English Piecing

A World of Quilts
THERE IS A SIMPLE restorative pleasure in sewing by hand. You just need yourself, some fabric, a needle and thread – and a little concentration. No gadgets, no noise, nothing else.

English paper piecing is sewn completely by hand and is one of the first recorded quilt- making techniques. Some English quilts date back to the 1770s and the oldest American version dates back to about 1810. In the eighteenth century the importation of Indian cotton and chintz to England and France was restricted, which meant that fabric became very precious and every piece really had to count. The method of English paper piecing allowed every scrap to be used and all types of fabric – silk and velvet, as well as cotton – were gathered to create these tactile treasures. Women created a wide variety of quilts, table coverings, throws and cushion covers from the tiny hexagons, as there really was no limit to the designs they could create. As a sewing technique, it was a perfect teaching device for young girls. Both simple and portable, it was an extremely respectable pastime to illustrate stitching prowess.

Although usually in hexagon form, English piecing also used other tessellating geometric shapes to create quilts, including diamonds, octagons and triangles, to great effect. These shapes provided an easy way of creating complex geometric patterns, such as Tumbling Blocks and Flower Garden, which are some of the most recognized quilt designs of all. This style of patchwork was known as an all-over design, rather than the latterly more common frame or block designs, and every piece had to be considered within the overall design of the quilt. Although paper-pieced quilts were simple to execute, they required great patience. The great number of pieces in the quilt – often thousands – and their small size became a matter of pride for early quilters.

Paper templates were used as fabric stabilizers to ensure accuracy when hand-sewing the complex angles together. English pieced quilts were not padded or quilted, so the paper templates were often left in the quilt for additional insulation and to ensure that the shapes stayed flat. The templates themselves are often important pieces of history – plain paper was scarce, so they were usually cut from old letters, newspapers, bills or journals. Thus we can catch a glimpse of the lives of the makers, not only through their fabric and design choices, but also through their letters and other written records.

I would love to make a whole quilt from English pieced hexagons – and one day, in the very distant future, I will. I love the handmade aspect of this technique as much as using complex shapes to such fantastically simple effect. A few rows of hexagons are achievable for all and offer a wonderful way to use the tiniest of scraps for a strikingly graphic result.

QUILT SIZE
150 x 150cm when trimmed and bound. All seam allowances are 1cm and are included in the cutting sizes.

QUILT TOP
Your quilt top requires a base cloth with a finished size of 152 x 152cm. Once you have chosen your fabric for this, you can easily work out
the amount you need by the width
of the fabric you are buying. For example, if you choose a wide fabric, you will need only one length at 155cm. If you are buying standard- width fabric, then you will need 310cm. You will have wastage from this but you can use it on the backing and binding, or for other projects.
You will also need approximately 0.5m of fabric scraps for your hexagons; each scrap needs to be a minimum of 10 x 10cm square.
I used a fine organic cotton as my base cloth and a selection of Indian and French block-printed cottons
in reds, natural tones and shades of indigo for my hand-stitched pieces. I wanted to make this quilt appealing for a little girl, but I also wanted it
to be something that she would still love once she had grown out of the customary pink phase.

QUILT BACKING
You will need approximately 2.5m of fabric. The finished size should be at least 170 x 170cm, so you can use any fabric that is left over from the front base cloth to make the backing, or quickly freestyle some other fabric pieces of your choice together to the required size.
I did just that, piecing lemon, indigo and vintage printed cotton together to create a graphic backing.

BINDING
You will need approximately 0.5m of fabric. You can use scraps from the quilt top if you have any left over, or use the binding as an opportunity to introduce a new fabric.
I bound my quilt with a mixture
of plain ivory cotton and one of the block-printed cottons – just because I had some left over and I thought it would look fun.

OTHER MATERIALS
WADDING of your choice,
170 x 170cm.
SEWING THREAD 100 per cent cotton all-purpose thread is best, in a neutral colour.
QUILTING THREAD 100 per cent cotton quilting thread in a colour
of your choice.
TEMPLATE PAPER such as baking paper or tracing paper, and a pencil.