Today's Quilter - UK (2020-03)

OLD TRADITIONS l english paper piecing

CHRISTINE CHESTER OFFERS SOME

SUGGESTIONS FOR TAKING YOUR EPP

IN A CONTEMPORARY DIRECTION

1

Insteadofusingconventional

materials,tryexperimentingwith

non-traditionalfabrics,likeplastics

or transparent materials(Fig 1 ).

2

If usingunusualmaterials,

samplethemfirsttoseehow

thingsworkinpractice.For

example,whenusinglightweight

fabrics,theywillbeeasiertohandle

if theyarestabilisedinsomeway.

Christinefoundthatfreezerpaper

‘templates’wereidealforusewith

thetransparentmaterialsusedin

Fadingii,astheystayedinplace

once‘fused’tothefabricandwere

easytoremove,withoutcausing

damageordistortion,oncethe units

had been joined together.

3

Asthereareusuallysomany

dierentfabricsinEPPquilts,

it is besttousea cool-tonedneutral

thread(greyorsimilar)throughout.

InFadingii,Christinematched

thethreadtothefabricweightand

colours,usingSuperiorThreads

MicroQuilterthread,a veryfine

100-weight,2-plypolyesterthread,

in dark grey, mid grey and white.

4

AsinFaintHope,consider

makingthe‘papers’themain

feature.Thiscanbea waytoadd

personalwordsorimagestoa piece.

Imagerycouldbeusedclearlyin

thefinalworkfora boldereect,

orfragmentedso the meaning is

more subtle.

5

Youcould‘make’yourown

fabricsbyprintingorstamping

ontothem,againmakingworkthat

is uniqueandmeaningful to you,

asinFig 2.

6

AsinFadingii,youcould

lookthroughandenlargeyour

photographstoseeif youhave

somethingthatwouldworkas

a pixelatedEPPimage.When

arrangingthepatchesbeforejoining

them,takephotographsandlookat

themonyourscreentoseeif you are

creating the eect desired.

Fig (^1) A selection of the transparent fabrics Christine used in Fading ii
Fig 2 Thisdetailof Fadingii showssomeof Christine’suniquefabricsmadebymethods
such as paper lamination, mark-making with India Ink and soy-wax resist
Artist’s own images
Artist’s own images