English Paper Piecing ( EPP ) using your machine

 Hello again, 

I'm back with part 2 of my posts on English Paper Piecing. ( See part 1 here: https://myfarmhousequilts.blogspot.com/2025/10/english-paper-piecing-epp-by-hand.html )

So, you would like to sew some hexies, but you do not want to do that process by hand. What to do? You can sew hexies by machine, but that requires the use of that dreaded Y-seam, which most of us like to avoid at all cost.

So I played around and came up with this method and I hope it is a good alternative for those of you who are looking to avoid the handstitching part!

{my posts contain affiliate links. Buying though those links provides me with a small commission, at NO extra cost to you~ thanks for supporting me in this manner}

I had a lot of fun trying to come up with a way to make hexies WITHOUT hand sewing! Now maybe someone else has already come up with this idea, but this is the method I devised:

You want to use a die that cuts hexies. Accuquilt sells several and you might already have some in your collection.

Here is a link to the traditional EPP dies ( click)

But my favorite die to use is this one here ( click):

This is the method I used this time around:

I got our my scraps and attached fusible web to the backs of my chosen fabrics ( making sure that they were big enough to cover my chosen hexagon shape)

Then I ran those fabrics through my cutter. I didn't have to worry about the selvedge because the fusible is not going to allow the fabric to stretch out of shape. Remember, fusible counts as HALF a layer, so you should only cut 4 layers at a time.

As well as cutting fabric hexies, I also cut one from Mylar ( you can use paper as well) the exact same size. This can be used for placement later on.

Then it was time to grab my background fabric, an erasable pencil, and a ruler, and I measured one hexie from tip to tip ( You can do from straight edge to straight edge as well and I think that is better ( see my video for that detail).

I drew a horizontal line on my fabric and then drew another one that HEXIE distance away.

And then I drew a VERTICAL line perpendicular to those horizontal lines. Why do you need these lines? It helps place your hexies perfectly!

NowI was ready to place my first hexie: 

See how the tips are touching both horizontal line and the flad edge is against the vertical line?

You have a choice now to fuse this one down, or to go ahead and place all your hexies right away. If you are using sticky-back fusible you can stick them all down at once. If not, I recommend fusing the hexies down one at a time.

There is a little gap showing between my hexies....this seems to disappear when you stitch them down, so no worries. Try to get them as close together as you can, using your drawn lines to aid in placement.

My first flower hexie looks pretty good! Now, if I wanted to sew more hexies, I would just continue placing those next to the existing ones, like this:

OR, I could use my mylar ( paper) shape and place that to leave a white background "hexie" showing and then attach a colorful hexie to that ( see my video).

Now I was ready to go to my machine and stitch my hexies down. You have 2 choices here: You can layer your work on batting and backing, OR you can just take this top to your machine. I chose to layer and then used a zigzag stitch to stitch down my shapes ( yep, just like in applique!). I used a zigzag because it allowed me to stitch down 2 hexies at the same time. You can choose whatever stitch you want, but you might need to sew around each individual hexie, so keep that in mind.

I started by sewing the center hexie first, then moved along a "spoke" to go to the outside and then stitched the entire outside.

 And then it was time to finish all the other "spokes".

 

Because I had layered batting and backing, when I was done stitching, I was done with everything. No need to quilt anymore, because all my layers are stuck together. And I think it looks super cool!

I could of course have made a bigger project by using a larger background and drawing more lines and you can certainly do that. I just wanted to try my idea and didn't want to make it too big.....however, I think making one of those "pixel style" patterns using hexies rather than squares would be pretty cool!

Here is the link to my video on Youtube. I hope it proves to be useful: https://youtu.be/HCJNt41YcnU

Do let me know if something is not clear. I am always happy to help.

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique