Our guild’s quilt show is coming up very soon…only 2 months away!…so I had to get my butt in gear and finish a couple of things. Not only did I want to finish my 2 English paper piecing (EPP) projects in time for the show, but I wanted to visit with my old coworker and friend, Tracey, of Whirls-n-Swirls Quilting. We worked together at Ultimate Sewing Centre for about 8 or 9 years and, even though we were hard workers, we always had so much fun at work…you know, acting like 12 year olds laughing at the same stupid jokes and dancing and singing along to great rock songs on the radio.

Tracey first came into the shop looking to take some classes when her children were very young and soon became a fixture at the store taking quilting classes from me, garment making classes from Doreen, and serger classes from Shirley. She was so eager to learn everything she could about quilting and sewing, and was such a fast learner, that it was only a couple of years later that she started working there, both in the retail part of the store as well as teaching classes. Years later, when she saw a longarm machine, her story changed dramatically! Read all about it here.

As most of you already know, I recently became totally hooked on EPP after a 15 year absence. Within the last two years I have completed 2 quilt tops, 1 tablerunner and 1 wallhanging and have started two other quilts all pieced by hand. I surprised myself since I really don’t enjoy hand applique, but the EPP for some reason is different.

First up is Prudence by Lilabelle Lane Creations…this is the quilt that started my EPP obsession. I had an amazing time fussy-cutting the fabrics and working with unusual colour combinations. I knew that this would be MY quilt so I backed it in cozy Cuddletex in a beautiful deep teal colour because I want it to be my movie watching/reading/hand sewing quilt. I used the Caliente pantograph by Urban Elementz, Glide thread #67472 Sea Green for quilting and finished it off with a cool stripy binding. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

The second EPP project completed is Southern Aurora, also by Lilabelle Lane Creations. I have to admit that I didn’t really like the photo of the quilt on the pattern cover…I thought it looked too “blotchy”…so I tweaked it to highlight the blocks better. The white/black mini prints really allow the blocks to stand out. Again, lots of fun fussy-cutting and making up great colour combinations. If you want to see the individual blocks check here, here, and here. This time the backing was Fireside (similar to Cuddletex, but not as wide) in a great turquoise colour with Glide thread #60376 Kryptonite and the Zest pantograph by Urban Elementz. I guess you can tell that I’m partial to striped bindings!

Thanks so much, Tracey, for a couple of great mornings hanging out and dancing to Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk once again! You started out as my student, then became my co-worker and, in the process, my friend. I’ll see you soon for more longarm adventures!