I was excited, and a bit nervous, about the block design for Craftsy's April Block of the Month. This time Amy taught us English Paper Piecing and it involved several steps and HAND SEWING! While I was not excited at the prospect of a needle and thread (I'm not a very good sewer!) I ended up really enjoying the experience and can't wait to do more of it!
The first block, well, both blocks actually, use hexagon templates to create the shapes. The first step is buying or making the templates. I got a great tip from the 'group' to use my Cricut to cut out the hexagons. By using the die-cut machine and heavier card stock, I could whip out as many identical shapes as I needed. Really fast and easy!
The next step was cutting the fabric (with a 1/4" seam allowance) to baste onto the template. This part was fun since the stitches were big and accuracy & neatness didn't matter. After that, each hexie was stitched to the next using a whip stitch to make the design for the block...the Hexie Stripe Block. Simple enough and turned out great! I even continued on with the hand-stitching and hand appliqued the stripe onto the foundation using a blind stitch (I already knew how to do that since it's what one uses to sew on a quilt binding by hand) and other than stitching the block to my sweatpants (hey, it was an awkward position and the light was bad!), it was very relaxing and enjoyable!
The next block is the Sunny with a Chance of Hex block - using the hexagons to create a sunny scene on the foundation fabric. Also turned out very well and it was nice to use the sewing machine this time to applique the hexies. I tested out a couple of stitch methods - blanket stitch, fancy applique stitch - but decided on the straight stitch Amy demonstrated. I went very slowly and carefully to make the job as tidy as possible and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Once I posted my photos I realized my grass was 'cut' crookedly and I'll re-do that when I get a chance.
So that's another 2 quilting techniques under my belt this month. I loved having control over my stitches with the hand-sewing and it just felt like less pressure. I could also take this project upstairs to join the family since I could easily sew while we all watched t.v. I can't wait for next month!
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