FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING AND HOT AIR BALLOONS

In July 2019 my son turned one. Our close friends travelled three hours up the highway to stay the weekend and celebrate with us and everyone else we'd invited to the party. On the morning of the party my friend,  who is a talented knitter, quilter and crafter, gave our son the quilt she had made for him. The quilt was made up of four large blocks featuring paper aeroplanes which had been created using the technique of foundation paper piecing (FPP). This gorgeous quilt now hangs on our son's bedroom wall where we can admire it everyday. When I look at it I can see the hours spent at the sewing machine and iron, carefully stitching it all together.

To say I was fascinated with FPP would be an understatement! I asked my friend so many questions about the technique and could not wait to try it out myself. The minute our friends left after the weekend I grabbed my laptop and started searching out FPP patterns I could create.

The first piece I made was the paper aeroplane my friend had used on the quilt. I added my nephew's name in reverse applique underneath the aeroplane, some embroidery in a contrast thread to outline it, framed it and gave it to my sister to hang in his bedroom. She was so touched and I was itching to try a more complex pattern.

Next up I made a cushion cover featuring the front profile of a VW Kombi van and gave it to my friend as a thank you for introducing me to this wonderfully cathartic technique.  Over the next few months I made another three or four pieces as gifts for friends and family. My daughter would help me choose fabrics out of my stash and I spent hours meticulously cutting out and stitching pieces of fabric onto the paper templates.

I love the process of choosing the perfect pattern for a FPP piece. I think about what the person I am making it for likes, their interests,  their favourite colours and patterns. I love pouring over fabrics to choose the perfect combination which best suits their personality. Most of all, I love the look of happiness on someone's face when you give them a gift you have made. They know the many hours it took to create a piece for them were given with love, doing something I endlessly enjoy.

This all leads to the FPP gift I am most proud of. A framed image of hot air balloons floating over hills through a soft blue sky with a hand embroidered quote set to one side. I began planning this piece when my senior supervisor at work announced her retirement. She was a wonderful leader and always filled me with confidence in my own abilities. I began hunting around for just the right pattern, but nothing was leaping out at me. I knew her interests and favourite colours and thought "I wonder how hard it is to create my own FPP pattern?". Not hard at all, as it turns out!

I found some online software which allows you to turn photographs into patterns. I found an image of hot air balloons drifting over the hillside and realised it was exactly what I had been looking for. Throughout the early winter months the sight of hot air balloons in the sky around our rural workplace was common and the image had excellent contrast between the hills, balloons and sky.

I set to work creating the pattern, the software does a lot automatically and I then added many more lines to create smaller pattern pieces which would allow for greater colour variation and detail. In total, the pattern would be made up of nearly 140 individually cut pieces of fabric. Once I had printed the pattern and the master image to colour match each piece, I carefully chose the fabrics. A handful of greens for the hills, soft blues for the sky and bold yellows, oranges and blues for the hot air balloons. Next I searched for a quote and just the right font to hand embroider and feature in the finished piece. This wasn't difficult, my supervisor had taught me so much and was always willing to learn from others. I found part of a longer quote "The adventure of life is to learn" by William Arthur Ward. The full quote ends with "The beauty of life is to give". It perfectly encapsulated everything this piece was about.

I spent many hours over three months carefully cutting and placing each piece of the pattern, stitching it onto the paper template, pressing it with the iron and trimming the edges of each pattern section. Every section that was completed was photographed and sent to my sisters and friends "Progress! Another section complete!" each picture was captioned. I enjoy sharing the process almost as much as I love giving the final piece to its new owner.

When it was finally complete and placed  in the frame I was so thrilled to give it to my supervisor.  She has a similar love of textiles and I knew she would appreciate many aspects of it. I carefully wrapped it and took it into work on her last day, she adored it and said it would be going straight on her study wall at home. Each time I have seen her since she retired she has mentioned the hot air balloon piece. It is wonderful to know how much she loves it and that it is a reminder to her of my gratitude to all her years of guidance and support.

Ultimately,  the technique of foundation paper piecing gives so much to my life. It allows me to be creative while reflecting on the people I love as I make something for them. It allows me to get out of my head and focus on the task at hand, I find it incredibly therapeutic and relaxing. I hope after reading this that you might try it for yourself!