Easter eggs and COVID-19

The Quarantine.
It came suddenly although I have red many articles about corona virus in China.
Now I am sitting at home and trying to be calm.
There are appear activities that were forgotten : listening to the opera, learning foreign languages, tidy often, clean basic,  etc.
Sewing more by hand is used as a therapy.
Some years ago I designed an Easter egg using English paper piecing.
It take between one hour and one hour and a half, but the result can make happy the future owner of the egg,
This time I tried fussy cutting. The Easter is in the spring and flowers are perfect idea.
You can try letter, chicken, bunnies, etc. Personalized your creations.

I have tried even indigo died fabrics stitching with red thread.

Enjoy the hand stitching!

A lettter in a hexagon - tutorial

My interest in making letters has new shape - letter in hexagon.
I love making tiny things, I adore mini quilts.
Last year I have designed another Hexie alphabet.
Now I finished the new one.

Let me introduce the letter A

 The letter B.

                                                                                 The letter C.

Here is the whole alphabet. You can get the PDF pattern .

How to do a letter...

Each letter is made first by paper piecing and then by English paper piecing.
Print  the pattern and cut the hexagons.
Set the machine stitch length to shorter than usually you sew - somewhere between 1,5 and 2.
Keep in mind - with small length you will easier tear off the paper, but if there is a need to rip a seam you will be in a trouble.

Step1.
Prepare pieces for the background :

• two pieces - 1 x 2 inches 
• two pieces - 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches 
• a small piece round 1 x 2 inches for the inside of the letter.

Use a 1/2 inch strip for the letter. It is easier to work with strip instead of small pieces.

Step2.
Use a source of light - the sun, a lamp etc.
First seam will be between area 1 and area 2.
Place first piece wrong side to the paper to cover the area 1 and pin. Then place the strip right side together and repin. Keep in mind that after sewing a seam and turn over the strip, it must covers the area 2.

See how it looks like on the back side.

Sew a seam between 1 and 2 starting1-2 stitches before and ending 1-2 stitches after. If prefer make a backtitch.
Cut the strip align to the previous piece, turn over and iron.

Trim the seam allowances to less than 1/4 inch. No need to use rotary cutter - simply use a scissors.

Step3.
Repeat the same steps to cover the whole letter.
Using a strip for letter is very tricky - look at the next photo.

After you position the strip you can easy control its direction.

Add the next four pieces the same way - first left and right.
 

Then up and down.

Now you should start and finish stitching a quarter inch wider than the paper.

This letter is one section, so it is very easy to follow the numbers.
When the letter is two sections simply paper piece the letter and then proceed from this step forward.

Step4.
Now you have a finished hexagon. Trim a quarter inch seam allowances.

The front look

Step5.
Tear off the paper carefully.
Place a one inch paper hexagon in the centre and make EPP the way you prefer.

Use the letters for small project, to personalize pouch, mug rugs etc.
Happy sewing!

100 000 visitors!

Good news! I am so proud.
Last month my blog have hit 100 000 visits.

I have neglected writing here lately because of hard sewing to participate in a exhibition.

Now I am amusing myself by creating a quiet book for first grandchild of a friend of mine.
It is so funny to combine different colors and ideas about kids' education - recognizing colors, tactile touching, cultivate tiny movement and catch ability .
I have made two sheets of the book, but hope next week I will finish and can show it to you.


You are welcome to use them!
Easter  is round the corner - try to make Easter egg by using English paper piecing .

Personalized baby bib

The nice hexie letter R I have written about some days ago was the beginning of this little project.
Some months ago my Italian friend Elisa from Dilana&Dilino-Creazioni-Patchwork has a baby.
I want to make a special gift for the baby - little Roberto.
I want to try my new pattern Hexie alphabet and choose to make letter R and apploque on this bib.

I am satisfied with the result.
Especially like the idea for quilting.
Do you remember this game when there are written letters on a sheet and you have to connect them to have a whole word?
I write the letters of the name R-o-b-e-r-t-o using first paper pieced R and FMQ for the next letters.

Then add bias binding and stitched by hand. I had to be very careful at the curves to keep the shape.
My friend Elisa is a perfect quilter,so I have to be precise.

At the end I embroidered the letters with another color to make the name more visible.

I sent the bib and began waiting for the answer.
Do you think Elisa liked it?
The answer came yesterday - lovely picture of Roberto wearing the new bib.
I am happy having such friends.

Hexie alphabet

What a day I have!

Finally I finished my Hexie Alphabet and made one of the letters for a project that is still secret.
And two hours ago I have red a post of talented Soma from Whims and fancies about her Greek alphabet.

Till now I have designed a funny english alphabet, a picture alphabeth.
I always like different languages and alphabets. I like hexagons and English paper piecing.
So the idea to create a hexie alphabet came some days ago.
The alphabet will be great for different projects - quilt, wall hanging or garland.
You might add a tiny boarder around each letter, stitch by hand or by machine, baste hexagon as EPP hexie an gather with other pieces.

I test letter R with fabrics.

You may ask why R?
 It is for the secret project I mentioned in the beginning.
Come here later to see it.

Till then I wish you Happy sewing!
Don't forget to visit my shop for new patterns.
The hexie alphabet is here .  Wait for hexie numbers.

Hexagon template for English paper piecing

Anyone who likes English paper piecing knows how important is to have proper Hexagon templates.
Thee are many places for buying them.
I offer you an easy way to print and prepare so many as you need.
You should follow these simple steps.

1.Print the template from here.
Or from here. At the bottom of the page there is octagon templates, too.

2. Fold twice and then again twice (or simply use the dotted lines for folding)

3. Staple the center of each hexagon.

 There is no problem you can see the printed instructions on the back side.

4. Cut round  hexagons carefully.

5.Unstaple and you will have 16 perfect 1 inch hexagons.

Print and cut so many hexagons as you need!
Happy English paper piecing!

The butterfly effect

The butterfly effect is a term used in chaos theory to describe how small changes to a seemingly unrelated thing or condition (also known as an initial condition) can affect large, complex systems.

In other words what you made will come back to you.

The Holy Bible says

ECCLESIASTES 11:1 

Cast thy  bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days

 Today I give a pattern+Tutorial on Sew,mam,sew for this butterfly.

And hoping my things will go better. I  BELIEVE!

Special thanks To Kristin from Sew,mama,sew  that introduced me.

A small country like Bulgaria will be known today.

Enjoy and happy sewing!

Rainbow Easter egg

Easter eggs are always big motive force for imagination.
Many projects, many designs.
Few minutes ago I saw an interesting project on Sew,mama,sew - one of blogs I follow.
And remember about my Easter egg pattern.
I have made a rainbow egg.

 

Do you like it?
I offer a patterns in my Etsy shop or Craftsy shop.
It looks better with solid fabric than with prints.

 You can try both versions.
Happy Easter!