Since finishing my last English Paper Pieced (EPP) project earlier this month - The Floral Hexagon Quilt - my hands have been busy stitch, stitch, stitching my next EPP quilt. This time I am working with diamonds rather than hexagons and I am using beautiful Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric.
In case these units look familiar, I am taking the Liberty Stars Pillow Cover that I made in July to the next step with a few minor variations (smaller units and a different layout and joining shape). The Pillow Cover is from the book Quilting on the Go: English Paper Piecing by Sharon Burgess, and because I enjoyed working with Liberty fabric so much - and love having an EPP for evening stitching - I thought it might be fun to make a similar style quilt.
For my Liberty Stars Quilt I have added Liberty Tana Lawn solid fabric into the mix of small scale floral prints. Did you know that Liberty lawn fabric was available as a plain fabric? I only recently discovered the Liberty plain fabric base and thought it might be a good way to add contrast and a sense of calm. Mind you, the colors are bright and cheerful (also available in crisp, clean white!).
Plain (or Solid) Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric is available from:
I have completed all the star units for my quilt as well as all the half star units to fill the edges of the quilt. The plan now is to join the star units together with a hexagon. The background fabric (the fabric for the hexagons) will the same as the fabric that I have used for my Liberty Stars Pillow Cover: Oakshott Cotton - Scandinavia in Stockholm (Grey). This beautiful shot cotton and the luxury tana lawn fabric are a lovely combination, and both are a pleasure to work with.
And just in case you would like to see a photo of the back of the star units:
Click on any image for a larger view.
QUILT DETAILS
Liberty Stars Quilt
135 Liberty Star Units + 22 Liberty Half Star Units.
Papers used so far:
876 Diamonds (Six Pointed Star) with 1 3/4 inch sides.
Notions/Tools Used for English Paper Piecing:
Acrylic templates with a 3/8" seam allowance for cutting fabrics.
The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads.
When it comes to English Paper Piecing I am a glue baster and a whip stitcher, and when combined with the right (for me) needle and thread the stitches are barely visible - if at all.
These star units are ready to be laid out, arranged and re-arranged, and then joined together with a hexagon. I have yet to cut into the background fabric and therefore have a lot of cutting and glue basting to do before I can get started on the joining process. I hope to have more to show you in a few weeks.
Thank you for stopping by,
Rita
RELEVANT LINKS:
Liberty Fabric available from:
Book Reference:
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I know that glue basting is very quick but have only tried it once as I found it difficult to remove the papers afterwards, I also felt the the pieces were being pulled out of shape as I tried to remove them. Do you have a particular glue that you use?
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! Can't wait to see the layout.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing this with a background fabric/hexies.
ReplyDeleteI am also making 6 point stars, and will put hexagons between them. I chose to use 2 in. pieces for the stars because I already had the 2 in. hexagons from an I Spy quilt that I did for our youngest grandchild. I also do the glue method and the whip stitch. I am really careful to use matching thread, and my stitches almost never show. My stars are scrappy, and the hexagons will be scrappy low volume. But I have no idea of how many stars and hexagons I am going to need for a queen size quilt. Anyway, EPP is nice to have when we travel or when I sit down to watch TV. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.net
ReplyDeleteI switched to using Bottom Line thread on my latest EPP project after reading that you use it, and I like the results a lot. Thanks for that tip!
ReplyDeleteBoy, wish I'd read this first...I'm using white thread with some lovely pastel floral prints and my stitches show...but figure since it's my first go around and I'll make a table cloth to use for "tea parties" with my little grands, it's ok. Next time for sure will use the right threads! I really like the idea of the grey for the hexies. Still trying to decide what to use to connect my stars. Thanks for sharing your beautiful work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendations and all the lovely photos! I just love the Liberty Tana Lawns!
ReplyDeleteThis is epic. I love the colors and fabrics. Just incredible Rita
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to seeing this one come together xx
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