Tag: English Paper Piecing

I Follow, You Follow, We Follow

eli # # # # # # #

Last Saturday I noticed that I had 297 followers on Instagram (I’m lemonshark on there). I love Instagram because you can easily upload a picture of what you’re working on and get feedback from likeminded people. Anyway, I posted a picture of this number and said I was going to organise a giveaway of an EPP mini once I reached the magic number of 300.

Instagram

Imagine my surprise when I was tagged by Karie (karietkq on Instagram) who had posted a collage of some of my EPP designs and suggested to her followers that they should follow me. Within half an hour I had ten more followers and by the end of the day 46!

So I sat down and designed this mini:Giveaway Mini

So far I’ve done the first round and I’m in love with it. I really hope that people will like it too and enter my giveaway. It has some of my favourite designers and fabrics in it, Tula Pink, Denyse Schmidt, Carolyn Friedlander and, of course, some Kona solids and I’m hoping to have it finished by the end of the week. If you like it and would like a chance to win it you’ll have to hop on Instagram and follow me…

EPP Giveaway Mini

Categories: English Paper Piecing2 Comments

Fly, Butterfly, Fly!

eli # # # # # #

This little butterfly was designed with one specific task in mind: to use up even my smallest scraps of Liberty Tana lawn.

ButterflyThe butterfly finishes at about 9″ x 12″ when printed out at 100%. For my purpose, however, I printed it out at 75% as I wanted to make sure I could use up even the tiniest of those blue and green scraps. The antennae are free motion quilted in a variegated Aurifil 40wt (no 4669) which I bought to quilt my Churn Dash quilt. The butterfly itself was pieced with Aurifil 50wt (no 2000) which is a perfect match to many of the Liberty lawns. I appliquéd it onto a red cotton/linen fabric that I’ve had in my stash for a few years. I auditioned different colours for the background but found it nicest on the red. Funnily enough, when I popped it onto some white, the butterfly looked really washed out.

All of the Liberty lawns came from Ali’s shop Very Berry Fabrics on Folksy and I already have plans to buy more (don’t tell my bank account, I can already hear it groan) as Ali sent me some scraps with my last order and I’ve completely fallen in love with one of them. Sadly she doesn’t seem to have any in her shop at the moment but you can be sure that I will be stalking her in the next few weeks.

This is my third finish for Q1 of the FAL and I’m very happy about that. I really would like to make one of these butterflies in solids as I think it would look stunning in a rainbow of colours too but I’m going to be good and continue with my list before starting something new.

So far, I’ve made my EPP patterns available for free and I want to do this with my last two, Butterfly and Liberty Bloom, too. They just need a little more work before I can upload them to the blog. Hopefully, they should be done by the end of this week. Afterwards, however, I’m thinking of opening a shop on Craftsy or Etsy and asking for a small contribution for my patterns. What do you think? Would you pay a couple of pounds for my EPP patterns?

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing4 Comments

Liberty Bloom

eli # # # # # #

I’ve finished my Doll Quilt Swap 14 mini quilt and I’m really very happy with it.

The only thing I’m a little disappointed with is that I couldn’t do more quilting on it. Once I’d finished stitching in the ditch around the ‘bloom’ and the linen pieces my back gave out to me. I realised that I wouldn’t be able to sit at the machine much longer and therefore simply echo quilted around the bloom a few times. I quite like the simplicity of it, it really lets the fabrics do the talking.

Liberty Bloom

The mini’s progress was stalled when I ran out of Liberty scraps that were big enough to finish the last few pieces. I ordered a mini bundle from Ali’s shop Very Berry Fabrics on Folksy and it arrived promptly a couple of days later. Thank you so much, Ali, for such quick service!

The Liberty Bloom is pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50wt, my favourite thread of all times.  It finishes at 19″ x 19″ and has a scrappy Liberty binding which I am very partial to. I just hope my partner loves Liberty Bloom as much as I do.

Scrappy Liberty Binding

The pattern for this mini will be added to my tutorials once my partner has received it as I’ve named it after her. I don’t think she reads my blog but it’s better to be safe than sorry and I don’t want to spoil the surprise for her. One of the fun things about theses swaps is that you don’t know what you’re going to get until you hold the package in your hands.

This was another projects on my FAL list and I’m so happy to be able to cross it off.

Categories: Doll Quilt Swap 14, English Paper Piecing, Quilting5 Comments

It’s Almost Time

eli # # # #

Fat Quarterly Retreat 2013 is almost upon us and I’m joining in with the linky party here.

My name is Elisabeth and I live in a small village in lovely Cambridgeshire, England. I won’t be here for much longer though as I’m moving back to Switzerland in August. I usually look like this:Me, myself and I

(although I’m hoping to get a visit to the hairdresser’s in before FQR) and will be wearing this:

Name Tag by Leanne (She Can Quilt)

My fabulous name tag was made by the incredibly talented Leanne from She Can Quilt. She’s one of my quilting heroines so you can imagine how it feels to have a name tag made by her. That foundation paper pieced ‘e’ is 1″ square!

I’ve been sewing since I was a girl but only started quilting a couple of years ago. So far I’ve only made one quilt, although two are now ready to be basted and quilted in the next few days. However, I have made quite a few mini quilts and cushion covers. My favourite is hand sewing and I love drawing and sewing my own English Paper Piecing patterns. There are a couple of free patterns on the tutorials page if you are interested and I’m working on two more which will hopefully be added soon.

I also make bags. This one was made especially for the retreat with some Boho for Moda mini charms although I’m now in quandary as it doesn’t go with any of my coats or cardigans. I might just have to make another one…

Boho Bag

My classes are: Improv with Lu Summers, English Paper Piecing curves with Julianna and Joanna, Flexi purses with Tacha Bruecher and Hand Quilting with Mandy. I’ve got all my materials ready (except for quilting needles and embroidery floss) and have put my name on my mat, ruler and rotary cutter. Oh yes, I’m ready.

Categories: Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat10 Comments

Modern Mini Challenge

eli # # # # #

After a long debate with myself I’ve decided to enter my ‘Starflower’ mini quilt into the Modern Mini Challenge hosted by Ellison Lane Quilts. This little quilt is 18″ x 18″ and was made for the Doll Quilt Swap Round 13.

StarflowerI found a drawing of the ‘flower’ on the internet but couldn’t find either who had designed it nor a pattern for it so I sat down and started to draw out the pieces on a big piece of paper. The flower is English paper pieced and then appliquéd onto the white linen background. I then quilted it with some Aurifil 50wt by echoing the shape on the background and the centre and some stitch in the ditch between the pink and purple shapes.

The binding is slightly wider, finishing at about half an inch. I thought a border would be too distracting but liked the idea of using all the fabrics in the scrappy binding.

This was the first EPP patten I ‘designed’ and it was quite a challenge to get all the pieces to fit together and lay flat. It was quite a steep learning curve but helped me a lot with designing my next EPP mini, Athea. You could say this was the start to my obsession with designing EPP patterns. There’s another one in the works as I’m typing this.

Edited to add: I found the pattern, Girih Tiles by Endulzar, on Craftsy. If you would like to make this beautiful mini quilt you can buy the pattern here for $1.95. Although I drew my own templates for this mini I have now bought the pattern as I do not want to cheat this talented designer.  

 

 

Categories: Quilting, Quilts3 Comments

FAL – 2nd Quarter

eli # # # # # # #

It’s that time again, the time to fess up and bring out all the WIP’s to link to Leanne of She Can Quilt‘s Finish-A-Long list. My list for the first quarter was filled with small things like a sewing kit and some cushions which I managed to finish and one quilt which I didn’t even get out of the drawer it’s been banished to. So, as you can imagine it’s going on this quarter’s list. Right, here’s my list for this quarter:

1. Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ log cabin quilt.

Pink Log CabinsI’ve got four log cabins so far and will have to make at least another sixteen, I think. I’m not sure I have enough fabric so I might have to be a little creative and add some sashing to make the quilt big enough.

2. The Spring Carnival quilt. This is quite ambitious but I really want to bring it to the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July.

Spring Carnival ProgressMy biggest problem here is that I’m fast running out of the stripy fabric I’m using for the ‘background’. I believe I have enough for two more columns, then I have to decide whether to keep it that size or choose a different fabric and add a frame around the stripes.

3. Master’s Bag

Master's Bag

I promised to make this bag last year (hangs her head in shame) and only started a very short while ago.  I know it won’t take too long to make, I just need some uninterrupted sewing time which isn’t easy with Little Miss Bossy-Boots on holiday.

4. The Spring Version and Blossom panels.

Réalt Glas, Spring and BossomI’m not sure what to make with those two. I was wondering if I should turn one of them into a small quilt for the couch by adding a few borders and maybe making a bag with the other. Or maybe another cushion? Watch this space as I’m not sure yet what to do.

5. In The Woods

In the Woods FinishedTote pocket or doll blanket? The jury’s still out.

I think I’m going to stop here as I’d really like to finish everything on the list and there’s more than enough on there to keep me busy. Also, I know myself well enough that I’m sure I will start many new projects.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Finish-A-Long, Work in Progress3 Comments

In The Woods

eli # # #

I was playing around with TouchDraw, a brilliant app for the iPad that lets you draw patterns and design wonderful things. Thinking about Le Challenge (this month is ‘Geometrics’) I designed an easy geometric English Paper Pieced block, got a some lovely fabrics in muted spring-like colours and started stitching.

Tuesday was a lovely day here in Cambridgeshire so Little Miss Bossy-Boots and I spent it outside in the garden. While she was running around, climbing up and down the slide and playing with her toy kitchen (making yucky stews from leaves, flowers and some water) I took my scraps and paper pieces and got busy.

EPP in the GardenI showed my progress on Instagram that evening.

In the Woods ProgressAnd then finished it yesterday evening.

In the Woods FinishedEagle-eyed people might have noticed that I had to take the centre out and tilt it by 45 degrees. Actually I tilted it quite a bit more as I fell in love with the little hedgehog and wanted him at the top. Little Miss Bossy-Boots asked me to turn it into a quilt for her dolls. I was going to use it for a pocket on a tote but might turn into ‘nice mum’ and make it into a little doll quilt.

Anyway, in the end I decided not to use it for Le Challenge. I’ve designed a different piece which I’m going to make totally out of solids. I’ll post a sneak peek once I get going.

Interested in using the templates/paper pieces I designed? Click here to download In The Woods.

 

 

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing, Le Challenge, Tutorials1 Comment

Finish-A-Long: My Finishes

eli # # # # # # #

This Finish-A-Long, hosted by the lovely Leanne of She Can Quilt, has really helped me finish some WIPs that had been lying around for quite a while. My list contained five projects and I finished four; not bad going for me. Of course, the one project I didn’t finish was the biggest one, Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ log cabin quilt. I’m going to put it on the list for the next quarter and make sure I start with it.

I was really happy to finish my Hexagon Heart which I started in April and was destined to raise funds for my local cancer treatment centre.

Hexie Heart Cushion

The second finish was my Double Circle of Flying Geese, or Skein of Geese as I called it which I started at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July. Once I got home I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to remember how to foundation paper piece so I put all the bits and pieces in a drawer. Once I got everything out and got started I realised that not only did I remember how to do it, I also thoroughly enjoyed the process. It’s now sitting on my sofa being used every day.

Double Circle of Flying Geese

Two of my finishes ended up in my sister’s house: the sewing kit I made for her and the ‘Spin Me Around’ cushion.

Kris's Things

I realise that I only finished a few small things but I’m so grateful to FAL because without it I probably only would have finished the sewing kit and started a lot more new projects.

 

Categories: Finish-A-Long2 Comments

Athea

eli # # # #

Here we go! I’ve finally managed to scan in the templates for my EPP pattern which I have called ‘Athea’. Réalt Glas was made with the first set of templates. It was then I realised that I would have to re-work them as I literally had to shoe horn the grey pieces between the two green stars. This has made the inside star very pouffy. As this little mini was always supposed to live here with me, I didn’t really mind. However, when a few people asked me for the templates I realised that I would have to go back to the drawing board.

Réalt Glas Finished

Enter the Spring Version. I still had a little bit of an issue with a few of the pieces not wanting to slot in without a fight so I realised I would have to make another one. Enter a long ‘sigh’ at this point.

Réalt Glas and Spring

Voilà, Blossom! I really like how different the three versions are and I do hope that some people will use the Athea Templates. If you do, please show me your version as I’d love to show it off here as well.

Réalt Glas, Spring and Bossom

These templates were drawn by hand and are therefore not totally uniform. I do apologise for that and for the rather blurry picture of the pattern. Because I didn’t design the pattern with the intention of putting it on the blog I cut up the pattern sheet to make Réalt Glas. The only thing that remains is this blurry picture. You might think that I could have redrawn the pattern and you would be right but, to be honest, I’ve already spent so much time on this and have so many new ideas I want to explore. Furthermore, I’ve bought a wonderful app called TouchDraw for the iPad with the help of which I might even be able to give you templates that are accurate and all the same size. So think of Athea as a trial run.

Having said all this, if you do decide to have a go at ‘Athea’ and run into any kind of problems, please don’t hesitate to contact me (sharksdinner [at] sunrise [dot] ch) and I will be happy to help you as best I can.

EDIT

Here are the templates I drew on Touch Draw. Click on the link to download.

Athea

Categories: English Paper Piecing, Templates and Patterns, Tutorials7 Comments

Shining Bright

eli # # # # # #

I’ve finished my Pantone 2013: Emerald Quilt Challenge mini quilt and I’m very happy with it.

Réalt Glas Finished

As it’s name Réalt Glas means Green Star in Gaelic, I decided to quilt some wandering clover on the grey Essex linen. It’s not my first time free motion quilting but it’s still rather wobbly and I realise that I have to practice a lot more. I used the same grey Aurifil 50wt  (2605) that I used for piecing.

Réalt Glas Finished

Except for the centre, the star (stars?) itself isn’t quilted. I did stitch in the ditch around the grey pieces but left the green pieces alone. I could tell you it was because I wanted them to stand out but in reality it’s because the inner star was too pouffy and I was worried that I would have lots of little pleats if I quilted it.

Réalt Glas Finished

The pattern tweaking is still going on for this but I should be finished by this weekend. All I need then is a little help from Master to turn it into a PDF file.

 

Categories: English Paper Piecing16 Comments