Tag: English Paper Piecing

EPP Ball #8 Finished

EPP Ball #8, one side
EPP Ball #8, one side

I finished the eighth EPP ball and will send it off to the owner next week.

I had hoped that this would get me back to La Pass, but so far it hasn’t.

The Beanie Baby pellets kind of gathered on one side, so it doesn’t roll very well. I have been trying to move them, but they are proving stubborn. I have to rethink how I fill these in future. I like the Beanie Baby pellets to provide some weight, but be evenly distributed. I am not sure what happened this time.

I do like these little balls and can make them very quickly for friends’ babies. 

EPP Balls #8 & #9

VFW Play as EPP
VFW Play as EPP

I have been playing too many games on my phone at night. La Passacaglia is languishing. My needlepoint project is languishing and my hands are hurting. 

It has been awhile since I made an EPP ball. I have two babies that would enjoy them, so I started two new ones. I thought it would be a good way to ease back into EPP and, possibly, La Passacaglia.

I found a few more charm packs while I was searching for the Handbag Sampler last week and decided to use one, Victoria Findlay Wolf’s Play fabric for the two balls. One of the reasons I chose that charm pack is that it included 24 squares, which is how many I need for two of the EPP balls. I didn’t want any leftover charm squares.

I was able to baste all of the pentagons I need for the two projects last night. I can start sewing tonight.

Brimfield Tablerunner Plans

Brimfield Block
Brimfield Block

I got a sample of the Brimfield Block at QuiltCon a million years ago. I might have bought the templates for one block. I can’t remember. It is from a company called Brimfield Awakening. I am a little put off by the name. Somehow it reminds me of brimstone.

Anyway, I finally dragged out this block to have some handwork to take on vacation. I have no knitting going, the needlepoint project is too large and La Pass is also too large. I came across this block and decided to work on it.

The table runner will be for our buffet and will comprise 3 blocks.

I spent the Sunday before we left cutting out small pieces of fabric, organizing templates and making sure I had everything. I was sure I would be glad when I could just pull a piece out and start sewing, but it felt like a waste of a day. I didn’t get to sew much at all.

One struggle was  that the illustration on the pattern cover was very distracting. I looked up some samples on IG and found a sort of layout I liked, then I rummaged through my fabrics to find my favorites.

I hope to show you some progress soon.

Finished: Half Hexie Star Quilt

Half Hexie Stars quilt finished
Half Hexie Stars quilt finished

The Half Hexie Star is finally finished and off to its new home.

Someone said that I must really like the people to whom I gave the quilt. I do like them, but as I often say: there is always more fabric. I like the people and the quilt was a lot of work, but there is always more fabric. The point of the quilt was to have something to work on in the evenings when I was watching TV and visiting with my DH.

Half Hexie EPP back
Half Hexie EPP back

Now I am on to another EPP project and the Half Hexie Star quilt will be loved in a new place. As an added bonus, I have  spread the joy of quilting to a new couple.

Half Hexie Star Returns

Half Hexie Star - quilted, not bound
Half Hexie Star – quilted, not bound

As mentioned yesterday, I got the Half Hexie Star back from Colleen finally. It is just in time to bind it and have it ready to give as a wedding gift. I am also pleased that I was able to show it at the guild meeting yesterday.

Colleen did a great job, as usual, quilting this. She said the binding of the two ends was the most challenging. I am really glad she put the first side of the binding on the quilt by machine for me. It will make the handwork much easier and get it done faster.

Half Hexie Star - quilting detail
Half Hexie Star – quilting detail

She used flowers and leaves as the quilting design. I am pleased with how it looks.

 

La Pass is Not Dead

La Pass in process
La Pass in process

I have slowly been working on La Pass, but I need to lay it out again. I didn’t take good photos the last time I organized parts of the border so I don’t know where to put the weirdly shaped pieces I created.

Most people will be horrified to see this quilt laying casually like this. Don’t be. Fabric is sturdy and we don’t step on it. I often fold it up so I can work on one section, but it eventually becomes unfolded and drapes near where I sit on the couch while I am at work. It is usually ready to go when I sit down to watch TV.

La Passacaglia Border Tiny Progress

La Pass border March 2024
La Pass border March 2024

I laid out the La Pass quilt in order to work more on the border. I am struggling this this section, which is getting on my nerves.

I don’t know if I want to keep those butterfly pentagons in that place or replace them with background fabrics.

I consulted with my friend Lindsay the other day and she has some good ideas, which I am contemplating.

Working on La Pass

Working on La Pass
Working on La Pass

The other day I talked about working on La Pass. I was feeling some kinship with women who worked on large projects in small spaces as I worked on it after laying out the border.

This is what it looks like when I work on it in our living room. The quilt takes up the whole coffee table and my supplies are on the table next to where I sit. In the photo you can see my Sew Together bag in the bottom left. A larger table would be better, but it works as is.

More La Pass

La Pass: fitting the border together
La Pass: fitting the border together

I finally started working on the La Pass Border again. I took the quilt and all the supplies to Sew Day and laid out the pieces for another section of the La Pass border.

As I explained, I lay out the paper pieces I need, label them, then do the basting and, finally, the sewing.

I am about to reach another side of the quilt where I already worked on the border. I don’t know if I am done with that side yet. If nothing else, I am finishing my first pass. I may need to continue and get to a point where I can add a straight piece of border on each side.

La Pass: possible border trimming
La Pass: possible border trimming

I am thinking of trimming. One of the good things about working on this at Sew Day is that I can lay a bunch of the piece out and see more of what I am doing. At home, I need to lay it out on the floor and at the moment, there isn’t space.

In this image, I thought maybe I had enough of a border. However, I think I may need to add more later.

It is so nice to work on this again after dinner.

La Pass Border Continues

La Pass bottom corner
La Pass bottom corner

Slowly, but surely, I am making progress. I finished the one side I was working on  last week and am now on to the next side.

You can see my Post-it notes** as described in my Border Methodology post.

In this corner, I decided to add a bit to the red star and put my border fabric around it. I’ll probably end up cutting some of the star off, but I thought it would look weird to have border pieces where star pieces should be.

Yay for some progress!

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.