I took up EPP almost 10 years ago while my sewing machine was away for a service. After a few weeks of waiting for it to come back to me, I got a phone call from my local quilt shop...

"I've got some good news and some bad news."

I always ask for good news first!

"Our sewing machine mechanic got a call from his daughter who ran away 20 years ago, and now wants to rebuild their relationship!"

Wow! That's amazing! And the bad news?

"He's gone up to Brisbane to meet her and doesn't know when he'll be back. Your machine is locked in his house!"

uuuummmm?

Never one to dwell on impossibilites, I found a huge, stunning antique quilt in one of my favourite quilt books which was English Paper Pieced, and decided I was going to make that quilt while my sewing machine waited for our reunion.

I ordered a pack of 50 diamond papers online and dove in once they arrived.

Even though I knew I would need more than 50 paper templates, I figured I could reuse them, and slowly make the quilt in sections. I quickly discovered, however, that making an EPP quilt was so different to the scrappy machine sewn block quilts I was used to. I always dove into a quilt without a plan, trusting my stash to come through for me when I ran out of some print or colour. But I very quickly used and reused all my diamonds, and couldn't make any progress until I bought some more.

I sat down and worked out how many diamonds I needed. It was around 2000! I couldn't buy 40 little plastic packets of paper templates! I thought, There needs to be a kit for this!

Then one night, while I was sitting around the fire, sewing my diamonds together after the kids had gone to bed, I looked up at Techy Tim (my engineering husband) and asked,

"Do you think you could cut shapes like this with a laser cutter?"

Well, you should have seen his little techy eyes light up! If there's one things techy people LOVE, it's a good excuse to buy techy toys.

Over the next week, we scoured the internet, bought parts to make our first laser cutter, and I completely forgot about my poor sewing machine, as I made EPP sample after sample.

My favourite part of this story, is that as a mum of three little kids at the time, I soon realised that English Paper Piecing suited me very well. As much as I loved closing the door on my sewing room, and having quality time with my machine, EPP was something I could do while the kids played, while people dropped around for play dates, during story time in the evening while Tim read the Little House books.

I brought little zip-lock bags of prepared shapes to the staff meetings where I worked, on road trips to visit my parents, or to after-school dance. Things I once dreaded, or passed the time scrolling on my phone, were now little pockets of time where I could make another fun block. I started to look forward to my litttle hour alone in the car while my daughter was at ballet!

It is a large and precious gift to me that I get to share this joy with you! I hope as you look around, you'll be inpired to bring a little more colour, a little less scroll, a little more working with your hands to make something beautiful and treasured for your home, your loved ones, or just because!