Miniature English Paper Piecing

Anna made her mum this cute pencil case using Miniature English Paper Piecing for Mothering Sunday.  Since making the Radiant Stars Quilt Anna is constantly looking for new things to EPP.  These really tiny but very cute 1/2″ hexagons take a while to turn into a ‘thing’ but its such a lovely calming experience ‘slow sewing’ projects like this.

Miniature English Paper Piecing

Here’s what Anna had to say about the make:  ” I wanted to make my mum something home-made for Mothering Sunday.  She loves art and drawing so I thought I’d make her something bright and cheery to put her pens and pencils in.  As it turned out, this was a great idea as I couldn’t get to a shop to buy her anything. With my family currently in self-isolation it was lovely to still be able to give a gift.  Since finishing the Radiant Stars Quilt BOM, I’ve been looking for something new to make.  My English Paper Piecing journey it seems, is just beginning.”

Miniature English Paper Piecing

“The brilliant thing about these mini hexagons for English Paper Piecing is that you can use up those tiny scraps of fabric you have had lying around for ages.  These are all Liberty Tana Lawn but you can use anything you have in your fabric stash.  A finer fabric would be best though as the shapes are so tiny. You need to be able to fold the fabric around the paper shape neatly.  I’ve found this so therapeutic at what is such a stressful time for everyone.  I’ve used Summer Blooms B for the pencil case backing as my mum loves mustard colours.  I managed to drop the present and shout across the garden to my wonderful mum Liz to wish her a happy Mother’s Day.  Hopefully the lovely rainbow colours will pass on some cheer in these hard times ahead.”

Miniature English Paper Piecing  

“I used the lovely 50wt Aurifil thread from the Radiant Stars Quilt BOM to sew with.  It glided through the fabric easily and hardly knotted whilst sewing.  You can, of course, use a thread conditioner to reduce thread knotting even further. I found a selection of pretty fabrics in my vast stash of Liberty scraps.  You only need a really small amount for a project like this.  I’m planning on doing lots more EPP to keep me sane whilst in self isolation.  Once I had finished the EPP part of the pencil case, it was simply a case of  sewing a zip into the front, back and lining fabric and then joining the pencil case together.  Sewing will get us all through some tricky times over the next few months I’m sure.  It brings calm when there’s a crazy storm whirling around outside.”

You can use any size of paper templates.  This project uses the 1/2″ hexagon but you can go larger or smaller depending on the size of your project or how nimble your fingers are.  There are a selection of different sizes of pre-cut paper templates here.  Of course, you can also print templates out from the internet but you have to cut these out which is time consuming and means less time sewing.  If you don’t have a stash of fabrics at home then a charm pack is a good place to start.  You can find some of those here.

Miniature English Paper Piecing

I would love to see your sewing projects while you are stuck indoors.  Please send any photographs to [email protected] and we will pick some at random to win some yummy fabric.  Stay safe and keep well! Love Alice xx