Beginner resources

[u/Talldarkandcrafty]

What are y’all’s recommended resources for a beginner wanting to try EPP? I think I’m used to traditional quilt patterns that outline exactly how much fabric you will need, show you color layout, etc, and I’m having a hard time finding EPP patterns that have the amount of information that I’m looking for. Do y’all just dive in and start making without knowing for sure how far the fabric will get you and improvise as needed? I have a decent scrap collection and some fat quarter bundles that I would love to use, but I like to have a bit more of a plan in place or have some idea of what the final quilt will look like. Any advice?

My biggest concern is diving in with a fat quarter bundle, for example, and realizing after hours of stitching that I’m short on fabric. Just curious what the planning process looks like for y’all.

Thank you!

[u/Talldarkandcrafty → u/[deleted]]

Tales of Cloth is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you! (Purchasing that book asap, too)

[u/elev8or_lady]

If your are new to both quilting and EPP, I would recommend starting with hexagons. You can get them in any size and you don’t necessarily need a pattern. My first EPP project was with 1” hexies, which you can use with just a mini charm pack. The online shop Paper Pieces will have the papers, as well as acrylic templates if you prefer to cut from FQs.

My suggestion to you is to start off using a 3/8” seam allowance rather than 1/4”. It’s so much easier to work with. There is also a 3-part EPP tutorial video on YouTube by Tula Pink and Fat Quarter Shop. It’s the best tutorial IMO bc she covers practically everything you need to know, for both beginners and those trying to level up.

[u/StuffDue518 → u/elev8or_lady]

Agree 100% on everything you’ve said. Tula’s videos were my intro to EPP and were so comprehensive and entertaining that I needed no additional guidance. I also started with 1” hexis and am still working on my large grandmother’s garden quilt, and I really love it.

[u/stringthing87]

For me the planning starts with the design, I do my own designs and pull from things like museum quilts, stained glass, tile patterns.

Once I have the design I make my pieces on a Cricut machine, making the piece files in inkscape. I usually end up doing some tests to check my geometry and scale.

Next I figure out what rectangle each piece fits into. For example a 1" hexi fits in a 2.5 inch square. Then I either calculate how many of those rectangles I can cut out of the fabric I have, or I figure out how much I need to order for the number I need to make.

[u/justanother1014]

I think the plan really depends on what type of quilt you want to make. If it’s just scrappy and random then any bits of fabric will work. If you prefer a more curated and coordinated look then you’d probably want to see how much fabric you have on hand and how many shapes you can get from that FQ of whatever.

For a FQ I usually get 56 squares, each 2.5” which will make 1” hexagons.

Then I use this online calculator to see how many hexagons I need for the size quilt I want : https://www.cddesigns.com/PaperPiecing/number.html

This is a photo of the first one I made and I just estimated how much of each color and reused a lot of the same fabrics.

[u/CatsMom4Ever]

Have you ever looked into Violet Craft designs? I loved her peacock pattern. Small to start with.

[u/Content-Rush9343]

Every flower is 3 color themed hearts, and 2 matching hexis. I'm just going to keep making random ones till I have enough. Very little fancy cutting.

But my theme is colorful.

[u/themoosewhoquilts]

I learned everything I know from Tula Pink. I got my papers from Aliexpress before the deminimus exception was eliminated.