English Paper Piecing Wlorkshop--Zoom and in Person

Some of the EPP samples

Saturday, May 6 via Zoom, I taught a three hour English Paper Piecing (EPP) workshop. To prepare for the class, I watched a number of You Tube videos which shared a variety of basting and stitching techniques. I brushed up on my knowledge of needles. I practiced the techniques that I watched on the You Tube videos. My friend, Rosanne, lent me a number of her finished EPP projects and books. Of course, I drooled over her finishes and thumbed through the books!

Mary Ellen working on her rosette

As I pieced blocks for my Temperature quilt, I practiced stitching and talking about the process. Talking while stitching is not easy for me to do! I practiced the techniques while I talked. About a week before the class, I used my cell phone to practice being on camera while I demonstrated. 

I found that my cell phone version wasn't new enough to enable the macro setting in the Zoom application. Not being to access the macro setting meant you couldn't see what I was doing. The stitches were too small to show up on camera. 

Sandy trying out the painter's tape tip

I thought about using You Tube videos to demonstrate a technique. No video, however; demonstrated the exact process I had planned to share. 

Claudia creating her own design

In the end, I photographed each step of the process and made a slide show. The slide show worked well. I did get some feedback that the photos seemed to be backwards. I'm left handed. My whole life, I generally flip whatever I'm seeing when I'm watching a teacher. I didn't even think about flipping the photos so that the right handed people didn't have to turn the visual around in their heads. Actually, it didn't occur to me that there would be an issue. 

Paula creating a sweet floral rosette

In the end, the flow went well and there were some great looking rosettes in the making from the twelve students who attended the workshop. They had fun and I hoped that some of them would become an EPP addict. Teaching an EPP class on Zoom was goal number six on my May list.

Thursday, May 17, I taught an in person EPP class in Stevenson, Washington. This was the first time that I've taught a class outside of my guild or small group. The Columbia River Gorge Quilters held a Quiltaplooza event. This three day event was held at the Skamania Fairgrounds. There were at least eight classes, a banquet, a huge trunk show and general lecture, vendors as well as mini lectures during lunch. It was a hot day; but, our room was air conditioned which was nice!

Classes began at 9:30am. We broke for lunch at noon. There was a lunch lecture from 12:15 to 12:50pm. The lecture on Thursday, was about paring down one's UFOs. (UnFinished Objects) It was a terrific lecture. I plan to employ some of the tips the speaker shared to pare down the UFOs that I have! Class ended at 4pm.

The six participants who attended the class had some experience with some sort of hand work like knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch and appliqué. At least four of the participants were new to quilting. About half of the group were interested in the technique because they had future trips planned. They wanted a project that would travel. One person brought an in process EPP project to class.

Joan and her fussy cut shapes

The participants picked up the techniques of the process quickly. They also asked the best questions. What I love about an in person classes is the camaraderie that builds among the participants. There was sharing of materials, supplies and knowledge. There was plenty of wows and congratulations as people became adapt at the knicker
knot, the whip stitch and the flat back stitch.

There were conversations about how to attach the rosettes or the hexagon shapes to a background. The samples I shared provided examples of different methods. One participant planned a contemporary design of the hexagons. I sure hope that she will share her progress as I was intrigued with her idea.

Julia arranging
her rosette in alternating fabrics

We had conversations about how to stitch with other shapes. One person brought a project that incorporated diamond shapes and she wanted to know how to line up the points. I shared the technique of how to ease the sides together so that there can be a perfect point. Learning how to accomplish points was one of my highlights when I began EPP.

We talked about using striped fabrics. We touched on the subject of piecing fabrics to make our own striped fabric. We briefly talked about how turning the shape slightly could create a myriad of design possibilities.

In the end, it was as great a day as the Zoom day! Teaching an in person EPP class was goal number seven on my May list.

Because we all used scraps, I'm linking to Cynthia at Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.