Remember my post about visiting the Jane Stickle Quilt at the Bennington Museum in Vermont? It was so beautiful, that I felt inspired to make my own “Dear Jane” quilt (despite its infamous tagline “The quilt most often started, least often finished”). At the time, I thought, “Challenge accepted!” Well, after letting the idea percolate and making a practice block, I have to confess ā I got cold feet. š¬
Making that practice block was a little preview of the mountain I’d have to climb ā which, to be fair, isn’t all that scary. Let’s just say it would involve a level of commitment that I’m not quite ready for. But fear not, I haven’t abandoned the dream; just sticking a pin in it, for now. šš
I will say that this endeavor wasn’t a total lost cause because, while piecing together the practice “Dear Jane” block, (which involved a combination of quilting techniques), I rediscovered my love for English Paper Piecing! There’s something so satisfying about the slow, meditative process of wrapping paper pieces in fabric and hand-stitching them together.
Lately, I’ve been crushing hard on Tula Pink fabrics which is serendipitous because Tula herself has an EPP pattern called Tula Nova, a glorious magnified version of the classic La Passacaglia quilt by Willyne Hammerstein. The La Passacaglia (or “La Paz”, as fans call it) involves making MANY smaller medallions, which you then piece together to create a whole quilt.
In the past, I’ve managed to make one “La Paz” medallion, but lost motivation halfway through the second one and sadly abandoned the project. However, I’m finding the Tula Nova more appealing because it’s just one HUGE medallion. One and done! š Though, that’s not to say I won’t revisit La Paz.
So, I hopped on Amazon and ordered the Tula Nova bundle, which comes with the pattern, acrylic templates for fussy cutting fabric, and all the papers needed for English Paper Piecing.
For my supplies, I’ve also been snagging Tula Pink “scrap bags” as needed from Amazon. These aren’t your random scraps ā they’re two-yard bundles of 1/4-yard cuts, and guess what? They go for about $25-$28 US! Talk about a steal for all the creative goodness that’s unfolding.
So, I got the Tula Nova party started, and let me tell you, Iām having an absolute blast!
I’m currently working my way around a ring of star motifs which are made by piecing five triangles around a pentagon. For those, I’ve fussy-cut panda heads ā as you do! Part of the fun is having no idea what fabrics I’m going to throw into the mix next. I love how “Choose Your Own Adventure” this project is turning out to be!
