English Paper Piecing

I love all forms of quilting, and definitely enjoy handwork. I realize handwork isn't something that everyone enjoys doing, but I want to heighten awareness of a wonderful way to create a quilt while traveling, during lunch breaks, while riding on a bus (train, boat, car), or while you are simply watching tv.

English Paper Piecing is a very easy way to quilt. It is also a perfect technique for a beginner quilter, and even fun for the advanced quilter. Plus, it gets easier when you use pre-cut paper templates by Paper Pieces (http://www.paperpieces.com./). It is amazing how easy and fast a project can come together using PaperPiecing.com templates and/or designs. And, after all, you can't always have your sewing machine with you all the time!

While it has been years since I've done any quilting using the English Paper Piecing technique, I found the instructions provided by Paper Pieces.com were very easy to follow and very thorough.

I had fun piecing their tumbling block pattern while traveling. I still need to add borders, but I wanted to show you how this wallhanging is coming together.




















To start with, I quickly pulled together some red/white/blue fabrics from my stash. I want this wallhanging to be donated for a fundraiser to benefit a Veterans project, when I finish. As I was in a hurry, busy packing for my trip, I didn't have much time to prepare a "project kit" to take with me. Fortunately the instructions were well written and I was able to quickly cut fabrics to match up to the paper templates provided in the pattern. I used a few small ziplocks to "kit" a 3 piece tumbling block with templates and fabrics in each small ziplock, while placing all the remaining fabrics, templates and pattern instructions in a large ziplock.

On my trip, I've been able to keep the small ziplock kits in my purse, where I also had a small pair of scissors, thread and needle. That way I was always ready to sew a tumbling block together, at any time (e.g. while in a car, at the beach, having coffee, etc.). As I completed each tumbling block I simply re-filled my small ziplocks from my kit stored in the large ziplock. Pretty soon I had all my tumbling blocks completed and began working on building rows, which soon became a quilt. I'm now ready to add a border, with fabric from my stash, when I return home.




















I'll post more info when I finish this wall hanging. In the meantime, I hope consideer making an English Paper Pieced project this summer, using templates & patterns from PaperPieces.com. PaperPieces.com. You can find some of their products in most quilting stores, but they definitely have more to offer via their website. And if you are looking for a gift, I also think their patterns make a wonderful gift for a quilting friend, or someone you want to introduce to the fun of quilting!