"in hand" epp link party #6

 this last (short) month, i did manage to squeeze in a few bits of epp! never as much as i'd like, but some nonetheless. yesterday i even got some good old splish, splash, stash time to work on my epp. the name of this blog came about because i originally did most of my sewing while my little girls were bathing. that hasn't happened much in a very long time, but last night when the baby jumped in the tub, i pulled out my epp. (the project box was set on the tub rim only long enough for some quick photos, then i moved my stitching well out of splash range.)

 the little one is quite interested in my epp, but generally mostly in the thread spools and paperclips. i won't let her play with the fabric. or needles.

 after bathing, i let her explore the box a little. her favorite activity is to cram as many paperclips as she can get into the center of the spool. why this is fun only a 2 yr old understands. but it keeps her occupied and allows me to sew a bit.

 then i have to ask for the paperclips back. and sometimes rewrap the thread.

what do you do to occupy your little ones as you stitch?

 she wanted a turn to hold the sewing. "i poke it!," she said. really all she did was pull the thread. no harm done.

i got nearly a half wheel done during bath time. looks like i need to bathe her more often! or at least pull out the epp when she's splishing and splashing.

let's look at some of last month's link entries! many people were inspired by the Olympic games to pick up some handwork as they watched and cheered. a few others were distracted. which was it for you?

apparently, the Russian graphics and staff uniform also inspired quilters with it's colorful diamond patchwork. meg, at kinda stitchy, was playing with diamonds while she watched.  she was considering a sprocket layout. what did you choose, meg?

kristin, at kristin's quilts and stuff, was making a sweet little clamshell pouch for a swap. lucky partner! i think clamshells are on my list of shapes to do eventually. (in about 10 years when my current project is complete.)

and geomama has her own winter snow flurry of white hexies. can you even believe all those white hexies?! wow.

lots of great projects out there, friends! as you continue to work on them and link up, i hope to be able to feature them in coming months. it's hard picking just 3 to highlight! if you didn't get to see everyone's work, go check it out.

An InLinkz Link-up

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"in hand" epp link party #4

this is my epp work for the month. pretty slim. but every time i pick up this project, i fall in love with it all over again and want to do nothing else. however, i have half a dozen or more wips that really need to get out of the way, so epp takes a backseat unless i can't work on anything else.

this sunday, i had a sick baby or two at home during church hours. so i listened to some talks (sermons) from my church's most recent general conference and worked at my epp. i got some form of churchin' done and almost two wheels, too. (there are two wheels because i had started each separately already. i keep more than one "on the go" box, thus the two different pieces.)

this time i approached my project a bit differently. usually, i lay out a wheel and then stitch it together. for a change up, i experimented with just selecting the next piece as i went along to see if it affects the look any. so far, it doesn't' feel any different.

what process do you use when putting together your pieces? do you layout first or make it up as you go?

and here's another question, posed by heidi of red letter quilts last month: how many stitches do you use per inch?

when i began epp this summer, i was stitching so close together that my whipstitching was resembling a satin stitch. a bit too much. there were times when i counted 60 stitches per side, which is 1.5" long. that's about 40 stitches per inch! at least i know those pieces aren't coming apart, right?

well, i've relaxed some since then. my average is more like 30 to 45 per side, or 20 to 30 stitches per inch. that's still a lot, from what i gather. maybe if i could let up some more, my project might go faster, right?

enough about me, let's look at what our party people are up to. here are some highlights from last month's link up:

karen at pieces of contentment shared her process for selecting the background colors for her stunning diamond stars project. i have quite enjoyed watching this lovely work come together.

heather at based on a true story shared her version of the ever-popular hexie flower pattern. she was also looking for some swap partners for her hexie swap.

ivani from arte em casa, all the way from brazil, linked up her tutorial for making a star ornament. there are so many pictures that even if you don't read portuguese, you can still follow along! her method is probably adaptable to a variety of epp shapes. if you get started now, you can have a tree full for next year. or lots of gifts made.

"in hand" epp link party #2

here we are at the second "in hand" epp link party. i hope all entrants (and maybe visitors) were as inspired as i was by the link up. i was able to complete a set of 3 wheels in almost a week after the party. then my crazy idea for a quilt for each child for Christmas took over and i'll admit i haven't done much (maybe any) epp for about 2 weeks. but up to that point i was working on it either in the morning or just before bed every day. a little bit at a time really adds up quickly.

this time around instead of doing just individual wheel blocks, i did a group of 3 at once in an attempt at keeping the thread moving from one place to the next. it did help with the thread, but i don't like adding one small piece to such a large base. it gets unwieldy. so i'm going back to one block at a time.

i also realized that i have not got all my hexie fabrics oriented the same direction. (see the fleur de lis block above.) this is going to bug me. in the future, i'll rebaste them on the papers before sewing together, but i'm stuck with the few that are off now since i refuse to unpick handstitching.

as for the link party, i'm quite pleased with the showing we had last month - 22 entries. there were plenty of hexies, but also lots of other great projects going on, too. i've decided to share 3 projects from each link up on the following month. believe me, this is a hard choice to make! i'm going to go for some variety in shapes and projects, any special techniques of note, or new epp information/happenings.

Melissa at my fabric relish had not one, but two, finishes to share. she worked on some cushions while staying with her father in the hospital. (she says he's all better now, thank goodness!)
i'm so glad she mentioned that charm packs are the perfect size for 2.5" hexies. that's good to know! you can see her other ferris wheel pattern cushion here.

Liz at shush, i'm quilting shared a tutorial on how to use the nifty sewline glue pen as she put together her fabulous 6 point diamond stars. I like this one with the postcard print and liberty stile. I think the sewline people aught to be giving her sales commissions because she probably convinced a lot of people to use this pen when they saw the stack of diamonds she did in a very short period.

Moneik at monkeik quilts had more epp projects going than maybe the rest of us combined! this hexie project is a fascinating study in how many ways you can make a hexie out of other shapes.

this isn't featuring any one entrant, but while visiting links last month, I came across the inchy hexagon flower swap ladies and blog. it is a swap with 50 members (spots open!) from around the world that trade 1" hexie flowers with partners each month. here are some of the swap guidelines to give you an idea:

Hexagons are 1" sided when finished.

Tacked templates are to be left in.

Send two (2) finished hexagon flowers to your nominated partner per month. It is up to you how many you send to your partner. Some people only prefer to send one (1). You may want to include a little gift or postcard with your monthly hexie. It is not compulsory or expected.

this is a swap received from a member last month, pretty post card included

if you'd like to see some samples, get more information on the swap, or maybe join in, please visit their site. I was so excited to find a group of nearly 50 ladies who epp. I did a guest post on their blog about "in hand" so I hope to see new participants this month from their group.


  this link party is linked up with wip Wednesday at freshly pieced.

in hand epp link party

welcome to the first in hand  link party!  i am quite anxious to see what other epp projects are going on out there. i've been traveling (and epping along the way, of course) this week so although i set up the party to publish beforehand, i didn't get my epp photographed for this post. i'll be linking up myself the beginning of next week. thanks for joining in!

epp on the airplane again

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an invitation

i'm saving up all my finishes for this weekend as i listen to general conference, so i don't have any final finishes to share. but i did finally get my buttons made for a monthly link party i'll be hosting starting next weekend.

i've had this link party on the brain for a few months now and am finally ready to launch it! epp has been such a satisfying addition to my sewing repertoire. i know several other epp-ers (a new word i just made up) are out there and i want to see what they're working on! having links collected in one place is so handy. so beginning this month, i'll be hostessing a little get together for sharing all the epp goodness going on out there.

epp is a long-term project, usually accomplished over a length of time. i do mine in bits and pieces when i have a chance. for this reason, i thought a monthly link would be better than a weekly. i've chosen the second saturday of each month for the party, which will stay open for at least a week. i hope the alliteration helps everyone remember when it is!

i'm not sure which button i like best. any thoughts? maybe i'll just offer both. or if they're really awful, i'll start from scratch. tell me, please!

in addition to some quilt binding, i'll be working on my epp this weekend, also. when i epp at home, i like to listen to something, like a book or inspirational talks. this weekend i'll be following general conference live. it's perfect as a backdrop for epp. or, to give proper emphasis and priority to that statement, i should say epp is the perfect thing to do with my hands while i listen.

so if you're home this weekend and want some uplifting and inspirational listening to go along with some handwork, join me! schedule here. and if you epp, please join the party starting next saturday, october 12th . i can't wait to see what everyone is worring on.