I’m thinking about starting an English Paper Pieced quilt. This will be something I’ve never done before and I’m learning as much about it as I can before I jump in with both feet.
Why am I doing this you might ask? Well – here’s the thing – I have several large totes full of fabric scraps that I’ve saved from my previous business – and they all have some meaning to me. As many of you may know – I spent a lot of years running a business called OneMark Creations. I made Tea cozies, French press cozies, Tea Wallets, and other sewn items that I sold to tea and coffee companies. I enjoyed this work and loved the fabrics I got to work with.
While I am no longer making and selling these items – I have saved some scraps from virtually every single one of the fabrics I used over the 13 years I did this work. I have thousands of different fabrics. I’d like to make a “memory quilt” using bits of all of those fabrics.
I’ve played around with lots of different patterns and setting ideas but somewhere along the line – I realized that it might be fun to have a “take-along” hand piecing project I can work on while traveling or just sitting in front of the TV. I have played around with this technique a bit over the years – but never had much time to do a deep dive into it. Since my time is a little more flexible now – I thought I’d give it a try.
But where to start? Do I want to stick with Hexagons – and if so, what size? Maybe it would be interesting to try out a different shape. I do offer some shapes and sizes of the removable papers in my shop – you can check them out here: English Paper Piecing. Even so – I can’t seem to decide on one size and shape.
I know that some of you do English Paper Piecing so I thought I’d turn to you for some advice on where to get started. So – here are my questions:
- Do you prefer hexagons or do you like some other shape (diamonds, fans, etc.)?
- What size shapes do you find to be easiest to work with?
- Do you like the removable papers with the hole – or without?
- Do you like the shapes that stay in place – instead of needing to remove them?
- Do you use a glue stick or a glue pen – or some other way to hold the fabric in place while you are turning the edges under?
- What size seam allowance do you prefer?
- What other tips or advice do you have for me as I dip my toes into these unfamiliar waters?
I’d love to have you leave me any helpful advice you have in the comments below. If you’d rather send me an email – that works too. Just send me your tips and ideas to me using the contact form – Here.
