Newsletter March
I wish you all a wonderful start to spring. It's a great time to offer my favorite workshops: English paper piecing with its Grandmother's Flower Garden, or in other words: EPP – dimensional stability through paper-backed geometry.
With the paper piecing method, we can give our deeply buried fabric remnants a new lease of life and transform them into simple to super-complex compositions. And we can do this anywhere, in the garden, in the living room, on the tram...
A well-known hexagon combination reminiscent of flowers is called Grandmother's Flower Garden, also known as Hexagon Quilt or Honeycomb.
EPP is a hand sewing method in which pieces of fabric are pinned (or glued, which I don't do) around paper templates and then sewn together. In addition to reusing beloved pieces of fabric, the idea of dimensional stability through paper-supported geometry is central. After sewing the individual elements together, the paper is removed and can then be reused as well.
The method is suitable for complex geometric patterns as well as difficult and slippery fabrics, which is hardly feasible by machine. The result is textile surfaces whose logic is based on structure, variation, and manual precision. Individual shapes are also possible—as we did, for example, with Radus Quilt. Based on the figurative representations on the ties from Nicoletta's student days, she constructed corresponding geometric patterns and transformed the pieces of fabric into a new composition. At that time, I helped Nicoletta sew a quilt for her son Radu, and Nicoleta helped me learn more about EPP and the history of patchwork and quilting.
I love English paper piecing because I can transform all the little fabric scraps, even the slippery and difficult ones, into all kinds of shapes without feeling stressed or inefficient. It's simple and varied at the same time.
I love English paper piecing because I can transform all my little fabric scraps, even the slippery and difficult-to-handle ones, into all kinds of shapes without feeling stressed or pressured to be efficient. It's simple and varied at the same time.
For Spectrum Flower Garden, my tribute to my friend and mentor Hassan Sharif, I painted a simple canvas and then cut it up according to my own cardboard template. For the paper hexagons, I used prints that I created for the Paradise Lost work group. At first, I wanted to leave them in the finished work. But it felt too contrived and inorganic, so I decided against it.
Today, English paper piecing also stands for a conscious, sustainable use of textile resources, is one of the sustainable crafts, and offers great opportunities in combination with creative freedom.
The Quilting Bee is coming back to the studio.
The next Quilting Bee – Making Session will take place on March 22, 2026, from 2 to 4 p.m.
You can register here without obligation, or send me an email or WhatsApp message.
I am very much looking forward to meeting you and seeing you again!