eight days a week epp block // joining the pieces

The joining of the Eight Days a Week pieces has begun!

My favorite trick for laying out the pieces is to find the arrangement I like, and then snap a pic on my iPad. Otherwise I forget. Even if I stack my pieces in the order they go, I manage to forget which side to attach to, or it ends up off in some other way.

Sometimes I still change my mind (I think I've made three big changes so far on this one!), but then I just take a new picture. Easy peasy!

I'm joining these with whip stitch. I actually really like the way it looks when I use running stitch, but this way is faster, and as it is, I'm fairly certain it's gonna take me months to make my pillow.

Because in my excitement to start this, I let a few other things go. So this project goes on hold for a bit. As my piecing gets a little larger, I'll do more updates.

If you decide to use this block, I'd love to see! Tag me on Instagram (I'm @molliejohanson) and tag your pics #EightDaysAWeekEPP. Find the template here!

eight days a week epp block // cutting and basting

Last night I started cutting and basting the pieces for my Eight Days a Week EPP design. I can tell this will take me far more than eight days to make this whole thing, but then, that's part of the charm of slow sewing.

The octagons have 1-inch sides. In All-Points Patchwork Diane Gilleland says that you can tack the corners if the pieces have 1-inch sides or less. I tried that with a few, but wasn't thrilled with the snugness of the basting. So for the rest I basted through the fabric and paper. I'm much happier now.

When I set up the block, I made it two ways. One way is to make an eight-inch single block, and the other way is to lay it out in repeat. For the pillow I'm making, I'll do a 2x2 layout (which is more like 1-3/4 x 1-3/4) that will look like this:



...sort of. After I basted the octagons and arranged them like my plan, I didn't like the placement. So I've already switched some pieces around. And I may do more of that as I go. Of course, now I'm faced with a dilemma. Do I start joining pieces, or wait until I have every piece basted so I can play with the arrangement more? We'll see how I feel.

I'm blogging this block in near-realtime, so what you see is as far as I've gotten. The block isn't officially tested yet, but if you'd like to get a jump on it (or maybe even pass me by!), you can download the template.

DOWNLOAD THE EIGHT DAYS A WEEK TEMPLATE PDF

The PDF shows a single block and a chunk of repeat (like my color plan above), then it has the pieces for a single block, plus the square needed for the repeat.

The partial octagons you see at the center of the four edges would be full octagons that lead into the next repeat. Similarly, if you're repeating, you wouldn't make triangles, but they would be the "kite" shapes that lead into the next repeat.

Now, I think I had better get some more basting stitches in place!

eight days a week epp block // pulling fabric

In a month of octagons, I decided that I could not resist making a true EPP project with this shape. I needed to start another project. Right? But for some reason, I had a hard time finding a design that I liked. Surely there are more options than what I found?

Not wanting to waste any more time, I drew up a pattern of my own.

But let's go back. Do I need another project? Do I have time for another project? Not unless I suddenly find that there are now eight days in a week. Which is what I'm calling my new block: Eight Days a Week. I'm sharing it bit by bit this week, working in near real-time.

Today you get to see the fabric I've pulled.

My goal is to make a pillow with the finished panel, and I want to keep it for myself. So I selected colors and fabrics that I'm excited about. Originally I thought I'd go with something more rainbow in nature, but as I looked at my fabrics, I knew I needed to go another way.

Since the design (which you'll see tomorrow!) features octagons, I needed colors or patterns that would be in multiples of twos, fours, and/or eights. I selected four main colors: red, navy, pink, and blue. Then I added in a floral that coordinates and some low-volume prints that also coordinate.



Since I have more reds than others right now, I'm not sure if I'll use them all. Once I start actually cutting and assembling, I might adjust this some, or even add in some others (any excuse to go fabric shopping?).

Eight or nine of these prints are Cotton + Steel, which really helps hold it all together, I think. Then there are a couple from other designers and some JoAnn fabrics from my stash.

Pulling fabric absolutely brings me joy. Which sometimes gets me into trouble because I start grabbing fabrics for projects that I'm not really ready to start yet, and then I just little stacks of fabric everywhere. But I think I might just need to share them here on occasion.

For now, I'm going to start cutting out my Eight Days a Week pieces so I can show you the next step tomorrow!