Quilting Diaries: English Paper Piecing - The Beginning
I’ve been looking for a portable crafting project for ages now. Since I’ve been housebound for so long, most of my projects have been things that are definitively not portable. Even though I knit, crochet, and embroider, none of those things have felt appealing recently, so I’ve left them alone. For a while I was hand stitching small dog toys, but I recently looked at the massive number of toys our dogs have, and I can’t convince myself to make anymore. I was really at a loss.
Eventually, there was a tickle in the back of my brain that kept repeating, “People hand quilt.” It kind of hung out in the back of my brain though because I was really focused on machine quilting. It goes much more quickly. Hand quilting was something that was still sort of sitting on the edge of feeling inaccessible to me. So I set aside the idea of hand quilting, and started down an Internet rabbit hole. There is so much information available, and it got overwhelming and confusing for me very quickly. Quilting has a whole set of terms that I’m not nearly as familiar with, and while I know what I like visually there isn’t a good way for me to beam what I’m thinking into the search bar to find what I’m looking for. I decided that I needed a bookstore. I already have a short list of sewing manuals that I want, but most of them are geared towards garment construction and pattern drafting. I’ve noticed that there is usually a section dedicated to quilting right next to the general sewing section.
I headed down to a local, second-hand bookstore when I was waiting to pick Cinnamon up from a vet appointment and went right to the sewing section. I like going to second-hand bookstores for things like this because I find older manuals to be much more helpful since a lot of what I like can be classed as “vintage.” I DID manage to find one of the books on my list, and then turned to look at the quilting section. And I stood there and stared. And stared some more. I tentatively pulled a book or two and kept being very disappointed or overwhelmed with what I was holding. While I was dithering, a woman came into the alcove and was looking at other books in this section. I’m pretty sure she was there for a while before I noticed her, because she finally pointed out a quilting book and said, “My daughter bought me that book last Christmas, and it’s wonderful. I use it all the time!” So I thanked her, and pulled it. It was precisely what I was looking for! We started to talk, and she told me how much she loves quilting. I shared that I had always thought quilting was this super amazing skill set that I just didn’t think I could do, but that I had made my first quilt last year and really enjoyed it. She looked at me, paused, and said, “There isn’t a right or wrong way to quilt.” That was like a revelation to me, and really affirming. As we continued to talk she was telling me about where she sees inspiration for quilting and also shared that she is predominately a hand quilter. That got the spark about hand quilting back in my brain. We talked for a bit longer until I had to get Cinnamon, and yes, I did buy the book she recommended. I’ll probably never see that woman again, but I’m so thankful that she took the time to point me in the right direction. It also gave me the idea that hand quilting was something that was accessible.
I did more research and came across the idea of English Paper Piecing (EPP, fussy cutting). I honestly had no idea what it was before. I was looking for ways I could use some of the cabbage and off-cuts in my stash. I also know that I’m going to have a lot more cabbage as I work through more of the garments on my project list. EPP is a hand quilting method, and is very portable. Basically, you use paper templates, baste your bits of fabric around the paper templates, and then piece those fabric-wrapped templates together. Eventually, you end up with a quilt top. This was exactly what I was looking for.
What I Chose to Do:
There are a lot of templates to choose from. Since this was my first project, I decided to do a hexagon (hexie) quilt. They are often recommended as a first EPP project. I know what sorts of off-cuts and cabbage I have in my stash, so I decided to go with the one-inch hexagons. As far as I can tell, when people are talking about a particular size for a hexagon in EPP, they’re referring to the length of one side of the hexagon. This is my first time doing anything like this, and while there are a lot of tools you can purchase, I wanted to use what I had on hand – cardstock and a printer. So I found some printable hexagon templates online, and began to cut out the paper templates. I also took the time to cut a template that I could place on fabric to draw out the hexagon with seam allowance.
There are three main ways that people baste the fabric to the paper templates:
Glue basting: You apply a thin line of water-soluble glue just below the edge of the paper and press the fabric seam allowance to it.
Thread basting (through the paper): You fold over the seam allowance and stitch through the paper and the fabric to hold it in place. You see the basting threads on both sides of the piece and eventually have to pull them out.
Thread basting (through the corners): You fold over the seam allowance and take several backstitches at the corners to hold the fabric in place. The basting threads aren’t seen from the right side of the piece, and don’t need to be removed.
I read over and over again how easy and fast glue basting is, so that’s the first type of basting I tried. I hated it so much. My fingers were sticky, and I felt like I was bound to my desk. It was difficult for me to not catch the edge of the paper, and the fabric was really stuck to the paper. At first I thought that it was a good thing. Later on, I decided that I hated it.
Next I tried the thread basting. I have a lot of random threads I’ve collected over the years, so it wasn’t like I needed to go buy something special. I felt like piercing both the fabric and the paper would be the easiest, and yes, it is. I also hate that method. I hated it so much I don’t even have pictures of doing it. I found the random colours of the basting threads distracting, and honestly, I use really thin needles. It was difficult to punch through the cardstock. Hooray for thimbles!
I finally tried thread basting through the corners. I originally thought it would be the most fiddly, and in some ways it is, but it’s the way that works for me. I find it to be satisfying and relaxing – precisely what I need for this sort of project.
Once you have the pieces basted onto the paper, you can start pieces them together using small whip or ladder stitches. I dislike ladder stitching, and whip stitching has always been really quick for me. You place the pieces right sides together, and catch two or so threads on each piece. The stitch is tiny, and when turned out, it’s nearly invisible.
What I Learned:
My goal for this was to have a portable, hand-sewing project. I think this fits the bill on both counts! Now that I’ve worked though a lot of the initial steps, I’ve learned a fair bit. Since this a project that will take a while, I’m sure I’ll learn more as I continue to update on the progress.
The first thing I learned is that cutting hundreds of small hexagons with a pair is scissors is miserable. Somewhere in the back of my brain I understood that I would need to cut many, many, many pieces, but I did not think about what that would actually mean. I printed the first or second template that I found, and the hexagons are set to maximize the number of hexagons you get on a sheet. It also left some white space around the edges, so each hexagon needed to be trimmed. It was time consuming and my hand got really tired. I’ve looked into other templates, but they leave even more white space on the card, so I don’t care for that level of waste. I’m contemplating purchasing a punch in the future.
The second thing I learned is that I don’t have to trace out individual hexagons onto the fabric each time. There are reasons to do this, but there isn’t one for this particular project. All my fabrics have small, repeating prints with no major motifs. I eventually pulled out my rotary cutter and mat and made 2.25-inch squares. That’s much faster than cutting out the hexagons, and is easy to store in my little caddy. When I’m ready to baste more pieces, I grab 2-4 of the squares and trim the corners (I like to use those tiny cabbage scraps to stuff small items like dog toys and pincushions. My tailor’s ham is entirely stuffed with small cabbage bits like that.). This makes me less crazy.
The third thing I learned is that I like having Wonder Clips and a seam roller on hand. The clips make it easy to hold the fabric to the template when basting; to keep the larger template attached to multiple layers of fabric when trimming corners; and to keep the pieces together when piecing. The seam roller is nice to have after I’ve just finished basting a piece because it helps to keep the piece very flat.
The fourth thing I learned is that I like a softer thread conditioner for this type of work. I’m fond of using a beeswax cut with just a little babassu or avocado oil when I’m embroidering. The heavier wax keeps the threads from tangling, and it also doesn’t allow additional oils or dirt to discolour lighter threads. I find that melting an oil into my beeswax makes it crumble less as well. For EPP, I like having a conditioner that melts at body temperature. I can’t make any recommendations for any kind of thread conditioners because I make my own.
Conclusions and Impressions:
Overall, I am really enjoying this sort of slow stitching. It’s easy to pick up and put down. Since I started this, I have been sick and under the weather. It’s been nice to have something I can work on while I’m sitting in bed. It doesn’t require a ton of thought, and I can feel productive when it’s too much energy to sit at a sewing machine. I know this project is going to take me a long time, and that’s okay. It’s relaxing and enjoyable. I like that I can use up the scraps of fabric I have from other projects, and eventually, I’ll have something very usable. It’s surprisingly satisfying.
What sorts of things have you found that satisfy you?