Spooky All Points Patchwork Blog Hop!

This is the Halloween leg of the All Points Patchwork book tour...
Diane has really made this super fun, pulling together English Paper Piecers for different themed challenges month after month.  All week people have been showing off their Halloween themed EPP projects and today it's my turn:

Halloween Pentagon Table Runner

A couple years back, when I met my friend Eri, she was working on a blue and white pentagon pattern, alternating two fabrics and piecing together rings of 10 shapes each.  I was deep in a hexie addiction at the time and couldn't quite understand what you would do with all these little rings of pentagons, but filed the idea away under "cool" in my mental library and decided to try it when I had a chance.

Rings of pentagons, it so happens, are AWESOME for fussy cutting cute novelty prints.  I even played with stripes, which I'm not that comfortable with.

I made a bunch of rings from 1.5" and 1" pentagons and started playing around with layouts.  The boys helped, of course.

Once I had them where I wanted them, I marked a ring with my white marking pencil (I love that thing), removed the templates, gave each ring a good press, and pinned it into place.

Then, staying very close to the edge of the pentagons, I top stitched them into place by machine.  I stitched around the inner ring and up and down the points on the outside, removing pins as I went.

Once they were all securely stitched on, I layered, pinbasted, and quilted in "organic" crosshatch circle-ish things.  I like the light thread on the dark background, and I like how the round shapes play with the pentagon rings, but.. I think I might want to add some perle cotton stitches in fun colors somewhere too.  I've got 2 weeks til Halloween, we'll see what I come up with.

So that's it!  My contribution to the All Points Patchwork Halloween Hop.  If you haven't checked out a copy of All Points Patchwork, please treat yourself and do so!  The book is absolutely beautiful and full of ideas for how to add even small bits of English Paper Piecing to every area of your life.  Make sure to visit the other Halloween Hop crafters.. there's tons to learn and see in the links below~

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I love September

Since I was in junior high.  I clearly remember the pleasure I got from the crisp air, the sky the color of my blue jeans.  I didn't learn about apple picking until I moved to New England in college.  Actually, that's probably when I started spending more time outside, walking to class, wandering around town and campus.  That's when I started exploring (in so many ways).
So for me, September still brings that freedom, deep breaths of satisfaction and appreciation.  A desire to spend hours outside doing absolutely nothing but enjoying myself.
I hope we can go apple picking this weekend but I haven't spent much time researching U-Pick options on Long Island.  Suggestions welcome.

This week I had my last Home Ec. Club meeting with the Elementary girls (in November a new group of students can sign up).  We made these..

I found this apple coaster pattern at Purl Soho.  I liked that they were cute and felt and looked easy enough for my 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to assemble.  I didn't really want to make coasters though.. (I mean, how much use do little girls have for coasters?  Maybe I'm wrong.) So I scaled down the templates 75% and we made magnets instead.

I made some other adjustments too, knowing that some of the students have an interest but not aptitude for needle and thread, and we tried using tacky glue to assemble a few.  I also played around with stuffing them and painting on the seeds rather than stitching them on.  Trial and error, right?
The Home Ec. Club only meets for 45 minutes, but after all the students get to the room and I explain the project, it's more like 35 minutes of actual crafting time.  The paint didn't dry that quickly and most students ended up smudging it a little.  The glue worked out great though.  If I try it again, I'll definitely glue on felt seeds next time.
I like that I get to be crafty at work, share my knowledge and passion with the kids.  If there was a jr. high Home Ec. club.. you can bet we'd be doing EPP.  But zakka is so much fun, quick and satisfying.  I don't find much time for it in my personal sewing anymore, so I'm grateful for Home Ec. Club and excited about the next session.

Apple Cores!!! All Points Patchwork Book Tour

This is my stop on the Apple Core leg of the All Points Patchwork book tour~

If you have not yet seen this thick and amazing book by Diane Gilleland, please check it out.  Let me warn you though, it is HEAVY.  (in a good way)  Diane covers so many possibilities for EPP-- numerous template shapes and construction methods.  Even for someone who's been addicted to doing EPP for years (like me), there are inspiration and ideas in here that I probably never would have stumbled upon, so set was I in my ways.  Thank you, Diane, for putting in the effort to make your ideas so clear to us, and for writing a beautiful book and I'm very happy to own and recommend.

I wanted to try curved EPP but I knew I was a little scared and that there would be a learning curve (hehe).  For my project on this Apple-a-Day Hop, I decided to combine strips of apple core patchwork with Jeni Baker's Drawstring Bag, which I've made a bunch of times and knew I could trust the pattern enough to play around with it.  (If you haven't tried Jeni's bag pattern, I highly recommend it-- there's a free tutorial on her blog.  If you'd like it in different sizes, the pattern is available in her shop)

I was completely unfamiliar with curved patch English paper piecing so I had to read that section in All Points Patchwork a few times to wrap my head around it.  I figured out basting pretty quickly, though the thought of basting through the papers and having to cut it out later kinda made me queasy.  (you think I'm kidding?  removing the basting at the end was terrifying!).  Soon enough the rhythmic stitches took over and I was hardly thinking about it.  When it came time to join them together though.. I felt like a fish out of water.  Thankfully, the book explains how to adjust your usual whip stitch to adapt to the curves.  I gave it a try, but half the time I ended up doing some sort of whip stitch/ladder stitch combination.  This was a practice project, a learning piece.  I wasn't too concerned with how my stitches looked on the front or the back, I was just curious how to do it.. trying to find the method that worked for me the best.  I guess I'm one of those people who can read the instructions over and over but it doesn't make sense til I get my hands on it, you know?

Thankfully, I figured it out.  I realized too late that I was clipping my inner curves too deep, but this bag won't get too much wear and tear, so I'm not going to worry about it.  Next time around I'll be more careful.  I pieced two strips of 5 x 2 apple cores and then pressed the heck out of them and started removing the basting stitches.

Diane's right, with curves, your iron becomes your best friend.  I was so so scared when removing the templates.  I thought my seam allowance would flop all over the place.   The iron made a sharp crease though so with some gentle coaxing, the curves stayed curvy and the seam allowances stayed generally where I wanted them.

(I'm visiting friends this week and their kitty was very curious about my patchwork.. )

In order to adjust the drawstring bag pattern to incorporate my EPP segments, I laid out the fabrics I wanted to use and fiddled with the measurements a bit.  When I thought I had it right, I top stitch appliqued the EPP to the other fabrics in a row (just as Jeni's tutorial does with the main and accent fabrics), leaving about 1/2" seam allowance under the EPP parts.  I used lots of pins and my ruler and cutting mat to keep things straight.

Before assembling the bag, I trimmed the extra EPP flush with my bag fabrics and made sure to back stitch at all seam crossings when I sewed it together.

I followed the tutorial as written to complete the project and it came out just as I had imagined!  I'm so so happy I tried curved EPP!  And it was really satisfying to make a small project, not just jump into another huge long-term hand pieced quilt (yes, Travel Quilts #4, 5 and 6 are still under way..).

Are you ready to try curved EPP and maybe even some Apple Cores?

You can order Diane's book here
Get apple core templates (or practically any other shape) from paperpeices.com
and don't forget to visit all the other stops on the Apple-a-Day hop too!

There is a little giveaway as part of the hop too.. if you comment on this post (international entries welcome!) you will be entered to win a pair of Clover Patchwork Scissors.  Aren't they cute?  Giveaway closes midnight on Sunday, July 12.
(this is a Rafflecopter giveaway )

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I am headed off to Sisters today for my Quilters Affair class with Sarah Fielke!
Please pop over to my instagram feed (@jessica_alex) for a play by play of my time in quilting utopia!

Tuesday Morning Star Count 2014/43

No hexies were basted in the making of this apron..

 Or this skirt. 

 

On Sunday, I spent the day with our neighbors sewing doll clothes.  Wow.  It was awesome, and I'm glad for the opportunity to do that kind of mothering-crafting.  I don't make many things for the boys these days anymore.  There was a doll quilt for George's bear a few years back, but other than that.. I have been sewing for obligations, gifts, or myself.  I have plans for upcycled monsters for Christmas, but let's wait and see if I find time for that...

When I did find time to work on EPP this week I was often interrupted.  But oh, the cuteness!

Anybody got any links?

12 Hexies Blog Hop!!

Hexies!  Hexies!  Hexies!

What's not to love?  Even though I fell in love with EPP through 60 degree diamonds, once I started to hex seriously, I found that they're so soothing.  When basted to templates, they are perfectly contained little morsels of my favorite fabrics, portable, pleasing, playful..

Today is my day on the 12 Hexies Blog Hop and I've got a little tutorial for how to make a pin cushion with just 8 hexagons.  Though this is my tutorial, I can't take credit for coming up with the shape/pattern of the pin cushion.  I actually saw it on flickr ages ago, and in the comments of that pic, the poster referenced another blog post that she was inspired by.  Really folks, it's 8 hexies joined together.. there are only so many ways to do it.  But they go together so nicely and you can turn them into a really substantial pin cushion, so let's have a go at it--

First cut and baste your hexies.  I'm using 3 5/8" squares on 1 1/2" paper hexagon templates.  There are lots of great places to learn how to baste, if you don't have my book, check out this online tutorial.

Join the first 7 hexies into a rosette.  I tend to go around adding one "petal" at a time, then backtracking through the seam allowance to get back to the corner so I can join the new petal to the center.

I travel through the seam allowance on the back to get to another corner so I can continue sewing without cutting my thread.

Next start sewing the petals to each other, making the whole piece curve into a bowl.

Then add the last hexie to the "bottom".   When you're down to the last two seams, remove the last of the templates and whipstitch carefully along the edge.  Before you get all the way around, you'll need to flip the piece right side out.

Before you complete that last seam, insert a funnel in the hole and fill the pin cushion with crushed walnut shells.  You can get them at some quilt shops and most large pet supply stores (they are sold as reptile bedding).

Carefully stitch up the last part of the seam and smoosh it around until the corners have popped out and the filling is evenly distributed.  Then find two nice buttons and some thick thread.

 Tie a knot in the thread and push it through the center of the pin cushion and up through the first button.  Come back down and catch the second button, covering up the knot on the bottom.  Go through each button a few more times (3? 4?) then make a knot and bury it.

Thanks for stopping by my post on the blog hop!  If you make one of these pin cushions, I'd love to see it!  And don't forget to visit the rest of the blogs on the 12 Hexie Hop!

CraftyPod

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