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Filtered by tag ('english paper piecing')
The inspiration for this cute little book of plastic zip lock wonderness came across my counter from a lovely EPPer called Marjorie. She was in the shop topping up her collection of templates and she just casually flipped out her organiser like a millionaire flips out a card wallet at a swanky restaurant.
I was, of course, impressed and full of questions all at once.
I had been using one of those plastic boxes you buy from the hardware shop, with all the sections in it, but I found that my templates kept sliding under the fence. Escapees!!
Having given the contraption a good looking over, it was just a matter of minutes before I was raking around in my stash and rabbiting through the kitchen drawers.
I decided to use octagons as the main shape - I had recently posted some out for our road test in Septembers issue of Quilters Companion Magazine - but I hadnt as yet used them.
They are not as versatile as the humble hexagon, despite having more edges to play with! Their main co-ordinating shape is the square and right angled triangle, having 90 and 45 degrees in common with the octagon.
Having cut some crowns for an order for Jukejemas Quilting Barn, I was tempted to combine the two shapes and I just kept thinking about "King Octopi" - that's an octopus with a crown. ( Yes I really do run a business - hard to believe isnt it)
So here it is... the Octo Organiser, made to separately store your EPP templates.
The sewing of the feature applique is of course all done by hand, using your preferred method of EPP. If you are new to Eppiflex, check out Preparing your patches with Eppiflex templates.
When your applique is ready to be sewn in place, prepare a piece of fabric that will act as the booklet cover, by sandwiching it with some wadding and quilting it. I started with a piece that was 9.5" x 20".
I love free motion quilting so it was a great opportunity to practice. But crosshatching or just some wavy lines of quilting would look great too.
When you are done quilting, fold the quilted fabric in half lengthways and pin your completed applique to the front cover, making sure you centre it. Sew it to the background now using your preferred method ( for me thats an invisible hand applique method like needleturn applique)
Cut a fabric lining the same size as your quilted outer edge. This is the piece you will be sewing your ziplock bags to. Fold it in half so that you can mark the spine either with a pin or pen.
Your last two ziplock bags will be sewn at this centre marking and then covered with a ribbon trim.
I have used 8 bags in my organiser but you might use less or more.
Continue sewing in the ziplock bags, pinning them about 1cm (1/2") closer to the spine each time. (This measurement worked for the number of bags I had - make adjustments as you need to)
Repeat this process with the left side of your book, again beginning with the far left bag and working toward the middle.
Finish off the inside by pinning a length of co-ordinating ribbon over the inner "spine" of your book. Sew down both sides of the ribbon, close to the edge.
The rest of the construction is easy peasy as you are simply connecting outer book to lining with a binding. I cut my binding 2 1/2" the same as I would a quilt binding.
I hope you enjoy making your organiser - its a lovely quick EPP project , and I have to admit its something I use everyday ( but dont tell Richard, he thinks Im doing housework)
It seems the thought of attempting the mini EPP project is high on the list of "things I'll do when Ive lost my mind". Im here to tell you its not all that bad.
Once you've opened the packaging and had a little freak out about the size of the pieces, make a coffee ( probably NOT a wine) and gather your supplies.
You'll need some fabrics and a glue pen. ( I use the Sewline glue pen)
If you are going to make the La Passacaglia Mini, the only pieces that are relatively easy to fussy cut are the largest pentagon and the 5 point star.
I know what tenacious quilters are like though, so I can't wait to see who takes up the challenge and fussy cuts all the smaller pieces now that I have almost said it cant be done.
Separate all the pieces of your crazy puzzle, and place them with the scraps of fabric you are going to use. Ziplock bags are handy here.
Start by putting a dab of glue of the wrong side of the fabric and stick each piece down, leaving a seam allowance around the edge of each piece.
Give them a couple of minutes to dry. Have a sip of wine ( NO, I mean coffee )
Cut them out leaving a seam allowance around all three sides.
Swipe a line of glue along one of the seam allowances and then finger press it to the plastic edge quite firmly, making sure you get a good sharp line.
Repeat the process with the other sides
By now you'll be having one of those " I think I can actually do this" moments. The little star tips ( or isosceles triangles) that you see pictured are the smallest and fiddliest pieces in the La Passacaglia Mini Kit. If you can cover those with fabric then you've done the hardest part.
Keep using the glue pen to cover the rest of your shapes.
You can see they fit quite well.
"But what about the sewing?" I hear your cry..
Well honestly I didn't do anything spectatularly different. I use a magnifying lamp to do handwork and that will help in this case, but it isnt essential.
The enormous amount of satisfaction that comes from completing one of these little gems far outweighs the few fiddly sewing moments involved in its construction.
And you can always look on the brightside - the seams are so much smaller that they take less time to sew!!!
I hope this helps and that you have fun sewing your mini. xx
At The Quilting Patch, we have developed a technique we like to call "Starch Now,Sew Later".
There's lots of reasons to do this - here are a few...
Going on holidays? One hour spent prepping your templates at the ironing board will mean youve got them all ready to sew when youve got a little sneaky sewing time. You can even sew in the car / train / cruise ship.
Having lots of appointments? When was the last time you turned up to a drs appointment and the receptionist said " you can go right in"? Never? Me too.
Having your templates prestarched means no more wasted time in waiting rooms flipping through magazines you would never read otherwise.
Sewing tin too heavy? If youre hesitant to take your project with you because its too cumbersome, this little step will change your mind. If youve prestarched your templates, all youll need to take is a needle, thread and small pair of scissors. ( and the templates of course! ) I carry mine around in a small zippered bag. It fits nicely in my handbag, and Im never held hostage in waiting rooms with nothing to do.
What you'll need...
Eppiflex templates
Fabric ( or scraps that fit the template + seam allowance)
Fabric Glue pen ( eg Sewline)
Starch - premade or home made
Iron
Our Eppiflex templates are made from heat resistant film, which means they are safe to iron on a medium heat setting.
Caution : Continued high temp ironing will buckle the templates, they will still be usable but youll lose the accuracy you've come to love!
OK... so with the caution done, set your iron on a medium heat setting. We mostly use 100% Cotton for patchwork, but it will still iron well on a less than "cotton" heat setting.
Make up some fabric starch or grab your favourite premade starch. My favourite is "Best Press" but when I dont have any I make my own with "Silver Star" Starch which is still available in IGA stores in Australia. The recipe is on the side of the pack. Follow it AND THEN WATER IT DOWN BY HALF. The regular starch is too strong and will leave white flecks on your fabric and bits on your iron. You can easily store any leftovers in clean jars.
(I also like to scent mine with essential oils so if you have some, add around ten drops to a 750ml -1000ml spray bottle of starch)
Time to grab your fabrics, Eppiflex templates and glue pen... I am using hexi's in my example.
On each wrong side of fabric ( or scrap) dab a spot of glue and then place the template on the glue, centreing it, as in the pic below.
Trim your seam allowance to 1/4 " or 3/8" if you like a little extra.
Lay your prepared hexi on the ironing board and give it a little spray of starch and leave for a minute to let the fabric absorb the starch. If you iron it straight away all you'll do is iron the starch off the fabric The starch wont hurt the template, they wash up great.
Now fold each edge over pressing as you go. I find this just gives the edges an even sharper line.
Your shapes are good to store for later use. The starch will wash out, but for now it means you can throw them into your sewing kit and pull them out at the next sewing stop, be that an appointment or holiday destination!
Will they still need to be tacked??
This is a question I get a lot, and the answer depends on how you are going to sew them together.
If your sewing method requires you to bend the templates in half, then I would say YES to tacking. While starching holds the edges well it wont keep the templates from popping out under pressure!
If your sewing method means you hold the templates flat at all times ( eg ladder stitching) you may not need to tack.
My suggestion is to give it a go and find what works for you.
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