Flossie Teacakes' Guide to English Paper Piecing on Off the Wall Friday

Summer time has finally hit the banks of Lake Erie.  With that, we are having a mini heatwave, where it's more fun to stay inside and stitch than go outside in a mask.  And really where would they let us go anyways???  So, I've been spending time in my air conditioned bedroom suite working on my English Paper Pieced  Pinwheels quilt and listening to audio books.  There is something really soothing about making a one patch quilt into something interesting and beautiful.  But still....I thought maybe you could EPP something more complicated.

And with that thought....down the rabbit hole I fell.  Of course, I wasn't the only person that had the idea of taking EPPing farther  There are more than one ridiculously patterns out there based on I believe tile work.  That might be fine for some, but if I was going to  spend hours and hours and hours following someone else's pattern to do a by-hand project....I would still be cross-stitching!!

That's when I stumbled on Florence Knapp's amazing Flossie Teacakes' Guide to English Paper Piecing.  Thanks to Amazon, I had the book in a day and what a book it is!!  Just when you think you've read every variation on quilting, a great new book comes along.  This is not your average How-To book....ohhhhh noooo.  Knapp manages to put not only the history of EPP, but the psychological and social  influences of the technique.  THEN, she finishes the book off in a very thorough instruction on the technique (complete with excellent photos).

Knapp included two of her own patterns highlighting how to combine fussy cutting with EPP to get a very cool Kaleidoscope...Moroccan tile  kind of look.  Her work is breath taking and it's the kind of thing where you wonder....how did she do that?  Well she shows you!!

What I like about the whole thing is that you can really combine the zen of piecing  which is quiet, repetitive and soothing with the creative flair that will keep your imagination going through out the process.  Just amazing.

The book itself is nicely published.  There are a ton of wonderful photos and its laid out nicely.  The
only thing I would have liked is a bigger font for these  aging eyes.  sighhhh  But the book is so pretty and feels so pretty that you just want to flip though and pet the pages....I know you know what I mean!!

Honestly, I would say this book is a must for any serious EPPer.  I mean even if you didn't want to do all the fussy cutting, it still will give you an idea of how far this simple technique can be taken up to new heights.

But yeah....I promised myself to finish the pinwheels BEFORE starting another quilt!!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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