Creative Hands

by Meg Sine

Having a hobby is a great way to relieve stress. Sharing that hobby with like-minded friends is even better. Creative Hands is that kind of hobby group within AWA. When I joined this group four years ago, I was looking for friends who enjoyed quilting as much as I did. Since then, I have also learned new hobby skills such as crochet, embroidery and beading from other members who share their skills and inspirations. We do projects together and alone.

Creative Hands Showing Their Creativity

Our latest group project involves Foundation Paper Piecing. This is not to be confused with another paper technique called English Paper Piecing which uses paper templates in geometric shapes such as hexagons, diamonds, or triangles. Each template is covered with fabric and the templates are then sewn together to produce a mosaic design. After the templates for English Paper Piecing are sewn together on all sides, the paper templates are removed.

Foundation Paper Piecing involves sewing pieces of fabric to paper that is marked with a numerical pattern, not unlike filling in a color by number painting. It’s a popular technique used by experienced quilters to sew designs with an emphasis on precision. After the foundation paper design is completed, the paper is torn away. For example, see how small the pieces of fabric are in the dragonfly wings photo.

Dragonflies on White Background

The Creative Hands FPP project is a quilt design by Quiet Play Designs. To purchase the pattern, our group bought a subscription to Quiet Play’s pattern club called “In the Garden,” a stunning design featuring geometric shapes and rainbow colors.

English Paper Piercing Hexagons Quilt Design

Each month the pattern club emails us patterns for two squares. After six months, we’ll each have patterns for 12 squares to complete a quilt of about 75 inches square. In addition to sharing and encouraging each other within our Creative Hands group, we can also join a Facebook group for the Quiet Play pattern club.

Meg is AWA's Communications Director. Contact her at communicationsdirector@ awasingapore.org