English Paper Piecing, Day Two

It's Wednesday where I live (Virginia, USA) and we are on Day Two of EPP Week (even tho I gave you a sneak peek at some EPP blocks made with Amanda Murphy's First Frost fabric).

Here is my faithful model again showing you the blocks:

Modeling my Star Bouquet Block and Jewel Hearts

Let's see how I put these together. The Star Bouquet in this post was made with:

• One 1" hexagon
• Six 1" jewels
• Six 2" diamonds

I cut the fabric for both the diamonds and jewels from 2-1/2" strips. (You saw how I cut using the 60 degree angle on my ruler yesterday). Here are my jewels and diamonds with the single hexagon AND the papers!

3 parts for the Star Bouquet Block

I always give myself 3/8" seam beyond the edge of my papers. I need to trim the tiny triangle tip of my fabric diamonds so they can work with my jewels.

Trim away for my jewel papers

This is what they look like after I've hand stitched. Remember, I DON'T stitch through the papers, just on the folds at the corners.

Parts ready to join together for my Star Bouquet

First stitch the center, then add the outside diamonds. The y-seams are not difficult. You just bend those jewel papers and they comply!

Center stitched, ready to add the outside diamonds

And from the back:

Don't worry about those little fabric tails.

Word of warning: DO NOT, I REPEAT: DO NOT CUT OFF THOSE FABRIC TAILS. They are gently pressed under once the papers are removed. If you cut those tails off, you will have raw edges and a ruined block!

Back of First Frost Star Bouquet Block

Can you see how all those pieces (13) form a hexagon? Neat, huh?

Here's another Star Bouquet in progress in the same size:

Star Bouquet with a fussy cut center hexagon

And finished:

Star Bouquet

What if you put two of those jewels together? I've done it many, many times. (And notice how my Star Bouquet Block looks from the front with those little tails tucked under.)

Three hearts made from jewels

These are the easy steps to making hearts. Any size will work, but I like this size best. They are called 1" jewels, but that is the length along those 3 short edges; they measure 2" along the diamond edges.

Steps to making Hearts

I made this little Crab Happy quilt a few years ago. Don't you love how the hearts float around?

Crab Happy Quilt: 28" x 30"

And to see the steps I used to create this next block and how to fussy cut, check out this past post on Shoreline from June 2018.

1-3/4" Jewels for a much larger block

OK. I can tell your eyes are again rolling into the back of your head. I have 2, maybe 3 more EPP Days to go. And I am pretty sure I can't fit all I have into those, but I'm going to try!