Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Circles and Stars EPP Quilt and Pattern Finished!


I finished my first English Paper Pieced quilt last week, and have been busily working on writing and illustrating a pattern to go along with it. Both are now finished, and the love that I feel for this quilt has spilled over into the pattern, as I love it as well. Very colorful just like the quilt and fully illustrated with easy to follow step-by-step instructions. I've also included photos, lots of helpful tips, quilting and binding advice, a coloring sheet and of course a full size printable template.



The piecing of this patchwork quilt was totally relaxing. Because the individual pieces are sort of "pre-assembled" the piecing seemed almost effortless.

(See that photo above? Well, I've been wanting to get a shot of myself hand stitching for ages... hard to do with only two hands! I finally got this one which I originally posted on Instagram, by using a shoelace to hang my phone camera around my neck and then used the timer feature so I had a chance to position my hands. Where there is a will, there is a way!)



Here is a close up of the hand stitched seams. The circles are stitched in, not appliquéd on, and the pattern fully illustrates how to do it. (Really rather simple!)



I think the most challenging part of this project for me was coming up with a quilt design that I liked. It took several attempts, and some ripping out of stitches in between, but finally I hit on something that really worked. (The photo above was also taken on my phone as well, but late at night with poor lighting. Still you can see the quilted motifs pretty well.) 

I found it helped me to print out a line drawing of my quilt block and simply do some pen and ink doodles on it, trying out different ideas and how the stitch movement would flow. That little exercise helped loosen me up and think more creatively about my quilting.


The finished result reminds me of a vividly colored press tin ceiling... not that I have ever seen a vividly colored press tin ceiling, but if there were to be one this might be what it would look like!



is now available for immediate download here in my Etsy shop.

Now onto my next EPP project... I think I am hooked!

Have a great week everyone!

24 comments:

The Inside Stori said...

In a word....though it deserves so many more.....

STUNNING!!!!

Nifty Quilts said...

Absolutely beautiful--the design, the colors, the quilting. All just perfect. I predict this pattern will be very popular! I've been doing a little EPP too. I can see how you could become hooked!

dolores said...

Ooooooo...and shot cotton too!:) Love the circle centers....something else to add to my bucket list!

I whip stitch in the other direction from you!!:)

Needled Mom said...

That is just gorgeous!

9patchnurse said...

Gorgeous quilt! Awsome piecing! And stunning quilting!

MariQuilts said...

So lovely!!!

Sujata Shah said...

It looks stunning! The pattern, colors and quilting all are gorgeous!

SandraC said...

So awesome!

kimberj said...

so vibrant!!! Absolutely love the colors and your design :)

sajuki said...

great !
Greetings from Poland :)
Katarzyna


www.sajuki.blogspot.com

Anna said...

What a fabulous quilt with great colours and quilting, I love it!

Candied Fabrics said...

Oh this is so lovely! THe shot cottons are perfect this way, your color choices rock! I wish I could see a picture of you with a shoelace holding your phone around your neck, LOL! As it is that picture is great, love the outstretched feet!!

Cut&Alter said...

Oh this quilt is absolutely beautiful! x

Rene' said...

The finished quilt is so gorgeous!! I enjoyed seeing snippets on Instagram. Congrats on the completed pattern.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Wonderful design and your choice of colours is amazing. The quilting adds to the overall effect.

Margo said...

wow, this is beautiful! the colors, the shapes, the lines from the quilting. . . .so lovely how they work together so equally.

Unknown said...

Wow...the most beautiful quilt I have seen for a long time. The colors are stunning!

Victoria said...

Many thanks to each of you!

sljohnston said...

What line of shot cottons did you use? Do you know where you got them? Love this!

Victoria said...

Thanks! There is a mix of shot cottons here... some Kaffe Fassett and some Robert Kaufman, (from there Chambray Collection). All are from my stash, and are several years old, and I am not sure of there current availability. Some I purchased online and some I bought from local quilt shops.

I have heard good things about Oakshot shot cottons, and I know that Cloud9 Fabrics is going to be coming out with a line soon called Cirrus Solids

Jennifer said...

This is a beautiful pattern. You are a true artist!

Would you mind saying what crossweaves you used for this quilt? The fabric is lovely.

I also loved what you wrote about being a part of a creative world:


I want to live in a world where creativity is encouraged to thrive. Constantly screaming, "Hey, that's my idea, hands off!" limits creativite expression the ability to grow, expand and evolve.

I want to live in a world where people can make a good living off of their work while at the same time helping others to tap into their own creativity and also thrive. Now this is a much tougher issue, and we can get into all sorts of gray areas...

YES!

Jennifer said...

Or shot cottons? (Sorry!)

Victoria said...

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks so much for the kind words and I am really glad that the creativity post resonated with you!

For this piece I used (shot cottons!) Some are Kaffe Fassett shot cottons and and others are Robert Kaufman, (from the Chambray Collection).

Annemieke said...

Very, very beautiful. Intrigued by your colours and pattern!
Groetjes
Annemieke