No Front Door Entry? Try The Back

Every quilter has that one sewing technique that is avoided like the plague... for some it's paper piecing, for others it's applique, Y-seams and partial piecing always make a list, and I'm sure that curved piecing has to be on someones don't-go-near-it list. For me that one thing is EPP - English Paper Piecing!

Aside from the fact that I can't do much hand sewing because of numbness in my fingers, somehow EPP just feels like mending sewing to me... it would be like asking a Picasso to paint your garage. Not that I'm comparing myself to Picasso, but I am a quilter who simply wants to sew and not mend things, despite how portable the technique is.

Well, with all that being said, I suppose it might be slightly confusing why you are seeing snap shots of EPP blocks in my feed.... hmmm. When @brimfieldawakening first shared their new #brimfieldblock, I instantly feel in love. Even though it was EPP, I kept coming back to study and examine it.... I kept thinking to myself that there had to be another approach to this block, and that my ever beloved starch applique method was just the thing!

I asked a friend, who had traveled to the States recently, if she could pick up a single block set for me, knowing that it would be light enough to fit into a purse without being noticed. I then traced the shapes onto freezer paper, and decided to triple layer them. Because of the sturdiness due to the extra layer, I should be able to finish a whole quilt with my one set of freezer paper shapes! It was critical to cut them with a ruler and my paper rotary cutter to make sure that the shapes fit when finished.

I've since added a couple more blocks and will join in on the sew-along that Brimfield Awakening is hosting. An all green quilt has been on my to-do list for quite a while, and I'm enjoying digging into my favorite color stacks in my stash.

One of the beauties of working on such a block is that there is plenty of room for fussy cutting. I've been saving this Heather Ross fabric for something special, and I love these Daisy Chain fabrics from Annabell Wrigley.

Do you have any "back door" approaches to quilting when you didn't want to go through the front door?