The Quickstep Quilt

So, I'm planning my next project already ... in my head and on here; I can't work on more than one english paper piecing project at once or I'd never finish anything.

Some years ago I made my Foxtrot Quilt - these are some of the blocks:

I loved that each component was stand-alone and then appliqued onto linen, as I really felt that progress moving along, as opposed to the TulaNova Clashanova Quilt which seems to build much more slowly, even though it's broken down into mini units.

I cut all my own templates and stitch basted for the original (never again) so this time I've decided to give Eppiflex templates a go ... It's quite the initial outlay, but as they are made of mylar, you can use a basting glue pen and are re-usable a bazillion times, I think it's a pretty good investment. I bought mine from Sew Hot Fabrics.

I started with the designer pack which has about 240 templates (it says 200 but there were more).

As you can see they are transparent (really annoying if you drop one) which makes them fantastic for focus cutting.  I also bought a 3/8" ruler to add seam allowances (from Lovely Jubbly Fabrics) cos, you know, gadgets.

I've since added 1 1/2" squares and crowns to the mix.

This is my current moody broody board (it's ever changing)

I still have a ton of gingham fabric in my stash and I'm enjoying this paper piecing lark, as it is a great wind-down from work, so I want to have another go. 

Please welcome to the floor, the Quickstep Quilt

 slooooooow-quick-quick, slooooooow-quick-quick

TulaNova Clashanova Quilt

This year's first slow stitching project, the TulaNova english paper pieced quilt started 21st March 2021. In celebration of my current #pinkhairdontcare mode, she's a bit of an eyeful, so I've renamed her TulanovaClashanova ...

I'll be adding to this post as I progress and then I'm planning a post on notions and mistakes along the way

Fabric: @alisonglass Cross stitch in Green and Ruby, 
@kokka.fashion_textile @missmelodymiller Mustang canvas linen, 
@michaelmillerfabrics Ta Dot from scrap bin

Fabric: Stars: @tulapink limeade & cosmo from @lovelyjubblyfabrics
Diamonds in @alisonglass #sunprint2021fabric in Cosmo Tuesday & Moss Tuesday from @thepurplestitches

Stars: #konasolids Parrot & Bright Pink from stash

Fabric: @makoweruk #makowerspoton yellow on green & purple on pink from @thepurplestitches

Fabric: Denim print - Libs Elliott Phosphor Alien Green & Glow Pink from @lovelyjubblyfabrics

Fabric: Pentagons: @alisonglass cross stitch in Garden & Ruby from @lovelyjubblyfabrics

Fabric: Inner Pentagons @robertkaufman Remix chevron from stash @alisonglass

She's giving me Nelson Riddle blaring brass arrangements:

Fabric: Pentagons: @alisonglass cross stitch in Garden & Ruby from @lovelyjubblyfabrics
10 point Diamonds: @tulapink #tulapinktruecolors hexy in Juniper from @cottonpatchuk
Stripey Diamonds: from stash
Stars: #konasolids Parrot & Bright Pink from stash

Fabric: Stars : #makowerfabrics spot on - purple on pink and yellow on green
Diamonds: @michaelmillerfabrics ta dot in Moss, pink dot unknown, all from stash

Notions: silicone bobbin hugger (great for stopping the unravelling) and generic snips from Amazon; @sewtites magnetic pins from @lovelyjubblyfabrics

Two more rounds to go ... I may be some time ....

The Foxtrot Quilt

This year’s summer’s quilt project was, as per uje, English Paper Piecing.  

 
I love EPP. It is the salve to my soul. I love the non-frantic repetitive nerdy geometric vibe.  I also love that my seam ripper can take a holiday too … I don't love that up until now I have never got to the finishing line with any summer EPP project!

I’ll get a better picture of the quilt top when it isn’t so bloomin daydark or pouring with rain, but you get the idea!

Deciding on something larger than a cushion, yet realistically finishable before the next millenium, this year I went with applique blocks. It made the whole process so much more satisfying and undaunting for me. 

This project has been through many incarnations … it started as a random gingham project, mutated into Katy@ ImAGingerMonkey’s Spring Carnival, swerved sharp left at Lynne@ Lily'sQuilts Georgetown Carnival ...

...  But then, after a freak eureka snack moment involving a piece of watermelon and a Poole pottery plate, it finally found its own rhythm … 


SLOW …

SLOW …


 QUICK ...





QUICK ... 

so far this has been an utterly delicious process ...… and now all that remains is basting, cosy evening hand-quilting and binding …


SLOW...



The Watermelon Foxtrot will be backed with the same plain grey linen to let the (possilby nerdy) hand quilting do the talking. 

Isn’t that just the perfect binding fabric? It’s Calypso - Leaf - by Maude Asbury from my LQS - Brighton Sewing Centre


Lap Quilt: roughly 55" square
Blocks: 14" unfinished
Sashing: 4" unfinished  
EPP: centre hexies, triangles & squares 1.5" -  small hexies: 1" - (side length)
Binding:Calypso Leaf in Grey - Maude Asbury
Kona & Klona solids, Heavy charcoal grey Irish linen, Cotton & Polycotton gingham, FussyCut scraps.


Yay!

Slow Blogging + Fresh Sewing Day = not much to report!

Well, it’s taken me forever, but I’m beginning to have some more energy.  This post is combining the wonderful Slow Blogger's linky over at Knotted Cotton with the equally wonderful Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing day:

It hasn't been a fab month really - what with hospital and pneumonia and concomitant steroid crazies -  but this month I’ve managed my Designer Challenge for Christmas Fat Quarterly – I think I can give you a sneaky peek:





Other than that it’s just been EPP really … I’ve been slooooowly working on my gingham project and I’ve finally started to applique them to wonderfully soft medium weight dark grey linen …

Some of the blocks are Lynne@Lily'sQuilts wonderful Georgetown Carnival 








… while others are just grandmother’s hexy flowers …





There are some square blocks and giant hexies too, but you’ll have to wait for them …



I also made myself a kindle sleeve in about 5 mins flat using some Echino and some gorgeous wool felt – exposed inside seams and everything, but it does the trick and looks great!




So much so that I started a few more for gifts … (but without the exposed seams this time!)





All in all not a tremendously productive month, considering this is usually my solid month for sewing, but I blame the steroids and antibiotics! They've pretty much rendered me useless other than very very slow hand sewing.


… go see what other more on it peeps have been freshly sewing here … or revel in some guilt free slow blogging here !

Brighton Wheezy …

I'm sorry it's all been a bit quiet on the Pings front and thanks for the emails/msgs, but I’ve been a little cut off from t'interweb. 

After a pretty icky 'routine’ trip up to Harrow for more ongoing tests last week, I then got flattened by a totally unrelated random asthma attack and pneumonia infection, after a long INSET day training teachers … which meant a few days unplanned stay in hospital here in Brighton. 

Entirely ironic that the ONE DAY I didn’t have my little portable EPP set (or my phone charger for that matter) in my bag is the time I end up in A&E and admitted to hospital! …

Time went very slowly on a ward where no sewing could be done and no external signals could penetrate … No phone, no radio, no hospital radio or TV, no contact! LOL … Just as well I wasn’t feeling very well!

I’m home now …


… and am most happy not to be eating any more of this … 

Why is it so impossible to eat healthy food in hospital? 

Salad or fresh fruit?  Nope. Not. A. Chance.

… most happy to be disconnected from these …

… and utterly delighted not to have to look at stuff like this …

 














But am afraid I’m not quite up to sitting at the machine yet as squeezing a teabag feels a lot like a full aerobic workout. 

So for the moment a little EPP is about all I’m up for. 



The one thing I miss about my little hospital stay?



Jelly! 

So cool on the throat …
… so totally nursery comfort pinktastic …

Must. Make. Jelly.




Peace. Out.






I have had some superfabtastic happy mail, but forgive me if I wait a little to post about the loveliness … I want to do it justice :)

Go Go Gadget Gorgeous Georgetown Carnival …

Yay!  I’ve made my first Lynne@Lily'sQuilts fab new EPP block - the Georgetown Carnival  … I’d been playing with Katy I’mAGingerMonkey’s Spring Carnival so I already had tons of papers cut … To see if I liked it, I decided not to adapt any of my existing blocks but to start from scratch … (the only proviso being gingham had to be included)



So, I raided my stash for deliciously luscious solids including Kona Aqua (the first time I’ve ever used it! can you believe it?!) and my last scrap of a Kaffe shot cotton in green/pink. 

The background fabric is a wonderful heavy silky grey linen from MLM (MyLinenMan)





I’ve been using my Go! Baby 2.5” strip die to cut my squares … it’s a genius way of accurately cutting stacks at a time. I can cram about 8 layers into this baby.

… ssshhh don’t tell anyone at Accuquilt, but I cut my hexagon papers with it too! I think the trick to tools like the Go! Baby is to get them to work for you, rather than have them sit gathering dust. 




I use the Go cutting mat as a ruler to precut my strips. 
I really don’t mind losing the little side strips of fabric you get as wastage.  I use em for tying tomato plants or parcels.


If I’ve got something accurate to work with at the start of the process I’m less likely to waste time trimming and faffing later …

TOP TIP Roll a bit of scrap wadding into a ball and rub to get all the threads out of the blade part of the cutter and the grooves in the cutting mat. Works a treat.

token cat snuggling fabric pic

As I’m going to be appliqueing the blocks onto linen, I thought it might be fun to try adding some hexies to the original ferris wheel … might cut them into halves.

I think the sharp triangles of negative space are cool, but not sure if I like it that much … I need to see it with fabric …

I’m away for a few days this week, so it’s nice to have an on-the-go project to pack!  And such bright cheery colours too … yumtastic!  Thanks for the inspiration Lynne …

I’ll be posting a couple of new Master Your GIMP tutes at the end of next week – including how to create a blog header from scratch… In the meantime, it’s off with the puter and on with the bikini thimble  … may your week be sunny ...

Through the Hexagonal Window …

No nerdy tutorial today as I’ve had a day of cutting fabric and playing with hexagons, squares and triangles!

I started piecing with gingham for Katy@ ImAGingerMonkey’s Spring Carnival a while ago and I’d decided that I was going to applique them onto individual blocks of some beautiful heavy dark grey linen, to allow me to treat it more like a sampler quilt.

I’d like to do a wholecloth applique, but I’ve read so many posts in the past from people saying in retrospect that they wish they’d pieced in blocks, that I’m as yet undecided.










I thought I’d try using the negative space of the grey a little more …






Then Lynne@Lily'sQuilts just posted about one of her annual summer epp projects – a kind of mutant spring carnival block – The Georgetown Carnival …




So, I just had a little jigsaw play with what I had already basted … I think it’s a wondrous good idea … and with some careful fabric planning could be just delicious!  Yay! I’m thinking a mahusive, many-rowed centre piece could look pretty funky too ...




What is it about the summer that makes us all rush to the EPP?  What have you got planned?