Epp Survey
 

I’m interested in how many people like to do EPP (English Paper Piecing), so I thought I’d make a little survey to see what kind of techniques you use for your Epp sewing.
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• Do you do Epp? If so, how many years have you being doing this?
• What kinds of shapes do you like to work with or do you only work with one main shape?
• Do you glue baste or thread baste? If you glue baste, do you ever find that if you leave your project for quite a while, the glue seems to dry out and your paper pieces get unstuck? I’ve had this problem a lot.
• What kind of project, if any, are you working on right now?
• Do you have any pictures to share of your Epp project(s)?
• What kind of thread do you use?
• What kind of needles do you use for Epp?

I’ve been doing Epp for a couple of years now. I think I may have watched a YouTube video on it and that’s how I got started? I’m not sure.

I use mostly hexie shapes, but I have one project that uses diamonds, squares, and rectangles.

I thread baste, because like I mentioned above, if I leave my project for quite a while, I notice that the glue dries out and the papers unstick themselves.

I have three projects I’m working on. An “eye spy” hexie quilt. 30’s fabric grandmothers flowers. And a piece with the diamond, squares and rectangles that uses batik fabrics.

I posted pictures of my thirties fabric grandmothers flowers in the picture forum recently.

I used to use Wonderfil thread, but my eyes have gotten worse recently due to complications with diabetic retinopathy, so I now use coats and Clark’s quilting thread in cream and green, because I can actually see it better.

I’ve been using John James milliner needles recently with my Epp.

I feel weird being the first respondent because my answer to the first question is "No". The longer answer is that I tried it once and absolutely hated it. I generally dislike hand-sewing projects of any kind (the only exception being custom draperies - all of mine are fully hand-sewn with the exception of hemming the lining fabric) and for me, EPP seemed like the worst hand-sewing task I ever attempted.

Well as far as I can remember I have only made the one quilt 64 x 71” with 3” hexies, and I thread basted them onto the card stock ads that used to come in magazines. This was my travel project for years and I used all scrappy blues. I did big stitch quilting, and hand appliquéd the blue “mothership” to the yellow border. I think I finished it in 2018 and let my DD gift it to a young person in need. This is a picture of a printed photo, so not very clear. I used the hexie template to mark quilting shapes in the yellow, it is not hexies.

Well, this is KIND OF AN ANSWER to your question about EPP - kinda not! LOL!

Yes, i have done EPP mostly hexagons. I buy the precut shapes. I mostly have done little made up projects so far. BUT… when the New Hexagon Millefiori by Katja Marak first came out i bit - AND BIT HARD! LOL! Oh yes, i ordered the book, calendar, and all the tools and signed up to have each months EPP kits mailed to me so that by the end of the year i would have everything i needed for someday in retirement when i finally had the time to do it. I even found a project bag big enough to hold everything i might ever need to go portable 🤩 but i havent started it YET. But hoping to by the end of the year.

i have done both thread basting and glue basting. I do like the glue basting, but as has already been mentioned you dont really want to use the glue and let the project sit long term.

I use Bonnie Hunter's method of EPP. She bastes her fabric on a card stock template, but does not sew through the template. Later she just clips a thread or two and removes the template. I think her directions are on her website. I have not made a quilt entirely by myself, but I have completed three Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts where the flowers/circles were already made. The first one was begun by my mother-in-law, the second one was a garage sale find, and the third was a set of flowers that were found in a church. The first one was given to my granddaughter, the second one was donated to charity, and the third one was given back to the church.

I am a big "NO" on EPP. I have not even tried it and have no desire. It does not interest me in the least. I do no like hand sewing at all. My handwork consist of crocheting only. I do not even hand sew my bindings. Once I learned and it became "acceptable" so to speak to machine sew my bindings, I was 100% on board. Machine sewing bindings in my opinion have evolved more recently in the quilting world. When I first started quilting, I hand stitched the back of my bindings, and despised it the entire time. That was just how it was done then. Along came the method of sewing it down with your machine and my quilting world all of a sudden got brighter. I do not enter heirloom quilts into judging, which if I were, that I realize needs to be hand stitched. I make donation quilts. I see EPP hexi quilts, beautiful, I see small wool hand stitched mini quilts, wall hangings, table runners, gorgeous. I really admire the small wall hangings that have the hand stitched designs, buttons, and blings, that are sometimes vintage hankies or clothing, or random shapes of fabric, again gorgeous, but those are things I admire when someone else does it, but have no desire to do it myself.

Another no. I tend to applique anything I want that looks difficult to create otherwise. I just have never been exposed to EPP. If a workshop were offered, I would attend.

I do quite a bit of EPP. I posted pics back a few years ago of my hexie project. I wanted to learn EPP so I used up a bunch of scraps doing hexies. I love that quilt! It's one of my favorites.

https://www.quiltingboard.com/vbulle...d-t320792.html

I've also done some projects with other shapes. Here's my jacket

https://www.quiltingboard.com/vbulle...t-t323135.html

I'm making a floor playmat/rug for my great-granddaughter's room. I'm doing Quilt as You Go 2 1/2" hexies. The colors are the colors of her room. It's 54 by 64 approximately.

I could be answering "yes" for years, as I have a project that has been in the works for years. I made a pile of templates from stiff paper and thread baste to them but don't sew into the paper. I'm sewing light-medium-dark diamonds together and one day hope to have a 3D effect quilt. I use a #12 between for the most part.

This whole thing is now making me question why I don't keep the project more handy and work on it at home. It's been living in my suitcase as a travel activity but my travel days are greatly reduced since it went in there.

Yes, I EPP and right now have two projects in the works. I call them my forever projects. Both projects use premade templates from the online shop Paper Pieces. I have tried to thread baste but I prefer to use glue (just works better for me) and yes there are times when I find some hexies have popped out. Although as my project becomes bigger I will take out my paper pieces that are not along the edges. The thread I use is usually a 60wt Superior Bottom Line in a neutral color and I also like using an 80wt, Wonderfil in a neutral color. I don't have a special or favorite type of needle to use, just what's in my sewing basket, most likely an applique needle. I do have some pictures to share .........

I've never done EPP because I don't understand the rationale behind doing all that extra work. If I understand things correctly, any project sewn with EPP could more easily be hand-pieced with a regular running stitch, and in that case, the stitching wouldn't show. I think I just don't get it.

I just enjoy the process and it makes cutting easier and no need to deal with the 1/4" seam allowances. I've never enjoyed hand piecing, but I love EPP. I find it very easy and no thought needed.

I have pieced hexies with a 1//4" seam and not used the papers. I had to draw the stitching line, or it would not be consistent for me to free hand it. There is a whole method of doing the pieces this way by Lynda Franz. You can buy a file with all the pieces that will priint on your fabric the sewing lines. The program is years old but still may be around.

If you mean Inklingo, it's still around and she just released a completely new version of the tool: What is Inklingo?

Inklingo! That's it. I bought the downloadable files but never could get it to download right. Maybe it's improved for the new computers.

Yes......sort of. I don't enjoy it as much as traditional hand-piecing so I just use it to break the monotony when I'm bored with my other projects. Years ago, I experimented with making miniature blocks of classic patchwork patterns (Ohio star, log cabin, etc.) using EPP. It was time consuming because I wasn't repeating any of the blocks so I had to cut a cardstock template for each piece. And I wasn't re-using them in any other blocks so they were one-time use only. I wasn't able to complete that project because I lost everything in a fire. Currently I'm working on a scrappy hexie project. No rhyme or reason......just joining random colors/prints. I haven't touched it in months because I haven't lost interest in my current hand-piecing project. But it's there waiting when I need it.