More EPP… I Can’t Seem To Stop!

I bought some beautiful Phillip Jacobs fabric for the purpose of creating an EPP quilt  (English paper piecing). I used hexagons and created quite a few flowers, but I didn’t like the business of the two prints together. So I got another idea and only used the lettuce print with a leaf print. I’m not finished yet, but I am sure happy with how it’s turning out.

I hand appliqued all the pieces to the black and then embroidered ferns. I am really enjoying all the hand work. My art quilt friends can’t believe I’m doing all this hand work. But as I have stated before, it is so addicting. I have spent time this weekend quilting it by machine but I haven’t finished it yet. So more later.

English Paper Pieced Runner Finished

Here is my finished EPP table runner. Completely hand done and I loved every minute of making it. I used the backing for my binding by rolling it toward the front and hand sewing it down. I never would have believed how relaxing it was to learn to hand quilt. I’m ready for more. As for my EPP flag, it won first place. It now hangs ready in my home for the 4th of July festivities!

My Improvised English Paper Piecing

 

I am still working away on new things with English Paper Piecing. I think I need a support group. It is so addicting and yet relaxing.

I decided to make a table runner and even plan to hand quilt it. I am actually excited about the thought of meticulously running a needle through each hand pieced shape in coordinating color quilting threads. Only you quilters know the feeling I am trying to portray. Ahhhhhh. I started this runner by ordering two shapes of paper pieces. One is the 2 inch 8 point diamond and the other is the 2 inch half triangle. I get my papers from Paper Pieces.com . They have it all. I also ordered the clear acrylic shapes in the same sizes as listed so I can” fussy”cut the center diamond circles. They ship very fast and have great service. I usually call them to order because they can really help with any advice you need. “Fussy” cutting is a way to put a pattern just where you want it in the shape that you are using . The clear acrylic shapes have a 3/8 in border on them so you know just where the pattern is going to show.

I first created 3 blocks that I plan to put on point. Then I needed to figure out my background. So I decided to mimic the same pattern that my blocks were made in just in solid grunge fabric.” Grunge ” is my go to fabric in most of my quilts. It is my favorite solid with just a bit of grunge color swiped across it to give it a kind of dirty look. I use it in art quilts and now my English Paper Piecing. Grunge is made by “Basic Grey”. It comes in many colors and they put out new seasonal fabrics several times a year.

The block on the right shows the fussy cutting I did to get the center of the flowers and make them all go in the same direction. It gives you somewhat  of a kaleidoscope effect.

I love to work with crackle paint fabrics, wood grain and grunge fabric. It gives me a rustic cottage feel which is how I decorate my house. So here is a peek at what I am doing now. I will show you the finished result later. EPP on!

 

English Paper Piecing Flag Project

Well I am just back from a quilt retreat for 4 days and boy did I have fun. 43 women just quilting away, laughing and eating. It was wonderful! I made some real headway on my flag, so I thought I would share. This photo is prior to leaving for quilt camp.

When I got home I stamped my white hexies with mustard fabric paint so the stars would pop.

I am really happy with the color I chose. More later.

Here is the progress in the past few days.

Some English Paper Piecing

I am back into a little English Paper Piecing at the moment along with my other quilting. If you haven’t tried it…you must. It is addictive. English paper piecing is such a great take-a-long project. It requires minimal equipment and is completely portable. It can have an  old fashioned vibe or go with the new modern quilting rage. I had a flag on my mind and remembered seeing one in a book called Hex A Go Go. So that is my inspiration. You will need the paper pieces to make these quilts. Some people make them, but I just get them from a company called Paper Pieces. This is their website. http://www.paperpieces.com/. They have so many sizes and shapes. Check Pinterest out for English Paper Piece quilts for some ideas if you are not sure what these quilts look like.

English paper piecing is created by basting fabric around these sturdy paper shapes. Then they are pressed so they have nice crisp edges. You simply sew them together by hand with tiny stitches. I have never been much of a hand piece person , but this really is addictive. It’s relaxing and something nice to do while watching TV with the hubs…like weeks of March Madness! You can use scraps or buy more fabric. Oh boy :).

My mother has turned into an English Paper Piece quilter almost exclusively lately. She is the one that taught me the secret of the squeeze clips. They are worth the purchase. The nice thing about this method is that you  can switch off between cutting fabric, to clipping the  fabric to the paper, to basting or sewing together. So you never get bored and you can give your hands a rest.

I am in the process of getting enough pieces basted so I can start the blue area of the quilt first.

I will keep you informed on the progress of this American Flag inspiration.

Winter From *&#@ In Tennessee

Is everyone enjoying this wonderful winter. I know I am….not. I had cabin fever really bad and had to leave the cabin. I told Roger that I would be a changed woman when I came home. So I bought some nice blonde hair color and gave my winter mousey hair a lift. It worked. I feel better and my hair feels more full and springy. I’m growing it out for the last time before I turn 60 in July. It  is not easy growing your hair long anymore. But so far I am sticking to it. Oh…I also did some therapeutic shopping with my friend Caroline and brought home some springy- summer colored tops. It has started to snow again and I hid the razor blades. Just kidding.

I have been sewing like a crazy woman. Making blocks from scraps and piling them up for a future quilt. I have started a collage quilt that will be a garden trellis of Morning Glories. It is one that I use tiny scraps of batiks to create the fabric painting. When I’m done, it will be thread painted in detail and listed in my new Etsy Shop… Pam George Quilts. I still have my jewelry in the shop with greatly reduced prices. I will still carry fabric cuff jewelry and anything that has to do with fibers. Check out my shop at the same site for a month or so or click here https://www.etsy.com/shop/PamGeorgeQuilts?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Happy Winter to you all. We are supposed to be 61 by Tues. 😉

P.S.

  When I woke up this morning and before I posted the above, we got even more snow. And Mother Nature reminded me of how beautiful she is…even in the South. And I do appreciate her beauty. And I hold in my heart that it will be 61 by Tues.

Now Melt!

Embellishing My Jean Jacket

Most of you know I am an art quilter. I paint, collage and thread paint my quilts. I’ve never been much of a traditional quilter. But let me tell you…English paper piecing is addictive!! I picked up these little paper kits free at many quilt shows and thought oh that’s nice. Then I watched a demo at the Paper Pieces booth at one of the AQS shows and was hooked. My mother is addicted too. It’s nice to share addictions with those you love. 🙂 I’m not going to show you a detailed class on how to do this, but if you are looking for a total portable way to quilt on vacation or visiting the kids, go to their site and you will learn lots. They sell every kind of paper to create these little marvels. It’s kind of a light weight card stock that you baste your fabric around them, press and starch, and then hand stitch together. Check it out or go to your local quilt shop and they will give you a lesson.

I keep a little kit together of everything you see above plus threads in neutrals, needles and my fabric choices. Easy peasy.

Us quilters create things that we think, OK, what am I going to do with this now. I put together these English paper pieced fussy cut flowers and stopped myself to get a plan. I love denim jackets. I have bought 2 at resale shops that are my go to jackets come cooler weather. I love to wear vintage brooches on them and I am always surprised at the compliments I get when I wear them. Soooo, I decided to embellish the back of a jacket.

This is the back side of a flower. You can see the 1 1/2 inch paper pieces inside. You can also see the basting stitches that keeps the fabric snugly around each piece. The next step is starching.

Everyone raves about Best Press. It leaves no residue and smells great. I spray and press each basted flower. The next part is removing the basting and removing the paper pieces. They are reusable. You don’t baste through the paper, just the fabric.

Here are the flowers without the paper. See how they keep their shape? You can use any spray starch you like. I just have been using Best Press lately.

Now for pinning the flowers on the back of my jacket. I had some doilies that I had picked up at a yard sale, so I added those too.

Simply pin your collage to the back of the jacket. I sewed inside the center of each middle hexagon. Then I sewed the outer edge of the flower. Then I used straight and zig zag stitches to sew the doilies down.

And here is the completed jacket. I am so happy with it. I plan to embellish a few more. I’ll do something different with the others.

I added some extra doily to the inside of the pocket flap and left it loose. I used to wear the brooch on my collar, but now it looks great with the doily.

We would love to see some clothing embellishment ideas from you. We’ll even put them on the blog. Lets see what you can come up with. Have a great day.

Where Have I Been For So Long???!

I bet you have wondered where the heck I have been. I think my last post was Dec. It was a long winter for me with several health problems and on the other side the excitement of our first born grand baby…Oliver! I am feeling great now and I am loving being a grandmother. We have been out several times before the birth, during the birth and after. I wanted to leave space for posts for Lindsey to write about this little miracle of theirs and his growth and development. It just seemed right to give her the reins alone. I do have to say, she was such a wonderful daughter to include me in the delivery room. She was a trooper and it was beyond wonderful to watch the birth of my grandchild. Chad is a fabulous father and took over diaper changing and soothing little Oliver during fussy times  from the get go. They are both wonderful parents and in love with their boy. Ollie…not so much. She just hangs around and kind of puts up with him. She does like to sit in the nursery when Linds is feeding Oliver. I have to say it… your heart really melts when it comes to grandchildren. Everyone told me you won’t realize it until it happens and they were so right.

I have been busy with my quilting and added weaving to my repertoire. I have worked in the gardens and the spring flowers are beautiful this year. Rog and I learned to kayak today. A company comes to Tellico Village with all their various types and styles of kayaks. It’s a great way to try out different boats and see which one you like. We are very excited and loved paddling in the lake today. We are now on the lookout for used kayaks. We plan to join the club and do a bit of traveling with them to various lakes and rivers. I think it will be a fun way to exercise.

Well Lindsey has been after me to make a post. So I have now reconnected. So bye for now from Grandma G!

 

One of my latest quilts that I made for Kenya.

 

 

A New Quilt In Progress … A New Method

My brother , Steve and Bridgett were here to visit in October. He once was a professional photographer, so when we get together we both have the cameras out and share all our pics. When he showed me this particular photo of a friends dog swimming with a stick, I knew that would be my next quilt. The subject has to grab me and this one did. Her name is Willow. She is a German Shepard. So I asked my brothers permission to let me make a quilt from this photo of his for the purpose of entering shows. He was very happy to let me do it and the quilt will go to him when I’m done entering shows. This is the photo.

This is Steve and Bridgett

And here is the start of the quilt. It is a method by the well known quilt artist Susan Carlson. You actually create your quilt by painting with bits of scraps of fabric and a dot of glue. You place glue in the center of the piece of fabric so you can tuck other pieces under each piece. When you are satisfied…you glue it all down with Aileens fabric glue. I have done several smaller quilts in this manner. This has a lot more area to fill. I really enjoy this method though. I keep a set of binoculars nearby to check my work. Some people use a reducing glass, but  I use the binoculars  backwards to view the quilt. The backwards binoculars blends the colors for you and gives you a great view of how things are looking all together.  I also take photos along the way for the same purpose. You can find areas that need changes so easily that way. Try it and let me know how you like it.

I draw my design on white or black, depending on your design. I start in the middle and work my way out. It sure makes a mess on the floor and I drag stuff all over the house, but it’s what I do. No worries!

You can see more detail here. The eyes always bring a quilt to life.

Now the stick is in place.

Now the water. The darkest water is in the front of the dog where all the turbulence takes place with swimming and pushing a large stick through the water.

And this is as far as I have gotten. I spend a lot of time staring at my design wall to see where I will add my next pieces. When this is all done, I will thread paint this quilt. That is where the real magic happens.Thread painting is my favorite part. I will continue to show the process of this quilt as it goes. Enjoy.

Quilt News

I am happy to announce that My “Fox In The Moonlight” quilt won Best of Show in Mixed Techniques, Wall Quilt Division and Best of Show – Viewers Choice in the  Living Heritage Museum Quilt Show in Athens, TN. Woohoo!  I am thrilled. I picked it up after my vacation and he has a premo spot on the wall in our family room.  I am always so happy to get my quilts back. They are like children to me.  I created this quilt in the spring and featured the process earlier on the blog.  You can see the creative process here and here.

He is my favorite quilt and I am thrilled.  Just thought I’d share the  good news. I have another quilt in mind and it is inspired by a picture that my brother took. Steve used to be a professional photographer and takes wonderful pics.  He is excited about this next quilt since he inspired his big sister.