Sunday, April 18, 2010

Yokohama/Toronto Wall Hanging - Fan Block Using the English Paper Piecing.Method

English Paper Piecing is a simple method for joining similar shapes of fabric together by hand. You can see this hand sewing method here. This one uses hexagons, but you can use other shapes too.


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And now for the fan block.

Lay out the fan pieces in the order that you want them.
Next. pick up two of the pieces and sew them together starting at the top and working down. Take small stitches. Try not to catch the paper because it is difficult to needle through. It will also be difficult to remove when you are done. Check to make sure you have the pieces in the correct order.

Continue to sew the pieces together until you have a fan shape.

Now lay the fan out on a piece of backing that has been measured into a 9-inch square. Use a pencil to mark the back and add a 1/4inch seam allowance all the way around.
Place the fan about 3/4 to 1 inch from the top and side of the background, so that it is centred. Pin in place.


You can now hand applique the top of the fan to the background.


When you are finished appliqueing, remove the basting threads and the paper. Let the seam allowance on the fan lay flat with the edge of the block. Pin the fan at the bottom so that it can't shift when you applique the quarter circle. Take the quarter circle and lay it on the fan block so that it overlaps the fan at least 1/4 of an inch. Pin in place and applique down. Try to catch the background fabric so that it will remain 9 inches square. The background fabric will remain in the block behind the fan.
Remove the basting threads and the paper and you are done!





11 comments:

  1. I made a queen sized quilt one time using paper pieceing. I wanted to make a quilt so bad but didn't want to pull out the machine and was jusst tired (working nights)...so I cut out squares from card board and well....the rest is history...was fun to do. thanks for your tutorial.

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  2. what a beautiful block Hetty.. thanks for the great tutorial.. I love hand work!! look at those wonderful Asian fabrics!

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  3. What a gorgeous piece of work.

    Happy Mother's Day weekend ...
    TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

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  4. Hi! thanks for coming to visit my blog. I came and looked at this one and your other. I haven't looked at the group efforts yet but your quilting is lovely. I did a bit of quilting until I went back to school to start a Ph.D. I just found knitting and am doing a bit of that for now. My stash is still in my sewing room waiting for me to come back :) I have a red and white one I want to do, a green kit hip to be square kit and some liberty floral to put together into something so It won't be too long :)

    I just started the project blog and it is fun!
    Tina

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  5. Thanks for visiting my blog, always fun to meet new quilters. And surfing on the web from blog to blog makes the world a little bit smaller.
    Like the fan. Great to make it as a paper piece patern. I love to make things with paper piecing. It's relaxing little work you can do after a hards day work.
    Saskia

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  6. How pretty! I would have never thought of using English paper piecing for fans! Great idea! :0)

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  7. You ladies amaze me the way you create such beautiful fabric creations. Lovely fabric colors & beautiful design.

    Have a beau-TEA-ful weekend.
    TTFN , Hugs, Marydon

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  8. This looks nice Hetty. Lovely fabrics and so neatly stitched.

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  9. i'm currently paper piecing hexagons. i'm really enjoying it. that fan is beautiful.

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