We’re well into Winter now here in the UK and with the nights drawing in it seemed appropriate to begin some hand sewing as a cosy activity for the long evenings when it’s too cold and wet to venture to the pub. With that in mind I have started some English Paper Piecing. Easy to do in front of the TV and a great stash buster for all of those scraps of fabric that are just too small for anything else. You can't open a magazine without reading about Hygge lately as well so this seems to fit in well with that ethos and I’m looking forward to being cosy on the sofa and being creative at the same time!
The more popular designs more often than not feature hexagons but I decided to use diamonds for my project. I’m attaching them together in groups of six to form star shapes with a contrast fabric to fill in the gaps and make them stand out visually.
The fabric I’ve used so far for the stars is some Alexander Henry cotton in the ‘Tatsu’ design. The scraps were tiny leftovers from a dress which I made a few months ago. I cut the pieces in such a way that I was able to save the bulk of the yardage that I’d bought for another dressmaking project and was only left with very scrappy bits which seemed perfect for some EPP. I think seeing as my stars are patterned I will choose a plain fabric for the background, perhaps picking out the red from the main fabric.
This will be nice slow project that I’ll pick up as and when I have time. I don’t plan to make it into a quilt, I think this will be a much smaller project but I’ll wait to see what inspiration strikes while I’m piecing it together. I’ll keep you posted with my progress!
Have you tried EPP? I’d love to hear what you made, share with us on social media.
Thanks for reading, back soon.
Fran