English Paper Piecing

This is my first EPP ( English Paper Piecing) project I do really like the traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden but decided to do a more modern approach.  So instead of white or cream background I am using green at the bottom for the ground/ lawn in a garden.   Peachy pink at the upper mid point for a sunset in the early evening sky and blueish purplish turquoise for the sky.  All of the background fabrics have gold lightening bolts in them which represents the energy I feel in my garden.  The flowers are in many shades of purple.  

 As I started to think about EPP I googled it and read many, many different sites.  All had fairly valuable information.  My memory is not good due to MS and I did not keep a list of sites but if you do a search you also will finds lots of info.   It was during this time I started collecting fabrics.  I new I wanted lots of purples and just in time purples had become popular.  I have had the background fabric for several years waiting for the right project.  The top two pictures show what I have put together so far to make certain I was still happy with my vision.

 The rest of my time with this project has been making flowers.  A lot of flowers.  EPP is a very relaxing hobby.  It is a portable hobby and wherever  I do this in public I get lots of questions.  Quite the ice breaker.  lol....

 There are many types of patterns to use some you will find to purchase when you do your search.  Because my health sometimes makes it hard to finish projects I decided to use a Creative Moments (discontinued) 3/4 inch paper punch.  I found it on eBay for 20.00.  Punching out freezer paper works well for me.  I use a paper punch to put a hole in the middle so I can remove the pattern easily when I am done stitching.  This paper hexagon is ironed to the fabric.  Freezer paper can be used several times.

 Picking out the fabrics to use  for each flower is fun.  I make petals for each flower by ironing to the fabric, cutting out with close to 1/4 inch  of fabric showing beyond the paper pattern.  Then I press that fabric over the edge of paper and baste it in place.

 So many fabric choices to play with.

 Here is a flower that has been whipped stitched together.   I use a small office clip to hold the pieces together and a very small needle and good thread.  When they are stitched the paper cab be removed if it will not be stitched again.  So the middle yellow has been removed.  To date I have left the basting in place.  Not certain how long in the process I shall leave it.

This is the fabric in the background that I shall use on the upper/sky area.  Next time I blog about this I shall shoe more of the process and this projects progress.