Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
The other day I showed you the latest results in my EPP piece. As I was taking the picture, I noticed a piece that looks a little odd.
Dots. Dots are the problem. That violet with white dots fabric n the middle is weird looking. Something about the dots intersecting with the white is unconventional.
The papers are out so I can’t rip it out. I’ll leave it and see if anyone notices.
The other day I showed a piece of the Half Hexie EPP I was working on. I have spent some time since then attaching it to the larger piece.
I often think I am in a good place with this piece, then I look at the whole thing and realize I haven’t made the progress I wanted. That was the case when I looked at this whole piece as I was photographing it. It is still too skinny. I need to make it wider.
I have been thinking I would square up the top and bottom then make it wider. Somehow it just keeps getting longer and appears to be skinnier.
Fortunately, I still need some length so the work will not go to waste and I won’t have to rip it out.
As an aside, I saw an exact match to this quilt (except for the fabrics) on a Kansas City Star page. They call it Whirligig. Do I like that name? Maybe.
I am kind of thrilled that the Kansas City Star has a pattern for this quilt. I’ll have to look it up and see what my copy says about the pattern.
In between everything else I have going on, I have been working on the half hexie stars. I need about a million more stars, so I just work on them whenever I don’t have any other handwork pressing.
I especially need white background stars so I have been concentrating on those fabrics lately.
One problem I had with this batch was matching the centers. WonderClips, which has worked perfectly well before, were not working. They didn’t seem to be clipping strongly enough. My pieces kept slipping, making the centers off. Some were just a smidge. Others had to be ripped out.
Alison saw my double point pins at the last Sew Day. Someone in Rosalie Dace‘s class said I had to have them, so I bought some. Alison mentioned to me that they were for matching up points. I don’t usually have a problem in regular piecing, but since I was having a problem with the half hexies, I thought I would try them. They are not ideal, but they help a lot. You can see from the photo that I use clips and the double point pins. I am now using two pins and a clip. This strategy seems to be working.
I finally got one whole juggling ball to the point where I can stuff it close it.
I didn’t use the same method of basting I use with the half hexies. I only basted through the fabric, not through the paper. This was recommended by the All Points Patchwork author, Diane Gilleland. It doesn’t feel as secure to me, but so far so good.
The next step is to remove the papers, turn it inside out and stuff it.
As mentioned, I had to take all of the papers out before I left Portland, because the ball, as shown right, would have certainly been squished. I’d like to use those papers again.
As you may have noticed, I have spent a lot of time this week talking about handwork. That’s because I have been doing handwork. I had to drive to Portland (1468 miles there and back) at sort of the last minute to be with the YM while he had a second surgery on his ankle. I’ll spare you the close-up of the stitches and previous scar.
I did a few things while I was there, but no major sightseeing or anything. I spent a lot of time sitting around while he slept and making sure he had enough to eat. I did manage to visit a couple of my favorite quilt stores- one in Portland and one in Ferndale.
I have been to Pioneer Quilts and Stitch before. I was able to visit both because I grabbed the opportunities when they presented themselves. I really like both of those stores. Pioneer Quilts has a wide selection of fabrics, but they also have the biggest selection of wool felt and patterns to go with the wool felt that I ever seen. I don’t need any more handwork projects, but I couldn’t resist these eggs. Aren’t they fantastic?
Most of my gifts were finished and you will see them in the next few days after they are opened. Anything I had planned to do this week, the DH had to take care of: gift purchases, wrapping, shopping for dessert ingredients, tidying, etc. It is kind of nice to sit around. I feel a bit guilty, because I feel like I should be doing something. He did a great job and finished up some of the shopping, etc. yesterday.
I have been listening to books and podcasts while I drive and sit around. I got caught up on the QuiltFiction podcast. I am really appreciative of the sensitive way Frances is handling major themes such as race and independent women. I am seriously behind on other podcasts, because all I seem to do is listen to books. Recently I have finished all the books in a series. The author has several series that are related to the main series, which is really interesting. I am all about character development, so these multiple series, with their overlapping characters give me more of an opportunity to’ engage’ with the characters. I recommend:
None of these are great literature, but if you are looking for escapist entertainment, these are your books.
By the time you read this, I should be home and will have to dive into pie making.
I am absurdly pleased with how these halves came out. Some parts of sewing them into a 3D shape were not easy, but not too difficult either.
As mentioned, I used a mini-charm pack so the backs don’t look as tidy as my half hexies do. I don’t care. I am using pretty supplies I have. I also had no time to pick out fabric and cut small pieces, so the mini-charm pack worked well.
After writing the recent EPP book review, I saw my DH trying to teach my niece to juggle. Since then DH has started to practice juggling again. He used to be able to juggle pins with a friend. He doesn’t have many hobbies, so I am glad he is doing this.
All Points Patchwork has a pattern/guidelines for EPP balls using pentagon shaped papers. I bought some pentagon papers, grabbed a mini-charm pack and decided to start on some juggling balls for my niece. I plan to put some Beanie Baby pellets inside when I stuff them in order to give them a little weight.
I plan to make a bag for storage. I’d love to have them done by Christmas, but that is a little ambitious. We’ll see.
I haven’t talked about this project in a long time. I have been working on bunches of EPP stars. It wasn’t until last week that I actually put some of them together in groups and then attached them to my big piece.
I also laid the whole piece out on the bed and found that I have to double the size to make it even begin to fit our bed. I am feeling a little daunted by that effort with all of the other hand projects I have. Still, my friend Faye said that I have to think about this project as a long term, slow project.
There is a certain amount of satisfaction in getting even a few bits of this top done. When I add 4 stars to the larger piece, it feels good. It feels like I am making progress.
This is another project where I find that there are not enough colors in the rainbow. I guess I’ll have to think of it as a design challenge.
I’d love to say this piece was in the finishing process, but it is so far from the finishing process that lying wouldn’t even cover what I was doing. I am, however, working on this piece. It is slow going, which is fine when I don’t have other handwork that I must do.
Recently, I bought papers to fill in the border of the half hexie piece. I needed some triangles and some diamonds. I want to create a full stop at least on one side, so I picked out a dark grey (charcoal) with small white dots and basted some pieces. The fabric is not a pin dot.
It is a little bit of a shift to insert these extra shapes, but I got into it. It is kind of funny to see the edge done. I wonder if the grey is too dark considering the overall cheerful look of the piece.
I plan to put another straight border on the sides, once I get all the diamonds and triangles attached.
I have been working on the half hexie stars a tiny amount. They take a long time, as I have said.
I finally was able to cut some more backgrounds, so I have been focusing on making background stars. I’ll have to see when I can add more stars to the larger piece. Making the individual stars is fairly easy, though not completely mindless. I do have to really pay attention when I am adding stars to the larger piece.
I have to admit I am losing steam on this project. I’d like to finish it and get it over with, but that means I have to work on it and I haven’t been.
I kind of screwed up on the side I had designated as the definite edge (left side). I need to make one side and edge and put the triangles on so I don’t put a star where it shouldn’t be.
I am feeling the urge to add some more stars so perhaps the time is coming soon.
Recently I talked about using the flat back stitch for EPP. I have been using it and finding that it works well. I wasn’t always 100% happy with the WonderClips, however. It is probably the one time I don’t find the WonderClips gripping hard enough.
I have heard that some artists use tape to hold the pieces in place while stitching with the flat back stitch.
I started out with Scotch Tape. It was ok, but I could only use the tape once. Mailing tape – the clear kind – was a little better.
I didn’t have any masking tape, which I think would be the best, so I tried blue tape and it works pretty well. I can re-position it about 3 times before it gives out.
Still, I am pretty happy with the results. It is easier to keep the stars, or half hexies, in place while I sew.
I really like this pattern even though it gave me a few fits before I finished it.
I found this pattern somehow. It is free (for personal use only) from Zen of Making*. I wish I had thought of the name, because there is something zenlike about making and the name is cool.
Anyway.
The travel kit is part of a three part series, which includes a lesson on making the hexie flowers. The final piece is making a pincushion out of smaller hexies to use with the EPP Kit. I had plans to make that as well, but ran out of time.
This travel kit is awesome and the problem I had really had nothing to do with the pattern, but with the supplies I had on hand. I hand on hand, and wanted to use, some sew-in invisible magnet closures. Sara of Sew Sweetness uses these in a lot of her patterns and I find I have better success with them than the models with the ‘legs’ used in this pattern.
The closure is pretty awesome. I love the way the hexie flowers stick together. Very clever.
Once I figured out how to get the sew-in magnetic closures oriented in the right direction, the assembly went pretty smoothly. There is a lot of handwork in this pattern, which I wasn’t expecting.
The open look (right, slightly above) is a little odd. I think it might be because of the scrappiness of the whole piece. I think I should have used a backing for the flap hexie flower that matched the hexie flower (the one with leaves and a turquoise center). I do kind of like the scrappy look. I think I will make one that looks like a Dia de los Muertos celebration for a different friend. I definitely want to try different colors.
Altoids tins fit nicely inside and Haley (blog owner/designer) calls for two of them for this project. I had to scrounge them up. I put a piece of felt in the bottom of each tin to make them less rattly and a little nicer.
I cut and added some 5″ squares, and an EPP book to make the kit look full and fun.
*It appears that the name of the blog has changed to Red Handled Scissors. Not sure why, but the pattern is still there.
About a week ago, I showed you my big English Paper Piecing project. I have been working on it quite a bit and am showing it again with its new and attractive bulge on the lower right. I have thought about EPP a lot in the past week, wondering why I am enjoying it so much. I don’t suppose I really need a reason, but I do wonder.
What I have come up with is that I enjoy handwork, but something like needleturn applique’ isn’t really my thing. EPP provides a convenient type of handwork that is pretty different from machine work. Why would I hand piece something I can easily machine piece?
For a challenge?
Yes.
After a few blocks, however, it is no longer a challenge.
EPP is handwork, but it is different enough in process to fill a hole. It is also strangely convenient and can be the catalyst for creating amazing designs. Have you seen La Passacaglia?
On my half hexie piece, I have been working on making dots on white half hexie stars and I am making progress with my next two rows (one with a white background and one with fabrics prints in colors.
I have to admit being a little sick of this project and wanting it finished. I have a long way to go before it is finished, however. Learning something new about basting at the last guild meeting reinvigorated me and I can’t wait to try it with my half hexies.
I have done a little more on this piece since I took the photo, but it is slow going so not much.
Despite my protests yesterday that I wasn’t in a rush to finish this piece, I really do want to finish it so I can start the La Passacaglia. Having two large EPP projects seems ridiculous and I only have a certain amount of handstitching time, so focus is the requirement.
My big push now is to make dots on white stars. I need a lot of them and can’t move forward without them. I think I have three in process, but a number of strips cut, waiting.