Flossie Teacakes

Paintscape - An English Paper Piecing Sewing Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes)) — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:21:00 +0000

Finally, a new English paper piecing pattern. If you recognise it, it's because it's based on the 5am Life Wave piece I made in 2018, although I've adjusted the pattern pieces a little for this version to make them more user-friendly.

This pattern really provides a canvas for you to paint your own design onto - the small triangles allow you to throw in pops of colour, while the misshapen pieces running along the edge of each block give a fractured rain-on-windowpanes feel.

You can use as many blocks as you'd like to create your design, and the pattern comes complete with a colouring sheet where you can plan it all out, along with lots of tips and step-by-step construction illustrations.

Here's a shot of my Paintscape, mid-progress, when I still had two rows still to make.

If you'd like to download a copy of the PDF sewing pattern, you can find it in my Etsy shop.

If you make your own Paintscape, please do get in touch, as I'd love to see :)

With love,

Florence x

Sign Up To My Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes)) — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:20:00 +0000

A quick post to invite you to sign up to my newsletter, Off Topic, where I’ll be sharing a mix of book, boxset & podcast chat; things that have made me laugh (or cry); random thoughts and anecdotes; other makers’ work; discoveries in the stationery department…and maybe even some occasional stitching (that being on topic, so technically out of bounds), delivered straight to your inbox.

I’m not sure I would have previously imagined a newsletter feeling like a perfect medium, but over the last few years I’ve gradually subscribed to more and more, and the ones that drop into my inbox now feel like unexpected treats and have made it seem a bit more like the first days of email when it was mostly just long newsy letters from friends. I also love that I don’t have to rely on algorithm or my own memory to get to see them.

You can unsubscribe at any time and your email address won’t be shared with anyone. All fingers crossed you might like to join me, Florence x

I've Written a Book...

noreply@blogger.com (Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes)) — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 10:40:00 +0000

I've just looked up the date and found that it's 23 months to the day since an email dropped into my inbox that was the catalyst for the book you can see at the top of this post. I did consider waiting a month to write this post when I realised that, as it would have so much more symmetry, but impatience seems to have won out.

Before I tell you about my own book, I want to rewind to 2012, when I wrote a post mentioning one about the late Lucy Boston, written by her daughter-in-law, Diana Boston. That biography very quickly became one of my favourite books about quilt-making and it didn't contain a single pattern; I loved it because at the end of the day when I finished my own sewing, I could take it to bed at night and continue to immerse myself in quilting by reading about Lucy's life and the way she thought about fabrics and the way she planned her quilts, which I found fascinating. I spent hours pouring over that book, admiring the beautiful photos of her finished piecing and looking at the trail of letters she wrote about her various quilting projects. It left me feeling that if I ever wrote a sewing book myself, I wanted it to be one that people could 'read', as well as make things from.

Fast-forward to 26th April 2016, when an email landed in my inbox from the US publisher, Fons & Porter (now the Quilting Company), inviting me to write a techniques-based book about English paper piecing, containing 8-10 hand pieced quilts. The email was so warm, friendly and personal that I was immediately interested, but two thoughts rumbled around inside my head that let me know I wouldn't be the right person to write that book for them: for me, sewing is a joyful thing, in part, because of its slowness and so the idea of sewing that many hand-pieced quilts in the space of a year left me feeling unenthused - I'm always in awe of authors whose passion only seems to be intensified by such a prospect, but I was fairly sure there was a danger it would crush mine entirely; secondly, I knew that if I were to put myself through such a thing, at the end of it, I still wouldn't have written the book that I really wanted to write.

So when I replied, it was to ask them to consider my writing a completely different book to the one they'd been hoping for. This was how I summarised what I wanted to do in one of our many emails: I’d been hoping to write a book that would feel a treat to dip in and out of: storied, thought-provoking, discursive, emotive, questioning - not only a how-to around English paper piecing, but within that, also an exploration of ‘why?’ - because it is such an odd thing that we spend so many hours fixating on cutting up small bits of fabric and then sewing them back together again, often even acquiring repetitive strain injuries in doing so. I see this exploration of ‘why?' naturally unfolding over a series of interviews, but also in looking generally around the subject of working with our hands. I then went on to make a very long list of all the specific things that I wanted to write about; several of which relied upon people - many of whom I had no idea if I could even get in touch with - agreeing to be interviewed by me.

Although I had a strong belief in my vision for a book, in all honesty I hadn't expected to find a publisher who would agree to my approach, so I was both surprised and delighted when the acquisitions editor wrote back to say that she loved the sound of it and would like to put it in front of the rest of the team to get their feedback. I feel truly lucky that they were willing to take a risk on what, at that time, was a rather underdeveloped collection of ideas.

So, let me tell you a bit about the book that eventually grew out of those initial emails. The first half is full of discussion, stories and interviews, not just about English paper piecing, but more generally about working with our hands. Amongst other things, it will take you on a journey into prisons to hear about men who hand-sew as a way of creating a new life for themselves; we'll look into why humans are so drawn to symmetry and repeating pattern; I'll bring you with me on a day trip to see Lucy Boston's English paper pieced quilts in person; we'll consider how fabric has influenced the English language; you'll find out how the acclaimed novelist Tracy Chevalier came to write a story about hand-pieced quilts; we'll explore why people feel compelled to sew and what the mental and physical benefits of doing so might be; we'll meet the granddaughter of a man whose individual quilts contained more pieces than I could ever hope to sew in a lifetime; and from there, we'll go on to discuss what drives some people to undertake (and successfully complete) such extraordinary feats of quilting. In my research, I pored over books and papers written by quilt historians, neuroscientists, physicists (Richard Feynman and quilting have more in common than you might first imagine), psychologists and mathematicians, as well as consulting with fellow quilt-makers - the result is an eclectic collection of bite-sized articles and essays (for want of better words - neither of those actually feel quite right), rounded off by a series of interviews where I'll introduce you to some of my favourite modern-day English paper piecers.

In the second half of the book, there's an extensive techniques section that covers everything from looking at how different shapes tessellate, to how to make your own templates, along with step-by-step instructions and photos walking you through every technique you might need for EPP. The book also takes an in-depth look at fussy cutting and the effects that can be achieved by cutting fabrics in a variety of different ways (there are some fun visuals to go with this bit). Finally, there are three rosette patterns, each named after a place where I've lived, and then a bigger quilt pattern that contains more advanced techniques, including tackling curves.

My book is available for pre-order now through Waterstones, Amazon UK, Amazon US and other places where you can buy books :) I may also stock it on my blog to be sent out directly if there's any interest.

This feels like a long, wordy post, not broken up by many photos, but I'll share more over the coming months. My book is out in the US on 29th May and in the UK on 29th June, which was feeling like quite a long time away, until it received its very first review in a magazine this month and now suddenly it feels like my book may not just be a figment of my imagination and as though there may be a day when it's sitting on the shelves of a real bookshop or quilt store. Above, is the review written by Julie Sheridan in Popular Patchwork magazine - I'm not sure I could ever have hoped for a more generous write-up. Just click on the image to enlarge, if you'd like to read it.

I'll hopefully follow this post up with one about the book writing process as it's always something I'm interested in reading about from others.

Wishing you a happy week,
Florence x

Patchwork & Quilting: A Maker's Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes)) — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 14:32:00 +0000

It's been a while since I last posted, so now I have a whole queue of things impatiently lined up waiting to be shared, but this book, published by Thames & Hudson for the V&A, has leapfrogged straight to the front of the queue.

Last year, an email landed in my inbox asking if I'd like to contribute an English paper pieced project to a book that the Victoria & Albert Museum were bringing out. Contributors were invited to pick something from the museum's collection and create a piece inspired by it, which felt like such a delicious premise for a project.

I chose this Sundial Coverlet from 1797 as my inspiration piece, drawn to it through a combination of it containing some wonderful blocks suitable for EPP, as well as finding the thoughtfulness behind its structure appealing. Described by the V&A as 'a microcosm of her world in cloth', the maker has placed matters close to home at the centre of the quilt and slowly stitched her way out to the far corners of the world. The central blocks relate to domesticity: a pincushion, needle, scissors and it also looks to bare the initials of either herself or family members. Moving outward, the coverlet is dotted with blocks that reference the garden: ducks, birds, butterflies and honeysuckle. In the four corners are pieced maps: the top two showing the Eastern and Western Hemispheres on the globe; while the outline of England and Wales, and then Scotland, are depicted in the two bottom corners. It's a structure that made me imagine a maker who appreciated what was close to home, but who was also outward-looking and whose dreams were filled with travel and adventure.

While the more figurative blocks initially attracted me to the quilt, I focused on some of the geometric piecing that the quilt encompassed, which is better for EPP. I chose three blocks, which increase in level of difficulty, beginning with simple hexagons, working up to smaller pieces and some gentle curves. Having drafted the blocks, I chose to use Liberty prints, which feel to bridge the gap between old and new. This is the most simple of the three blocks:

In the photo below, you can see the direct inspiration for the quilt block that follows. I've tried to mirror the original maker's careful placement of prints - you can see that she's used the same prints at 12 and 6 o'clock, and then again at 1, 5, 7 and 11 o'clock and so on. The curve sits on the outside edge of the outermost pieces, so one doesn't actually have to sew any curves together.

Again, in the block below, I've tried to make my placement of repeating fabrics sympathetic to the original layout, as it was so thoughtfully done that I didn't want to dilute its loveliness in translation. The blocks could be made placed in repeat to make a whole quilt, or framed and put on the wall, which is where mine will be going.

I wanted the three blocks to each have a distinct feel, but also to work together as a cohesive trio for photography. When choosing fabrics for a block, I'm always waiting for that illusive feeling of 'ah, yes, of course', which comes when I finally feel I've found a combination of colours and prints that works. It's long been a source of frustration for me that I'll hold a project up for weeks, while I wait for that combination to materialise (although this subsequent sewing exercise has really helped with conquering that - I'd really recommend it for fellow indecisives). In order for me to meet my deadline and not steal too much time away from another project that I was immersed in for much of last year, I knew that I had to make quicker decisions with these blocks, so I decided to confine myself to just one weekend for fabric choices.

I've found the quickest and least wasteful way for me to trial a large number of fabrics is to scan them in and then mess around with them on my laptop, swapping fabrics in and out, until I have a combination I feel happy with. My sister had offered to be a second pair of eyes for me and that weekend we had countless texts and phone calls, discussing what was or wasn't working with each version. I was relieved that by about 7pm on Sunday, I had all three blocks finalised and a digital image of how each fabric should be cut there for my reference and the finished blocks do look identical to those first images (above, the first photo shows the digital version, the second is the hand-sewn versions)! It made the cutting and sewing bit really speedy and a few days before Christmas, I posted my blocks off to the our editor, ready for their photo shoot in the new year.

So, on to the actual book, which is a thing of beauty. It's peppered with samples from the V&A's collection, which makes it feel a really rich and weighty book. It's also fascinating to see how each contributor has approached creating a modern version of their original inspiration piece.

The book's other contributors are Jenny Barlow, Susan Briscoe, Caroline Crabtree, Jenny Haynes, Pippa Moss, Ruth Singer and Gillian Travis and their makes are all gorgeous. One of my favourites is this reversible cot quilt by Pippa Moss - I haven't tried making a whole cloth quilt, but this makes me want to have a go. Beautiful tactile fabric and intricate hand-quilting.

Another project that jumped out at me is this gorgeously bold quilt by Jenny Haynes, finished with hand quilting in thick perle cotton.

There are so many other lovely projects inside - too many to mention here.

Finally, I wanted to show you some of the beautiful step-by-step illustrations by Eleanor Crow. When I first received proofs of my pages, I could scarcely believe how perfectly she'd reproduced the Liberty prints...almost lovelier than the originals.

If you're interested, you may well be able to hunt a copy down in your local bookshop. Alternatively, you can find it on Amazon (that's an affiliate link by the way - it means if someone buys a copy, then Amazon give me a tiny percentage of the sale price. Amazon doesn't share any of your details with me though. If you'd rather they didn't pass on a share of the sale, just type in 'Patchwork & Quilting A Maker's Guide' on Amazon and it should come up for you).

I think a launch party for the book is being planned at The Village Haberdashery in London on 25th November. I'll share more details nearer the time, but if you fancy coming along, it would be really lovely to meet you.

Wishing you a happy weekend,
Florence x

Unwieldy antlers and other sizing issues

noreply@blogger.com (Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes)) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 05:09:00 +0000

Following my last post introducing my new Three Bears' Sleeping Bag pattern, this post has been written with the hope that it will help if you feel you want further advice as to the right size sleeping bag to make for your bear, doll or other creature. The Three Bears' Sleeping Bag pattern comes in three sizes: Baby Bear, Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear. Each of those sizes comes with a maximum height suggestion, but because bears and other toys are all such very different shapes it's more difficult to advise when it comes to establishing a maximum circumference, so these visuals may help.

So lets start with the basics, laying out once again the height recommendations for each size of sleeping bag:

Baby Bear - maximum height of bear 8"
Mummy Bear - max height of bear 10 1/2"
Daddy Bear - max height of bear 13 1/2"

The picture above shows how a bear may look on the pattern piece when the sizing is just right. You can see that each creature has a nice amount of space around it at the top and the bottom, and they don't look like they will strain the side seams either. These bears are all healthy, active bears who haven't overindulged in honey...so it may help to show the suggested sizing for a more rotund bear.

When it comes to making a bed for any size or shape of creature, the main thing to keep in mind is that the squashier and softer the bear, the more able he will be to fit into any bag, as long as the height recommendation is followed. Harder-bodied bears and animals should receive a bigger sleeping bag if you are unsure whether the size that suits their height will actually accommodate their width.

To demonstrate this I've taken our largest bear, who has an impressive girth.

You'll see that in every way he's bursting over the sides of the Daddy Bear sleeping bag size. However, because he is incredibly soft and squashy, he can actually fit in the finished bag, even though really he should have had a larger one made for him (at his height, he certainly should have done, but I'm just trying to demonstrate circumference issues here). A harder-bodied bear that is less malleable should always receive a sleeping bag that is a little bigger.

Please ignore the obvious height breach here: this is to demonostrate circumference.

While the bear below isn't overly tall, because of his full tummy and legs that don't lie flat, it's best to go up a size. He fits in the Daddy bear sleeping bag and it's a very comfortable fit with plenty of growth room.

As you can see here:

I thought it may also be helpful to cover four-legged animals too, because lots of children I know favour these over bears.

Four legged creatures generally have a bigger circumference than a bear might, so in every case it's worth sizing up, even if the length of the creature fits neatly into a smaller size (again, if the animal is squashy, you're fairly safe).

Now let's make things a little more challenging. First we have this rather stout guinea pig - he's not enormous, but he's bulky. Again, choose the largest size:

But what if your animal is long, hard-bodied and four-legged, like this sausage dog? As you can see below, he's not the ideal candidate for such a bed, but that won't stop a child from enjoying tucking him up, so make the largest size for him.

The most peculiarly-shaped animal that we own is this reindeer that came home from Sweden with us. You'll see that he is very statuesque, has a hard, unyielding body and antlers that are a little wild. But with the largest bed size, even he can be accommodated.

It's worth remembering that while the pattern comes in three sizes, if your intended bear or creature has outgrown these, the pattern is very easily increased on a copy machine at the local library or print shop. If you're interested in buying the pattern, you can find it for sale for instant download here.

I hope that helps,

Florence x

The Three Bears' Sleeping Bag PDF Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes)) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:08:00 +0000

I'm so delighted that my Three Bears' Sleeping Bag PDF pattern is finally ready to share with you. I first started making sleeping bags for childrens' toys a few years ago at the request of a friend and we've since given them countless times for other childrens' birthdays as well as making them for the many bears and creatures that my own children have in their rooms. For younger children they're the perfect thing to appeal to their love of taking care of things and playing at being a mummy or daddy, while for older children, tucking their bear up safely in bed before they go off to school seems to be something that they'll habitually do until an older age than you might think.

From a sewing perspective what's nice about making these sleeping bags is that for someone who is interested in trying quilting, it's a bite-sized, unintimidating first project and for seasoned quilters it's an opportunity to create something really intricate if that's what you enjoy. It can be as simple or as complex as you choose to make it and it's a great pattern for using up offcuts of material - you could even use your child's favourite outgrown dresses. The pattern covers everything you need to know, including making your own binding.

And although it's called the Three Bears' sleeping bag pattern, there's no need to confine yourself to bears. The sleeping bag will provide a comfy bed for a multitude of creatures, from sheep to rabbits, as well as dolls.

The pattern comes in three sizes:

Baby Bear - which will accommodate bears up to 8" tall
Mummy Bear - with a maximum bear height of 10½" tall
Daddy Bear - catering for bears up to 13½" high.

If you have a super-sized bear that doesn't fit into any of these sizes then it's a pattern that is easily increased further on a copier at the local library or print shop.

While it's easy to set a recommended maximum bear height for each sleeping bag size, because bears vary in width so drastically, as well as this measurement often having a squashy malleability to it, it isn't possible to give a set maximum circumference - for this reason I've put together a guide where many of my children's bears model the various bed sizes to give an indication as to what kind of bed fits more oddly shaped animals - but generally, just laying your bear on a pattern piece should give a fairly obvious indication.

So here's all the information you might need about the pattern:

The pattern costs £10.20 (although Etsy will convert to whatever currency you’re purchasing in).
It has full instructions and step-by-step photographs (small, to be easy on the printer ink)
The pattern comes in three sizes to accommodate different bear sizes
The pattern pieces are easily increased on a copier if your bear is bigger than any of the sizes available.
The pattern will use up scraps and offcuts of material, but if you want to buy new fabrics then full quantities are given. Essentially though, three fat quarters of co-ordinating fabrics will be plenty.
Small businesses and independent online shops are welcome to sell any sleeping bags that they make from this pattern, with proper credit given to the pattern.
You can download the pattern and print it out at home straight away.

Buy the Pattern

As well as the aforementioned sizing post, I've also put together an inspiration post about the different ways in which you can have fun designing a more intricate quilt cover for the sleeping bag, as well as sharing some of the photos that my utterly wonderful pattern tester has put together of her finished sets of sleeping bags.

Florence x