English Paper Piecing

 

The days seem to be moving at quite a clip this fall.  October could possibly be the busiest month for us in a long time.  We have an exciting family reunion with Tom's parents and siblings on tap this weekend in Dahlonega, up in the north Georgia mountains.  I promise you won't want to miss the photos from our Boot Camp weekend.  We are deep into costume, skit, and game preparation for that.

The end of the month we're taking the family to Blue Ridge, also in the north Georgia mountains, for a week-long get-away.  The countdown has begun!  Twenty-one days till The Glass Lodge!  Hot tub, here I come.

Meanwhile, the girls and I have completed eight great weeks of school since early August.  This is our ninth week and we're using it as a reading and creativity week.  We planning to pile the books, some projects, a big blanket, and lunch in the van and head to Hopeland Gardens in a little while to drink in the beauty of this crisp, autumn day under the sweeping live oaks.

Here is the project I'm taking.  This is a little something I'm making for a sweet someone special who joined our family by adoption about the same time as Caleb came home.  Tom's sister Beth and her husband Jack adopted their beautiful daughter Kristina from Ukraine in April.  This small wall hanging is going to be for her room.

The little flowers are made from an old classic quilt block pattern called Grandma's Flower Garden.  I decided to just appliqué three small versions of the block for the flowers and stitch some embroidery on it as well.  Maybe you'd be interested in seeing how English paper piecing is done? 

First you trace the shapes on freezer paper.  The paper has a regular side and a waxy side.

When the waxy side is placed on the wrong side of the fabric and pressed
down with a hot iron, it sticks to the fabric! 
It peels right off later without leaving a trace of residue.

You then trim with scissors around the shapes,
leaving about 3/16 of an inch seam allowance. 

Next, you baste the seam allowance over the paper, stitching right through the paper.  

These basting threads will be removed later.

You sew a couple of these together with a whip stitch along the edge.

 

And it looks like this when you flip it over.  

I have a whole stack of these shapes ready to take to Hopelands with me this afternoon.  It will be a glorious day, stitching in the garden while the children run as free as little lambs in the fresh air.  I hope you will find a few minutes or a few hours to spend outside today enjoying God's glorious creation.

I'll be sure to post a picture when I get this finished in the next couple of days.

Love,