This is the first April BOM from the Craftsy course. Yes, there is a lot of bare space but I understand why the instructor did that. You see, this block is all hand pieced and hand appliqued. There is no machine stitching. The technique is called English Paper Piecing. You cut out the hexagons shapes from heavy paper, fold the fabric over the edges and baste it into place. Once you have all of the hexis basted you iron them using lots of starch and hand sew them all together being careful not to sew into the paper pieces. The paper is then removed and the hexagon piece is appliqued to the foundation square. Because of all the hand sewing involved, many of the folks taking this course opted out of this month's blocks. I admit I wasn't thrilled when I found out we were going to be doing paper piecing and applique but I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of my childhood. I did not have access to a sewing machine and had to sew all my doll clothes by hand. They had extensive wardrobes.
My basted hexis.
Sewn together with papers removed.
Back of applique.
Close-up of whip stitching.
Applique pinned to background.
Close-up of blind stitching.
I'm sure I will do many more paper pieced projects in the future. This Craftsy course is wonderful. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a beginning quilter.
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