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Summer 2021 Mini Quilt Challenge: English Paper Piecing

  • Writer: vafibrearts
    vafibrearts
  • Jul 19, 2021
  • 9 min read

Hello Friends and Welcome!


I can't believe four weeks of the Summer 2021 Mini Quilt Challenge have already passed! I feel like I've learned so much in such a short amount of time!


For the week four prompt, I chose English Paper Piecing, a hand sewn method of quilt making! Most of my quilt making experience so far has involved machine sewing, but over the past year, I've become more and more interested in hand sewn projects from working on my Changing Pace quilt (you can see the finished quilt top in my 01 July Project Update).


Embracing the English paper piecing style seemed like the next logical step to learning more about hand worked quilts! Now, without further ado, let's check out my week four research and mini quilt!



English Paper Piecing Research


English paper piecing (EPP) is a traditional style of quilt piecing where fabric patches are basted to paper templates before being stitched together. The paper templates stabilize the fabric patches so they don't stretch or warp during construction. This is especially helpful for fabrics with a little extra stretch, and patches that are cut on the bias of the fabric.

EPP patterns traditionally use a selection of geometric shapes to create a symmetrical or repetitive motif. Patterns may use a single repeated shape, such as the Grandmother's Flower Garden sample, shown above, which uses a regular hexagon with no variation in size.

Alternatively, patterns may use multiple shapes in a variety of sizes to create more complex or detailed motifs, like the Missouri Wonder pattern above, which uses a combination of octagon, squares, and two different diamond shapes.


EPP can also be used to make applique designs, like the umbrella on my Rainy Day Friends quilt. The segments of the applique design are pieced together using the EPP method, before being stitched onto the background fabric.

While it is generally considered to be a traditional method, EPP can be made more modern by incorporating elements of modern quilt design. Asymmetry, high contrast, and large areas of negative space are a few common characteristics of modern quilt design. If following a traditional pattern, it can be adapted to a modern style through colour placement and the use of modern prints.



English Paper Piecing Templates


Templates are a necessary part of the EPP method. Generic templates for regular shapes such as hexagons, diamonds, squares, and triangles can be purchased in a variety of sizes. If purchasing a commercial pattern, it should include templates and instructions for their use.


You can also draft your own templates using light cardboard, a sharp pencil, ruler, and craft knife. Draw one of each of the different shapes needed for the patchwork onto the cardboard, then cut them out using a ruler and craft knife for precision. These will be the master templates from which all the paper templates will be traced.


Regardless of where the template came from, it will need to be traced onto paper to use in the actual piecing of the quilt. The number of papers needed for each shape will vary depending on the size of the quilt and the pattern used.


The type of paper used for the piecing is a matter of preference. Some sources recommended a thick paper like cardstock, while others used whatever paper was on hand, including newsprint cut from a local newspaper. Experiment with what you have to see what you like best!


To cut the fabric patches, lay the template on the wrong side of the fabric and rough cut ¼" away from the edge of the template. For a more precise seam allowance, use a quilting ruler to measure ¼" away from the edge of the template and cut using a rotary blade.



Basting


Once everything has been cut, the paper templates should be basted to the wrong side of the fabric patch. There are three common methods for this.


Thread Basting Through the Paper Template: Centre the paper template on the wrong side of the fabric patch. Fold the seam allowance of one side over the template and finger press to crease the edge. Use a running stitch to pierce through the seam allowance, paper, and front of the fabric patch. Fold over the next adjacent side and repeat until all sides of the shape have been basted.

Using this method keeps the fabric and paper very securely in place. To remove the paper, the basting must be picked out. Papers will get damaged by basting and may not be reusable.


Thread Basting Through Just the Fabric: Centre the paper on the wrong side of the fabric patch. Fold the seam allowance of two adjacent sides over the paper to create an overlapping corner. Backstitch through the layers of fabric in the corner (but not the paper) several times to secure the thread. Finger press the edges to keep them in place. Fold over the next adjacent side and repeat until all sides have been secured.

If done well, this keeps the paper and fabric secure. The paper can be removed without needing to pick out the basting stitches, which are only visible on the back side of the patch. Basting stitches can be left in the finished quilt without being visible.


Glue Basting: Centre the paper on the wrong side of the fabric patch. Using a glue stick, apply a thin line of glue near one edge of the paper template (but not directly along the edge), fold the seam allowance over, sticking it to the glue. Finger press along the edge to make a crisp fold. Repeat until all sides have been secured. Allow to dry completely before sewing.

This method is the fastest basting method by far. However, the glue may make your fabric sticky, can be a little messy if not careful, and makes the papers difficult to remove.



English Paper Piecing Stitches


The most common method of sewing together EPP patches is to use a hand worked whipstitch. There are a few other stitches I read about, including the flat back stitch, invisible feather stitch, and ladder stitch.

Each stitch is visible to a different degree from the back, but invisible from the front of the project. Experiment with different stitches to determine which works best for you!


Regardless of which stitch you choose to use, keep the stitches small and closely spaced to secure the pieces. Be sure to stitch through only the fabric and not the paper template.

For thread, use a fibre content and colour that matches your fabric. You can see in the pictures that dark thread on a light fabric will be slightly visible on the front even using invisible stitches.


A size 9 or 10 milliners needle is recommended for EPP. Milliners needles are long and thin, making it easy to sew through many layers of fabric.



Making the Mini


For beginners to English paper piecing, the common recommendation seems to be to pick a pattern which uses only one regular shape in a constant size, like the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern I showed earlier. As a particularly adventurous beginner, I wanted to try something slightly more complicated.


I looked through Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns for some inspiration, settling on a pattern called Box Quilt. But the Encyclopedia is a compilation of traditional quilt patterns, not an instruction book, so I needed to draft my own templates from the information provided in the book.

The Box Quilt pattern requires only two shapes: a large hexagon and small diamond. I didn't want the diamond shape to be too small since I am still a beginner, so I drafted a 1" diamond template. I calculated that the hexagon needed to go with it should be 4" tall.

In my past experience making pattern templates, I've found that light cardboard works really well and is durable enough to stand up to multiple tracings. I like to use empty cereal and snack boxes for this!


For my papers, I chose to use regular printer paper. I have a lot of it in my scrap paper folder, so it seemed like a reasonable choice. For my mini quilt, I wanted about seven hexies and calculated that I would need 64 diamonds to fill the space between them.

I quickly got bored of cutting out paper templates and was anxious to start sewing pieces together, so I started by cutting out one hexie and enough diamonds to surround it. I basted all of these shapes using thread basting, catching only the fabric.


It worked great for the diamonds, but the seam allowances on the hexagon refused to fold tightly around the template. I assume this is because the sides were longer and didn't achieve the same tension, regardless of the reason, I made a note to try another method for the other hexies.

Since I needed multiple diamonds to assemble each side of the hexagon, I started by whipstitching the coloured diamonds together into star shapes. As I started sewing more of the stars together, I noticed that the length of the sides had become bigger than the corresponding side of the hexagon piece.


I wanted to confirm that the length difference was consistent on all sides, so I completed the frame of diamond pieces. When the hexie patch was placed in the middle, it looked to be about ¼" too small, with obvious gaps around all sides.

I think the reason my templates fit together, but not my actual pieces, was because of the difference in the number of seams. The diamond pieces join in four places along one side of the hexie, and the thickness of the fabric slowly adds to the length, eventually making a larger difference overall.


I redrafted my hexagon template to 4¼", placing the template onto my piecing to check the size before tracing it onto paper and cutting a fabric patch.

When I basted the larger hexie patch to the paper, I remembered that thread basting only the fabric hadn't worked well the first time. I decided to try basting through the paper template this time, which turned out so much better!


I sewed the resized hexie in place to confirm it was correct before tracing a few more paper templates for the other six I would need. I finished cutting out all the remaining papers and fabric patches, basted them using an appropriate method for the size of the piece, and continued whipstitching the patchwork together.

With everything assembled, it was finally time to remove the papers! The diamond papers were easy enough to remove without even touching the basting threads, but I picked out the threads anyway since I like to reuse them whenever possible. To remove the hexagon papers, I had to pick out the basting threads first, since the papers had effectively been sewn onto the fabric. Because of the long stitch length and contrasting thread colour, this was no problem!


With the papers removed, I gave the piece a final pressing, and my quilt top was finished!

English paper piecing has been such an interesting technique to learn, I really love the slower pace of assembly and I'm looking forward to making more quilts in this style! I may even try tackling a much larger project, but that will have to wait until the mini quilt challenge is over.

However, due to the slower pace of hand sewing relative to machine sewing, I was only able to complete the quilt top for this week's prompt. Since I've already made four quilts in four weeks thanks to making two quilts for the facing prompt, I'm still technically on track!



Don't worry Friends, I will be finishing this mini quilt! I've decided to continue working on it over the next week as I investigate the hand quilting prompt! I think hand quilting will compliment the traditional nature of an English paper pieced quilt, giving it the finish it deserves!


If you're not done with EPP just yet, check out the links below! Those references are where I started my research and are a great jumping off point if you'd like to do some experimentation of your own!


And if experimentation is something you're interested in, feel free to participate in the Summer 2021 Mini Quilt Challenge along with me! Check out the original Challenge Announcement for details regarding the rules and guidelines I have been following, but feel free to set your own pace and use prompts from your own quilt making bucket list!


If you'd like to see photos of my progress before the release of my post next week, feel free to visit me on Instagram, @vafibrearts, where I'll be using #summer2021miniquilts to tag my pictures! Feel free to use that tag in your own posts so I can find your summer mini quilts as well!


I can't wait to learn more hand sewn quilt making techniques! I'm really looking forward to what I'll be working on this week and I can't wait to see what all of you create!


Until next time Friends, Happy Quilting!

VA


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