English Paper Piecingwith Tara Faughnan

This class is part of the five-part virtual Hand Sewn Quilting Series II. Classes may be purchased à la carte at $75 or as a five-part package for a discounted price of $400. 

English paper piecing (EPP) is a great technique to add to your toolbox if you aren’t already familiar with it. There are very few tools you need and the slow pace of stitching can be incredibly relaxing and rewarding. The applications for complex piecing open up a whole new world of possibilities! There is a bit of a learning
curve with EPP but after a few blocks you start to get a familiarity with the technique and it becomes much easier. In this class, Tara will cover the basics of hand sewing, and how to use color and value to create a dynamic design.

Date + Time

Thursday, June 26th, 2025, 12 - 2:30 pm ET

Location

Zoom, a link will be emailed to participants the day before class.

Cost

$75 for the individual class
$400 for the series

Suggested Class Materials

• Hand sewing needles (sharps of embroidery size 6-8)
• Thread (50 wt or finer), cotton or polyester
• Thread conditioner
• Pins
• Scissors for fabric and paper
• A washable glue stick (like Elmers)
• 8 1/2″ x 11″ printer-compatible heavy paper or card stock. Try a few different weights of paper to find out which one you prefer. You don’t want it to be flimsy, but you also don’t want it as thick as cardboard. I used a 32 lb paper and a 47 lb card stock.  You can also opt to buy a pack of precut 2 1/2″ x 2 3/4″ Isosceles Triangles paper pieces HERE.
• Fabric: Assorted 3″ square fabric scraps in a variety of light, medium and dark colors. Prints/ solids or a mix of both work well for this block. Have scraps prepped and on hand for class so that you will have lots of choices to work with!

Not required but helpful:

• Fine tip glue pen like a Sewline. A regular glue stick will work for this technique, but it is messy and the glue takes a longer time to dry. You can buy it HERE or HERE.

• Refills for the glue pen, a variety pack is fine. You can buy that HERE.

• Binding clips
• Thimble

Scholarships 

There are scholarship spots available for this workshop. Please email info@tatter.org to learn more.

Our Teacher

Tara Faughnan 

I am a professional textile designer and quilter living and working in Oakland, CA. I started to quilt around 2001 or so, using a reprint of the 1931 edition of 101 Patchwork Patterns by Ruby Short McKim as my guide. I had no idea such things as rotary cutters, rulers or plastic templates existed, and spent many happy weeks tracing around cardboard templates and cutting out pieces with a pair of scissors.

Somewhere along the way, my love of quilting led to school and on to a career in textile design, with clients including Michael Miller Fabrics, Riley Blake and Pottery Barn Kids.

I find inspiration in forms, shapes and the place where 2 seams meet. Color interaction is the key inspiration that drives me. It’s that intuitive moment when you put two colors together, and then two more, and two more after that that I focus on. The explorations are endless and I strive to try to walk the line of discomfort and still make everything work together as a whole.

I draw a lot of inspiration from the simple bold geometry of antique quilts, the gorgeous bright colors from textiles around the world, and freedom and spontaneity found in unconventional and improvisational quilts. When I look at my current work, I see all 3 of these aspects represented. I like to use simple geometry, complex color interaction and find the line the exists somewhere between harmony and discord.

*All classes in this series will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to all registrants following the live session. You may purchase the series as a whole even after the classes have begun. You will be emailed the recordings upon sign-up.