Millefiori La Passacaglia quilt journey - phase 1 study and gather

Now that I'm committing to this EPP ((English paper piecing) project, I need to research the quilting community for best practices and tutorials. Pinterest and Instagram are great starting points. First lets see what Merriam-Webster definitions has to say:

Passacaglia (n.) – an old Italian or Spanish dance tune; an instrumental musical composition consisting of variations usually on a ground bass in moderately slow triple time; or an old dance performed to a Passacaglia.

Millefiori (n.)-  a kind of ornamental glass in which a number of glass rods of different sizes and colors are fused together and cut into sections that form various patterns, typically embedded in colorless transparent glass to make items such as paperweights.

I better come clean… I’ve never done EPP. It always looked a bit daunting to me.  In truth it still does so I’m not sure why I’m willing to tackle this now. My biggest concern is the stitches tend to show on the front seams, which I don’t like. Funny that we love our quilting stitches to show but not the seams…..in reality handwork is handwork. I love hand applique and have perfected my stitches over the many quilts I’ve done so I'm hoping I can transfer those skills to EPP…..or that it my strategy anyway.

There are several EPP methods, but the most common is shaping fabric (basted or temporary glue) around a paper template which is then sewn together with very tiny hand stitches. It's all hand work, perfect for going to bees.  Another method prints the template shapes directly onto your fabric using a home printer, then you cut it out and sew by hand or machine. I've not been very successful printing on fabrics with my Inkjet printer so I will do the wrap paper templates method. 

My research pointed me in the direction of a book by Willyne Hammerstein, called Millefiori Quilts for examples and instructions. She has a second one in print, but it seems the first lays the foundation and includes 19 different designs. 

There are five different shapes in the quilt I'm going to tackle, with 2900 pieces (I know, crazy!) if you do the bed size. I plan to start small and see how it goes, perhaps make a larger wall hanging. It helps to have the clear acrylic templates if you plan to fussy cut your fabric, which I do. All these things can be ordered from your local quilt shop or direct from PaperPieces.com  - the books, laser cut paper template packs, and acrylic template sets.

Yes, you are seeing right, the pieces are little, shown with a 3/8" seam allowance. I didn't expect them to be so small, so I thought the ruler reference would be helpful.

Next I began to audition fabrics from my stash. Since I have decent size stash I’m trying hard to use what I have first, but I may need a print or two to fill in. I'm always weak on pink and yellow but have loads of greens, and lots of reds, blues and purples. Some quilters are purist about their fabric choices and stay within a designers theme, or only use civil war or reproductions, or Asian prints. Not me, this is going to be Heinz 57 scrappy which is what I follow the majority of time. How the color reads is most important to me, including neutrals black and whites, plus large to small scale and print types such as geometrics, organic, stripes, dots, florals etc.  Here's what I pulled:

Next I focused on needles and threads.  Several sites recommend a size 11 milliner needle. They are long, thin and flexible which is helpful to work thru the layers. There are lots of opinions on thread.  Some use a smoke grey color (in polyester) for everything which never worked for me in my applique.  I prefer matching my thread as close to the fabric as possible. I love Aurifil 50/2 Mako cotton, but Mettler 60/2 cotton or even YLI silk will work too.

I also gathered up other notions such as Frog Tape, office binder clips, Frixion (iron away) marking pen, pencil, and Sew Line washable glue sticks with A LOT of refills since I plan to glue baste. Many of you will think this is crazy, but I wear a pair of 4x magnification reading glasses over my trifocals to see up close to make smaller stitches. That along with an Ott light makes all the difference for me.  Last, a square rotating cutting mat, small rotary cutter, and a couple pair of sharp scissors and I’m ready to start, along with a ‘rosette’ pattern planning guide.

Stay tuned for more progress……

Creating a Millefiori quilt, or three steps to insanity......

Sometimes you just have to try something new. Or that's what I was thinking when I came across the spectacular Millefiori quilts on Pinterest, specifically the La Passacaglia. They look like Millefiori art glass (just Google it), or a kaleidoscope exploded onto your fabric, hundreds of tiny shards sewn together. I thought it was lovely, but then moved on.

That was the first encounter.

Then I came across it again on a quilt shop newsletter, in the form of a support group.  Really? A support group for quilters making a Millefiori? What's that supposed to mean? I should have left my curiosity there and moved on, but no, that didn't happen.

This was the second encounter.

I was curious. I read the support group met twice a month to encourage and help each other learn how to create these stunning intricate masterpieces. So I stopped in one day.  I learned they are tedious, complex, and mindfully challenging, with endless possibilities. I learned they incorporate enormous of amounts of fussy cut fabric with teeny tiny laser cut paper templates to make the shards you then sew together English paper piecing style.  I learned enough to make a sane person run screaming to the nearest exit. But no, I was drawn to this like a moth to a flame, uncontrollably sucked into a vortex of fabric hypnosis, chanting over and over "you can do this!” 

This was the third and final step.

I knew all too well I shouldn't. But I really really wanted the challenge.  I even tried to get other quilting friends to drink the Millefiori kool-aid so to speak. Some did, but some were smarter.

Making these quilts has grown into a global quilting craze. Facebook groups have sprung up, tutorials, books, tools etc. are everywhere. They've become the new Mary Jane phenomenon.  

Since I just completed a year long red and white guild challenge quilt that consists of more than 825 hand appliquéd leaves (I will post a pic after a show in June), I was searching for a new hand project.  So I've decided to blog about my trials and successes following this project over the next months or years....which ever it takes.

So gather the wine, chocolate, and quilting supplies........and fasten your seat belt for my three steps to quilting insanity, or what sounds so much better when you say....my journey creating a Millefiori quilt. Once I push the PUBLISH button on this blog, this post goes live, and there is no turning back.

Celebrating the Irish this week.......

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!!! I'm at it again......

All Tangled Up........

Well, it seems I have been bitten by the tangling (i.e. Zentangle) bug again.  Winter is a great time to spend hours with a pen and paper, creating thick callouses on my fingers, sometimes forgetting to come up for air.  Here is my trail of pics….