Jessica Alexandrakis - Quilting on the Go: English Paper Piecing Projects You Can Take Anywhere

Copyright 2013 Quarto Inc.

Published in the United States by Potter Craft, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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POTTER CRAFT and colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in the United Kingdom by Search Press Ltd., Kent.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Alexandrakis, Jessica.

Quilting on the go : English paper-piecing projects you can take anywhere / Jessica Alexandrakis. First edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-7704-3412-0 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7704-3413-7 (ebook)
1. PatchworkPatterns. 2. QuiltingPatterns. I. Title.
TT835.A436 2013
746.46dc23
2012049753

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-7704-3412-0
eBook ISBN: 978-0-7704-3413-7

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Publisher: Paul Carslake

v3.1

Here you will find everything you need to get started with English Paper Piecing (EPP). Organized into five chapters, starting with tools, through to techniques, projects, and a collection of patterns guaranteed to inspire beginners and more experienced quilters. And at the end, theres a section of graph paper so you can draft your own designs.

Whether youre paper piecing at home or on the go, this chapter tells you everything you need to get started, including a master class in combining pattern and color to make pleasing quilt tops.

All the techniques you need at your fingertips, from tricks to cut fabric to troubleshooting while stitching, and a complete guide on how to finish your quilt.

Easy to intermediate projects, let you put into practice the techniques you learned in chapter 2.

Core shapes used in paper piecing are explored here: diamonds, stars, hexagons, squares see how shapes can be combined, tessellated, worked in different colorways to make scores of wonderful patterns.

This part contains some useful tools: actual-size templates for the paper pieces used in the projects; pattern templates for the shoulder bag, small pouch, and laptop case; a stack of ready-to-download graph-paper grids to let you create your own perfectly precise patterns.

The projects shown here are featured in , with clear step-by-step guides for making your own. Replicate the designs exactly or use them as inspiration and add your own twist to make a project thats truly unique.

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The Internet is full of creative inspirationpeople crafting, sewing, blogging, and sharing. There is a healthy and vibrant community of crafters online. But in real life, we dont get to see a lot of people making things any more. Crafting in public is one way to stand out in the community and tell the world, Yes, its okay to slow down. Things made by hand are still valued. Whether you quilt alone or with friends, having a hand-piecing project ready to carry with you will let you make use of all those moments away from home that would otherwise have been wasted.

My relationship with English paper piecing came partly from necessity and partly from curiosity. I am one of those people who doesnt like to sit idleI need to keep my hands moving. My first English paper-pieced quilt started on a trip to Japan in 2007. I needed something portable that wouldnt bother the surrounding passengers on the 14-hour flight. I also didnt want to bring too many tools with me, leaving precious baggage space for the treasures I would bring home (fabric!). I had seen a photo on the Internet of a charm quilt made from hundreds of different-colored diamonds stitched into stars and I was intrigued. I started piecing 1-in. (4-cm) diamonds into colored stars with an interlocking white background and I was hooked: I pieced in the airport, on the plane, at my hosts kitchen table as we talked throughout my stay. I even went through her fabric and cut some pink diamonds to add to my quilt, to stand as a physical reminder of the time we spent together.

Even though I have made many different types of quilts, I find myself returning time and again to English paper piecing because it gives me a chance during a busy day to unwind and be alone with my thoughts. And somehow, when Im hand piecing, I always feel happier, more in tune with myself, and more satisfied because I am creating.

WHY I LOVE THIS CRAFT

If I have free time, I want to be quilting because it relaxes me. With English paper piecing, the stitches are simple and repetitive, and the patterns easy to follow, making it a great activity for meditative stress relief.