holly included) use regular copy paper, but i like the stiffness of the card. i also baste through the card...somehow it feels more secure for me.
last weekend i put them in a plastic box in a nicely organized fashion...it's really soothing to my organizationally minded brain to see them all neatly arranged in rows. works much better than the ziploc gallon sized bag i was toting them around in previously!
at the spring retreat i made a hand sewing kit using instructions from lots of pink here, using scraps of fabric i had hanging around in the ye olde and ever-growing fabric stash. it's very cute, but...
holly had the great idea to use one of those adorable orla kiely makeup bags (from target!) to carry around EPP related stuff...and i shamelessly copied her great idea. the pockets inside are a perfect fit for a couple spools of thread, a glue stick, stork shaped embroidery scissors, one's project, and a couple other EPP or hand-sewing related necessities. it zips shut and it's lightweight, and you can pop it into a tote or knapsack easy-peasy. the idea works so well i even bought another in a different print that i can use to hold all my embroidery stuff.
a couple weeks back i started sewing together rosettes/flowers, and that's just as fun and relaxing as basting! still pondering what i'm going to make with them, exactly, but it will come to me in time. :)
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are you down with EPP? :)
what are you making at the moment?