current obsession

A wonderful, or terrible, thing about the internet is that if you are ever under the illusion that you are doing something original, a quick Googling will disabuse you of that notion. Quilting has been much on my mind lately. I'm trying to avoid buying new materials, so I dug out an old tin in my sewing room which holds hundreds of hexagons I cut out ten or fifteen years ago. They were cut from scraps left over from sewing clothes, and many of the prints belong to things I wore in high school and college. I thought of the hexagons in part because I am lusting after 1930's reproduction prints, all mixed up, as for instance in this assortment. Yum. Originally I was sewing together the pieces with seams, all by hand. Then I learned about English Paper Piecing. The most complete information I've found so far is here and here. There's also a flickr group all about English Paper Piecing. Many late nights with paper and scissors led to a pile of little paper hexagons, which got all wrapped up in colorful bits of cloth, and stitched together into rosettes. Eventually all those rosettes--there will be a lot more of them--will be paved together with other hexagons inbetween, and make a large piece of patchwork for the front of a quilt. It is very slow work, and I know enough about myself to know that it's very likely I'll get a dozen flowers done and put it aside for another decade. Still, right now, I am obsessed. I play with different combinations of colors for the flowers. I dream about what kind of green fabric will go between the rosettes. I rush home at night and stay up too late to baste just one more set, or rummage through the scrap bin for a different color, or finish whipstitching another flower.

The quilting business is really all my mother's fault. (In the best possible way. Thanks Mom!) You see, we collaborated on a quilt for my new niece. (Her name is Lily! She is the most beautiful niece in the world!) I cut a bunch of strips

and sewed them together in various configurations

and made blocks

which turned into a quilt top

Then I flew to Mom's house over Easter weekend and we went to the quilt store to get backing. She loved all the bright childlike prints--I do too--and I had a hard time convincing her that some of them just didn't "go" with the quilt top. "If you want to use those we'll have to make another one," I said, meaning it as a joke. Should have known better. She picked out a bundle of color and we made this

That was a weekend with a lot of sewing! But very worth it. Both quilts are now with the new baby. And I am left with a burning desire to make more. I don't want another hobby, I can't afford it, really I don't want to get into quilting...

but wouldn't it be cool to use English Paper Piecing to make a tesselation like one of these?

Comments

[Emily]

Wow. Now I want to make one of those tesselations. Or make a quilt out of stips of fabric. Or maybe both. Maybe it's a good thing that we don't have any fabric stores around here. What an inspiring post!

[June]

Congrats on the new niece - I hope her parents treasure such wonderful handmade gifts. :)