English Paper Pieced Coaster Tutorial: Finish a Block, Enjoy a Fantasy Euro-Vacation!

Are you a wannabe traveler, sitting at home, while your muscles and your miles (frequent flier) stagnate? 

This project can brighten your days and remind you of better times and more interesting places. 

It's an English Paper Pieced Euro-coaster, upon which we can place our demitasse of home-brewed espresso, or perhaps a pot of Earl Grey. 

Put another way, this tutorial shows how I used fabric from Paris, and one of the blocks in my new English Paper Piecing book, "Hexagon Star Quilts," to make a coaster. It would also work as a hanging ornament. You can adapt this technique to finish any EPP block. 

By the way, English Paper Piecing really does come from England, and has always been very popular there. Right now, it's enjoying a huge resurgence around the world, for good reason - it's portable, easy, relaxing and addictive. 

This particular project started with a pile of fat quarters I was lucky enough to buy in France two years ago (my fabric-related adventures there are blogged here).

French Frou Frou, looks similar to Liberty of London; it's lightweight and often floral, but not as expensive. Frou Frou is easy to find in US shops, with a little help from the Internet. (William Morris fabrics have a similar look.) 

I chose Star 83 because the central piece is large enough to highlight an interesting print. If you have my book, find the star on page 115. 

If you don't have my book, you can download Star 83 for free from Dropbox, using the link HERE. (If that doesn't work, email me at cathydotperlmutteratgmaildotcom). It looks like this: 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Choose three fabrics with varying values and hues. 

2. If you own my book, photocopy or scan Star 83 onto cardstock. In the photo, the book is on the left, and the scanned cardstock version on the right. 

   

If you don't own my book, use the pink Dropbox link above to download the pattern and print it onto cardstock.

3. Cut around the outline. 

4. Don't cut it apart yet! First we'll create a full-size backing with turned edges. For the back, I suggest you use a fabric that won't show cappuccino, croissant, or french fry stains. Lay the entire hexagon on the wrong side of your  backing fabric. 

5. Cut around the edges, leaving at least 3/8" seam allowance. 

6. Bring fabric and the template to the ironing board. Center the paper on top. Press all six edges firmly inward. 

Here's the reverse side with all edges pressed in. 

6. Remove the cardstock and press the edges inward one more time, to get the folds sharp. 

7. Don't cut up the pattern yet! We need it for one more thing - to cut the batting to size. Place it on a batting scrap.  

8. Trace around it.  

9. Cut just inside the line you drew.

Now it's all cut out, leaving the drawn line behind. 

10. Cut apart the cardstock pattern, and baste fabric to all its pieces, using your favorite English Paper Piecing techniques. If you are a beginner, my book has extensive explanation of different ways to baste, with thread or glue.  

11. Sew the pieces together, by hand or machine - again, beginners can find methods and tips in my book. Piecing order: First sew each A piece between two B pieces. Then sew each BAB unit to one side of the central triangle. 

12. Now you have three components: The assembled top, the batting, and the backing. 

13. Tuck the batting into the backing. Press the flaps over each edge. (Iron again, if you like.)

14. Remove all papers (right) from the back of the pieced block. (You may be able to reuse them to make more coasters!) 

15. Place the top over the batting and backing. 

16. Use pins or sewing clips to align the outer folds on top and bottom, and tuck seam allowances and tails inside the sandwich. 

(Some of my clips are plastic - some are metal binder clips. I find the silver binder clips easier to open than black binder clips; the plastic ones are easiest of all on the hands.)

This is also an opportunity to baste one long edge of trim - like rick-rack - between the layers, extending beyond the edge. 

17. Hand sew the edges shut - by hand, with a ladder or whipstich. By machine, you can use a straight stitch, with monofilament thread, or thread that matches the fabric (I used white here so you can see it.) An open-toe foot helps, and a sharp awl (or seam ripper) is a necessity, to tuck bits inside and do last-minute adjustments of folds. You can see my metal awl on the right below - there's a pink sewing clip on it permanently, which keeps the awl from rolling away!   

Here's the block with machine straight stitching (white). 

If you like, go around again, with a decorative stitch and contrasting thread. You could even couch a decorative cord or yarn there.

18. Just for looks, and to ensure the batting stays in place when laundered, do some quilting. I stitched all the way around the inner angle of each background diamond, which makes them pop forward (I used dark thread that's hard to see in the picture.) 

 My last step was to quilt three straight lines on each red triangle, extending inward from each outer point. 

Back: 

Now heat up the espresso machine (or locate your can of instant cappuccino powder), and you're ready for your Zoom cafe, perhaps with a virtual background of the Eiffel Tower. It's not the same as being there - but look on the bright side - you don't have to inhale other peoples' cigarette smoke!?

And hopefully, the sun will metaphorically rise again, our country will get its act together, and surely, one day, we will again be welcomed in places far beyond the front porch.

Pandemic Porch Quilt Show, Days 11- 12: A Batik Chandelier and a Millenium Quilt

Day #11: "Chandelier, Shaken"

This quilt is improv paper pieced, using batik fabrics.

Closer: 

Much closer:

A little to the left: 

Finally, from the back - I like the way the light creates a stained glass effect!

It was pure fun, with minimal measuring. The techniques I used (though not this actual pattern) are in my booklet, "Modern Paper Piece Log Cabin Triangles," in my etsy shop, CathyPstudio, here.

UPDATE: This quilt was just awarded Best Use of Color in the Innovative category, in Mancuso's Visuals #2 Pacific International Quilt Festival. All the winners are here.

Day #12: A Millenium Quilt

This large quilt (74" x 93", it almost hit the ceiling) is made of 2,000 squares, cut 2.5".

A little closer:

Center: 

Backstory: In the late 90s, a huge fad emerged among online quilters: Millenium quilts, to be made from 2000 different pieces of fabric. People set up swaps, and packs of squares were also sold online. 

When I first read about this fad, I thought, "What a terrible idea!" But after a couple of days, possessed by the audacity and community of it, I jumped in. 

I'd been quilting for almost a decade, so I had a significant fabric stash. I chopped 2.5" squares out of everything. Then I went to my upholstery sample books; old clothing; and basically, any fabric I could scrounge anywhere. 

Even then, I was still about 500 fabrics short. So I gave up on my dream of not repeating fabrics, and filled the corners in with squares cut from two different fabrics that were printed with millenium-related words in different languages. These are the mostly black fabric and the white-and-black fabric below. 

I was well into the project when I started reading that some quilters were using this project to affirm their Christian faith, which makes a great deal of sense. But since I'm not Christian, and I didn't want to leave my descendants wondering, I put the Hebrew calendar year - 5760 - along the bottom, and stitched into it an essay explaining the quilt and the millennium mishegoss that was taking place at that time! 

You can't lay out 2000 squares this size on any design wall smaller than the side of a barn. So I (and pretty much everyone who made one of these), constructed the quilt in blocks. Each of my blocks are 5 squares x 5 squares, totaling about 10 inches after stitching. Within each block, I placed the lightest square in one corner, moving to the darkest in the diagonally-opposite corner. To honor the traditional log cabin arrangement, I placed a red square in every center. I set the blocks in rows of 8 across, and columns 10 down -  that's 80 blocks, times 25 squares, gives you a 2000-square quilt that measured 72" x 93"!

The back features a whole lot of weird stuff, including this inexplicable M&M millenium fabric....

...which posed the profound question, "Is it Over Yet?" There are also a couple of delightful commemorative tea towels, from a trip we'd recently taken to London:

...and a tea towel from a sweet little amusement park we'd brought our little boy to in England, Paulton's Park. 

Plus this flea market find, curtains showing movie stars of the mid-20th century.

Until my pandemic porch quilt show, I had never photographed  this quilt flat before. The most I've ever seen of it at one time is on a full-size bed. Seeing the entire thing gave me a completely different sense of what it looks like! That's one more reason you should consider hosting your own porch quilt show! 

[The first installment of my porch quilt show, Days 1-5 is here. 

Days 6-10 are here.

The next installment is here. 

If you'd like to keep up with the show in real time, I'm posting it on Instagram, at https://www.instagram.com/cathy.perlmutter/] 

Pandemic Porch Quilt Show, Days 5-10

My quilt-a-day pandemic porch quilt show, in my little town of South Pasadena, CA, continues! (Quilts 1-5 are here). I love it when people come up the front walk for a closer look. My office faces out over the front yard, so I can keep an eye on things. I do have a sign requesting that request that visitors wear masks if they come close, and that they not touch the quilt. 

DAY 6: Invocation

This quilt, made in the mid-90s, is a Tree of Life, with the letters of the word "chai" spelled out in the branches 72 times. "Chai" means "life" in Hebrew, and it, along with number 72, is said to bring good luck. I intended it as a wedding canopy, but no one's gotten married under it yet. 

It's made entirely of batiks. 

DAY 7: Blue Cross, Blue Shield

This quilt emerged one day during my denim period, in 2016, after the phrase, "Blue Cross, Blue Shield" lodged in my head. The plus signs were fun to improv cut and piece from old jeans; but then I got stuck on how to make shields. I was about to peruse my 2-ton encyclopedia of quilt blocks, when it struck me that jeans pockets are shield-shaped! A blog post with more photos and details are here. 

Below, sans sunlight. It's heavily quilted.

Day 8: Cosmic Map

This is an English Paper Pieced quilt, and was selected to hang in Houston's IQA show in 2019. It's also a projects in my book, "Hexagon Star Quilts, 113 English Paper Pieced Star Patterns to Piece and Applique." (More about the book here.) While designing it, I thought about subway maps in cities I've been lucky enough to live in, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. So this map has a pink line, a red line, a lavender line, and more! 

It's heavily quilted, with more stars. Closer: 

Day 9: Fireflower 600

This is the first in my series of improvisational log cabin triangle quilts. It's made from 600 3 3/4" equilateral triangle blocks, improv pieced in different patterns, on top of scrap paper. My technique and a booklet that includes instructions for this quilt are in my Etsy shop, here. 

Detail: 

Day 10: "Eyeshadows" 

This quilt is one in a series made in 2017, by playing solitaire with stacks of solid or batik squares. Such fun! It was simpler than in the photo below, but it didn't impress anyone else as much as it impressed me. So, empowered by the last quilt show just before the pandemic, I fancied it up with floating stuffed circles and lots more quilting. The whole story is here. 

Days 11-15 are coming soon! You can also keep up with this show daily, at my Instagram feed, at https://www.instagram.com/cathy.perlmutter/. 

Pandemic Porch Quilt Show Launch!

This idea isn't original to me - hanging a different quilt outside every day to entertain pandemic walkers. A quilter friend in Louisiana did it first - I saw from her posts that she and her neighbors were enjoying it. Then I heard about members of a quilt guild in Northern California, who showed off their quilts at the same time, so folks could follow a map to visit them. 

Even then I might not have bothered, because hanging a quilt is a schlep! But then I needed to bring my hanging rack into our house's front room, for a Zoom presentation. The front room is right next to my front door, so my quilt show was launched! 

Here are the first five quilts I've featured. I'm mostly working backwards in time. 

Day 1: Luncheon Linens
This quilt is composed of vintage linens, with English Paper Pieced hexagon-shaped blocks overlaid on it. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful old Craftsman house, so this sets the scene. My beautiful assistant, wearing his fanciest pandemic underwear, is on the right. 

A MUCH closer look: 

I think of this quilt as a lunch party. The old textiles represent the grandmas throwing the party. (The giant central square is a tablecloth). The new hexagon blocks are the young visitors, who travelled back in time from the next century. (Directions for making a quilt like this are in my book, "Hexagon Star Quilts, 113 English Paper Pieced Star Patterns to Piece and Applique," here. )

Day 2: Cherry Pie in the Sky with Diamonds 

I absolutely love red and white quilts - who doesn't? So when I was writing the book, I decided to English Paper Piece one. On my porch, I took this off-kilter photo. 

The book's photographer photographed it sideways, too.... 

The next photo was taken while I was constructing the quilt. I persuaded my daughter to hold up the central formation, first from the back. All the cardstock templates are still in position...

...And from the front. Much as I liked it as a freestanding piece...

...I ultimately did stitch it in place to a white backing. 

Closeups:  

Day 3: My Oldest UFO

You may have read about this quilt on my blog in August. It was created from an almost 30-year-old failed attempt at a Mariner's Compass quilt. 

Here's a better view, and you can read more about it in the blog post here. Most of the side blocks are curved English Paper Piecing, which is not always a good idea, as you can read in my blog post here.  

Day 4: Red and White Vintage Linens

This is a completely DIFFERENT red and white quilt from the one on Day 2. It's made of vintage linens, especially aprons,  and spectacularly kitschy embroideries, and a mystery textile on top. I blogged details of this quilt in July, here. 

Without the sunshine: 

Day 5: Hexagon Masquarade

This quilt was made from mask scraps. 

A better view: 

Blogged heavily, here.  

The next installment of my porch show, with days 6-10, is posted here.