Smitten Quilt - My English Paper Piecing Adventure - The final chapter!

I can't believe I have stitched the final hand quilted stitches into my Smitten Quilt.  This quilting adventure has take me most of the year but I have never more enjoyed hand stitching and hand quilting.  

When I first started this quilt - fussy cutting was not on my agenda.  I had only bought Fat 16ths of my fabrics so this mostly wasn't possible with that size of material.  However as the year went on and I got my hands on some larger pieces of fabric just perfect for fussy cutting I could not resit adding in a few here and there.

I have always loved Hand quilting and as I went along English Paper Piecing the top I knew that I wanted to hand quilt this as wee.  I tried to make the hand quilting quite random, some hexagons are quilted around all sides and some not at all.  

For Hand quilting I used Aurifil 12 wt threads in a variety of colours.  Mostly matching fabrics and coloured threads as I went.  These have a beautiful sheen to them and the perfect thickness for hand quilting.  I also used Tulip Embroidery Needles - Sharps.  These have the perfect flex and size to the needle for such a big task.

I came across this "April Showers" fabric by Lewis and Irene earlier this year and purchased enough for the backing.  As soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for this Smitten.  I then placed a few fussy cuts of this sweet girl into the front to tie them both together.

I am definitely Smitten with this quilt and I hope you have loved reading about my adventure along the way.

Happy Sewing 

Jemima x 

Smitten Quilt - My English Paper Piecing Adventure - Part 4

Time to prep some more hexes for my Smitten.

When I first started this Smitten way back in March - Fussy cutting wasn't really a thought for how I wanted to create my Hexies.  I purchased Fat 1/16ths for this quilt and of course this meant that the pieces were not big enough for fussy cutting.

However as I continued on I knew that I had to add some Fussy Cutting in somewhere in my quilt.  I raided my stash and found some fabrics that would just be perfect for fussy cutting with pattern repeats and large enough pieces to cut out large holes into the fabric to make these hexies.

With some careful cutting and stitching I am stoked with how these fussy cut hexes turned out and can't wait to add them in.

Heading towards the home stretch for the piecing for this Quilt - these Small Hexagons took a little time to cut and piece with the size of the smaller diamonds and triangles that make these up.

These hexes came together really quickly with only three diamonds per hexagon.

With all the small hexagons complete it was time to hand stitch them together to make them into Large Hexagons.  After some sorting, arranging and cutting of certain prints and fabrics to make each hexagon the right colour way I have made great progress on these Large Hexagons.

Each one I make becomes my new favourite.  So close to having these all pieced.

Happy Sewing

Jemima x

Smitten Quilt - My English Paper Piecing Adventure - Part 4

Now that all my larger Hexes are finished it is time to get well and truly stuck into the smaller sized Hexes for this Smitten Quilt.

One of the questions I have been asked about my hand sewing is What type of stitch and what equipment for stitching are you using.  I am using Aurifil 50wt thread in both #2024 and #4060.  Both of these threads are the only two I am using.  I love the white and especially the grey variegated as this works well across the darker colours.  I am also using Clover needles (Appliqué Sharps size 9) - these are nice and thin and glide so well through the pieces as I go.  I am using a small Whip Stitch to create each seam.

When I went earlier this year and picked all the fabrics for this project from Amitie Textiles I did not at think about fussy cutting the Hexes so I only purchased Fat 1/16ths for this project.  Which was great as it gave me the variety I wanted in colours and prints but I wish I had of realised that fussy cutting would have suited this project so well as I would have bought some larger pieces of fabrics that would look magical having been fussy cut.  Oh well - next time.

These are all such fun to make, although I do love some more than others.

Jemima x 

Smitten Quilt - My English Paper Piecing Adventure - Part 3

Every time I make a new hexie it becomes my new favourite.  I am just loving every single stitch that is going into this quilt.

One of the questions I have been asked a lot is "What does the back look like".  There have been many questions about my seam allowance, glue basting versus thread basting and lots more.

Here is a pic of the back of one of my Hexes.  I find the 1/4 in seam allowance on the templates that I have been cutting is plenty for my paper piecing.  I am glue basting and if you have any trouble with the glue not releasing from the papers there may be a couple of things you can do.  Firstly make sure you are not using to much glue.  Glue on the paper (not the fabric) but not too close to the edge.  If you can't release the fabric from the paper try ironing the shape to "relax" the glue.  The steam will help release the paper and fabric.

With all the Large Hexagons now finished it is time to work on the smaller Hexies.  These are great fun and I have tried to work out which colours I need to add more of and add more of those fabrics in.

Which is your favourite Hexie so far? Who else is making a Smitten?

Jemima x x

Smitten Quilt - My English Paper Piecing Adventure. Part 2

Well and truly Smitten! I am just loving this quilt and deciding each and every piece that will make up each hexagon.  It took me quite a long time to decide whether I was going to Machine piece or English Paper Piece this project and I am glad I decided on EPP.

To hand sew my shapes I like to use Aurifil #2021 in 50wt.  This is nice and fine and perfect to make the tiny stitches.  I also love to baste my Hexagons with a Sue Daley Glue Pen.

There are now full kits available from Sue Daley Designs for the Smitten Quilt with all the pre-cut papers and acrylic templates you will need to make each of the Hexagons if you are planning on sewing yours also using the English Paper Piecing method.

If you have been thinking of starting a Smitten Quilt - do it!  You will love it no matter whether you sew it on the machine or by hand.  If you have any questions as well as to how mine has been sewn - ask away.

Jemima x 

Smitten Quilt - My English Paper Piecing Adventure

Back in March this year I travelled to Melbourne for a girls weekend!  I went a few days earlier than my girlfriends to check out all my favourite Quilting and Sewing stores before they arrived.  I went armed with this pattern - Smitten by Lucy Carson Kingwell to Amitie Textiles as I knew that I wanted to pick fabrics to make this quilt.  About 3 hours later - I emerged with this pick of fabrics from this amazing treasure of a store.

I have sat hesitantly on this project for a while before starting.  I simply could not decide if I was going to Machine Sew this Quilt or if I wanted to sew it by hand using English Paper Piecing (EPP).  There are so many projects that I want to make that I thought well - Machine sewing it would be quicker but in the end I decided that taking the time to Hand sew this quilt would be well spent.  And After the first few stitches.  I knew I had made the right choice. 

With using English Paper Piecing to create this quilt - I set about finding matching Papers.  I had quite a few of the matching sized papers from my Sue Daley Paper Precuts (Sue Daley is about to release a Smitten Kit and I will keep you updated with when it is available here in Aus).  I found the others I needed at Paper Pieces who have a whole kit of papers for the Quilt.

To hand sew these shapes together I am using Auriful Thread in #4060 and #2024.  Clover - Black Gold Appliqué 9 Needles, a Sue Daley Glue Pen and some Clover Binding Clips to help keep the blocks together as I sew them.

I am fast becoming addicted to these blocks and I am just loving sewing these together.

I will keep you updated with more blocks as I go.

Jemima x