After weeks and weeks of work, play, and production, I think my new course on English paper-pieced patchwork is about ready to be let loose.
There’s a free preview, so make sure you watch that before committing – just so you know what you’re letting yourself in for.
Mostly what you’re letting yourself in for is me trying (and occasionally failing) to keep my hands in shot where you can see them. I think it’s probably – mostly – good enough though.
Many people think English paper-piecing is hexagons. Not the way I do it. In fact there are no hexagons here, apart from a few accidental or antique ones.
So, what do we cover in this course?
We start with English paper piecing (EPP) for absolute beginners, where you get to make a little box like this out of simple squares:
Then we make a paper-piecing sampler where you can practise piecing triangles, curves, and irregular shapes:
We get creative with fabrics and paper:
And we do some colourful sketchbook work:
Before you know it, you’ll be branching out unaided and doing your own thing.
And as if all that wasn’t enough, we do a (pretty brisk) overview of making a patchwork cover for your sketchbook, we have a whistle-stop look at how quilt-as-you-go works, and we see how to turn a pretty square of patchwork into this:
Do I sound as if I’ve recently taken a course on Basic Marketing for the Self-Employed? I promise you I haven’t. But here’s the thing about being self-employed. You have to do All The Jobs, including all the marketing and self-promotion, which is my least favourite thing. My second least favourite thing, by the way, is video-editing – as you’ll see if you embark on the course. It’s all very informal, as usual.
OK, enough self-promotion and advertising.
In other news, I’m now setting about trying to restock the shop somewhat as all the fabrics are sold out. More on that later.
In the meantime did I mention that I have a new course out…?
😎
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These fabulous!
thanks so much 🙂 been a while in the making, this one
Oh gosh – what a variety you have written into this course. It’s interesting that in North America (or at least Canada) English paper piecing means grandmother’s garden hexi’s. I think your originality is fabulous and true paper piecing. Bernie
thanks so much Bernie. Yes, it’s similar here – most people probably think EPP = hexagons (nothing wrong with hexagons, of course) but it can go way beyond that.
Which is why your work is so unique and personable..
oh that’s so kind ❤️
Congratulations on the new course – so much that’s hair raising, or just plain difficult, involved in that sort of thing, and if you have the same response to heat and humidity as I do, it will have been ten times harder. Imagine me cheering you wildly!
ha, most of it was challenging (I have Luddite sympathies) but I think it turned out mostly ok in the end. I like a nice cardigan, and if it’s too hot for a cardigan then it’s just plain too hot in my book. Positively wilting here! And thank you for the cheerleading 😃
I am so incredibly excited about this. One of the things that thrills me is that I did not get any heritage crafts passed down to me.
I’ve had to make it a point to recover things on my own. I learned embroidery from a friend in 8th grade, but no one I knew quilted. It was more utilitarian sewing: raise a hem, adjust a dress to be handed down, put a button on, that sort of thing. (The girl I learned all this from had 5 brothers and sisters and I think her mother was tired a lot.) I might not have learned embroidery but it was the ’70s and we embroidered!
I know I had ancestresses who made quilts. In fact, my great-great grandmother made a beautiful quilt that my mother took to college with her. (My cousin has it.) But sewing has always been a rough go for me.
So I’m enamored with the idea of learning this. I’ve been ill, so tomorrow I will go pick up a few fat quarters and get to work.
Slow but sure! (And I want to make that little box so badly!!)
I’m so glad you’re itching to get started. I hope you enjoy the adventure 🙂
Also of course it’s never too late to learn these things, especially if you haven’t been raised in an environment where traditional skills are passed down. I was incredibly lucky to be surrounded by very talented needlewomen when I was growing up (also in the 70s). In those days it was cheaper to make your own clothes than buy them – sadly no longer the case, at least here in the UK.
Hi Karen, I am a paper piecer but i would be very interested in this class, to broaden my horizons. I just had a shoulder replacement (of course, on my dominant arm), and wont be able to do any stitching for another 6 weeks or so. How does the course work? Is it just there for us at any time or would i be missing things along the way? Thanks so much, i love your artistry!
oh dear, Nina, sorry to hear that you’re temporarily out of action – wishing you a speedy recovery and some happy reading/resting time while you recuperate. Thanks so much for your interest. You pay once and then you get lifetime access to everything in the course. It’s all prerecorded so you can go completely at your own pace, and you can download video lessons and PDFs to your computer so that you can access the content at any time. Hope that helps. And thanks so much for your kind words 🙂
Thank you Karen! You have made my day!
🤗
Hi Karen, I have followed you on insta & fb for a couple of years, I really love your work, you are so creative.
I have wanted to try EPP for a while but didn’t know where to start and am not too fond of lots of hexagons together …
Your EPP course looks just perfect! You explain and demonstrate things so clearly and I love the shapes you use.
I have enrolled and look forward to starting this course in the next few days.
Thank you.
Lesley
how lovely, thank you so much Lesley – I hope you enjoy this no-hexagons adventure 🙂