Friday, January 29, 2016

Diamonds, Triangles, Octagons...Oh My !

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times...I hate not having projects to keep me busy in the evenings.  I'm not much of a night quilter these days, so it's important for me to keep my hands (and mind) busy at night.

Finding something to fill the hours wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Enter EPP! I never thought I would love English Paper Piecing as much as I do.  I tried something new, and liked it.  So I'll say: 'try something new'...you just never know, you may like it!


26" x 26" x 26"
With enough Denyse Schmidt 'Florence' left over, diamond stars seemed like a good use of those scraps.  I printed 1" diamonds for the stars not really knowing where I was going or what I was wanting to accomplish.  It's all about keeping my hands busy, so it really didn't matter.   



Once I had the stars finished, I stitched them together.  It still needed more.  Did I want to keep it a hexagon?  Should I make it bigger?

Bigger it is!  I had pulled out more Denyse Schmidt (Hadley) for the corner stars, and kept making those diamonds!  Not only did I run out of prints, I ran out of brown.  I wanted to take the brown around the entire triangle, but I was six diamonds short!



It worked out in the end.  I love how it came together!  And how about that back?! I'm always amazed, maybe mesmerized with the back of paper pieced projects!  Plus, it's fun popping those papers out in the end.



The real test was yet to come.  I got it this far, what the heck am I going to do now?  I pulled grey, Kona Bone and orange fabric and hoped it would be obvious. It wasn't.  I was stuck. Instagram to the rescue!  I posted a picture with my dilemma, and the response was amazing! So much help and advice!  


What did I do?  This is the scary part!  For some reason mitered corners came to mind. Mitered corners!  I've tried it unsuccessfully one time, it was not my favorite technique.  But I was determined.  Besides, this is the year to learn more techniques and new things!  

The grey is 1/4" and the orange is 1/2", all mitered and semi-perfect!

When I got to this point the next real decision was do I leave it a triangle, as a mini quilt or build around it and make it square?  It didn't take but a second to decide. It's staying as is! I liked the idea of having it be a unique shape.  Something different to keep it interesting!  



I was excited when it came time to quilt this.  Perhaps one of the first times I didn't hesitate and think about it.  Were going straight line geometric all the way! 





If you were going to start a new EPP project, what would it be?  I'm looking for more ideas... 
LINKING:

35 comments :

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    1. Thank you Sharon! I couldn't be happier with the end results!

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  2. My sentiment too, **fabulous** and so inspiring. I already love EPP but this takes it to an exciting different level, make it truly modern. Love the colors and the shape and oh my! the quilting! Really beautiful and fun, many thanks for sharing this.

    Debbie

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    1. I'm relatively new to EPP, but it has become addicting and comforting! This diamond piece I am totally in love with! I plan on looking for the next project tonight!

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  3. This is fantastic, Jayne. I love how you are exploring so many new things - EPP, mitered corners, non-square quilt... and I am in love with the pops of orange.

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    1. If I'm not mistaken…you love orange, right?! I'm going to look for another EPP project tonight ~ I hate not having something to do! I decided to keep track (in my planner) of all the new techniques I learn this year. It will be fun to have a recap at the end of the year!

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  4. WHAAT? Jayne, I love that you think outside the box, but you are so far out this time, you might have trouble getting back in--and NOT that that's a bad thing ;) Thanks so much for taking me with you! And your artistry on those teeny, tiny borders and quilting--Huzzah!

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    1. I am taking that remark as a huge compliment Karen! Thinking outside the box is one thing I like to do! I'm think I could have made the border easier by piecing each side and then mitering the corners, I just wasn't sure everything would line up correctly!

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  5. Holy schmolies, I love everything about this! First, it's Denyse Schmidt, so duh. Second, the EPP is fantastic! The borders are so crisp looking, and the colors are fantastic. I think your miters are perfect! The quilting... absolutely perfect for this! So much wow, here... I could go on and on! Beautiful work!!

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    1. Really, you can't go wrong with DS! I am not an EPP expert, but I sure love how these pieces come out! As for the mitered corners, I'm proud of them! They scared me to death, but I got through it!

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  6. Very original and I love the fabric choices and arrangement!

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    1. For not having a plan when I started, it sure turned out better than I expected it would!

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  7. I'm speechless. Such a great result! It looks a bit like very pretty traffic sign to me :-))

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    1. It does! Thanks so much Anja! Hope to find the next EPP project tonight!

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  8. That is so fantastic!!! Your brain had to be working overtime!!

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    1. Thanks Alycia! The funny thing is, I had no idea what I was going to do when I started! I was sure something would come to me…this was not what I imagined!

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  9. Love it! Makes me want to pull out my EPP kit and get to stitching. And keeping it triangular was genius. Well done, my friend!

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    1. I'm frothing at the mouth to find the next EPP project! Who would have ever thought it could be so fun. I never understood why or how people got so crazy with this…now I understand and get it!

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  10. Oh Jayne, you are so talented! It's so cool. I love it.

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  11. LOVE!!! This is a project I want to copy. You did an amazing job. I wish this was on the wall at my house.

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    1. Do it Anja! It was so much fun! I am in love, really in love with this one! It's going to be a great addition to my Square EPP Plus and my soon to be round EPP Star (I haven't finished or shown this one yet!)! I have another post associated with the DS diamond EPP…its about the binding! Stay tuned!

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  12. I smile every time I visit your blog, Jayne :) I read all of the comments. . . ditto! haha I have to ask though, based on your response to one of the comments it seems that maybe you put each of those borders on individually??? OMG!! You seriously rocked them!

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    1. You just made my day Judy! Yes, I did put each border piece on individually! Call it stupid, inexperienced or crazy…but I wasn't sure how else to do it! I was afraid that the borders wouldn't line up if I pieced the border together first. Have you done mitered corners with a pieced border before? I would be interested to learn more about it!

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  13. Love the finished shape---so unique! Beautiful job!

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  14. I was really intrigued and thought this was beautiful when I saw your picture on IG, but now that I see all the details and the quilting! Wow! This is gorgeous - and I'm so impressed with your willingness to try new and difficult things. This is a great finish!

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    1. Thank you Izzy for being interested enough to check out my blog post! I'm still a bit surprised at how much I love EPP! I cannot wait to find the next project to dig into! I couldn't be happier with where this project ended up. Maybe one day I will actually have a plan in place before hand! The mitered corners were a little scary and ended up turning out pretty good!

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  15. This is a beautiful piece, the borders make it so striking!

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  16. After one disastrous attempt, I had put mitered borders behind me...until you posted this blog, with encouragement to try something new. For EPP encouragement and inspiration, check out the "Faeries and Fibres" blog, especially postings last June and July. Keep on quiltin'

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  17. wow. This is sure unique and lovely! Love your quilting on it too!

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  18. Absolutely awesome! Your two projects in the previous post are wonderful too. You are very talented and I just love seeing your projects. Thanks for sharing.

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  19. Jayne, this is STUNNING!! You nailed it in every way. Now I have a question for YOU: how are you hanging that puppy? You make me want to grab my papers and do EPP again...it's been many years.

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  20. That's great that you just kept adding to it until it felt right. I had hoped that EPP would take hold for me but it really didn't, although it is a nice little project while traveling on a plane. For the mitered corners - do you have a tutorial that you referred to? I've got a block that I'm trying to figure out and I think mitered corners are going to be the way to go. Just haven't researched it at all yet.

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