Lucy Boston POTC by Jeannie Hering Campbell

Lucy Boston POTC by Jeannie Hering Campbell

Isn`t it lovely? Congratulations to Jeannie Hering Campbell for her beautiful interpretation of Lucy Boston`s Patchwork of the Crosses (POTC).

Jeannie shared several photos and information about her techniques in the Facebook Group for Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses and gave me permission to share them here. (Thank you, Jeannie.)

I think you will love this!

Jeannie Hering Campbell POTC

Each individual block is a work of art.

Jeannie’s Innovative Method

What intrigued me was her method of combining machine appliqué and machine piecing—no hand sewing at all!

Traditional English Paper Piecing was not a good option for Jeannie because she has arthritis in her hands.

EPP can be very hard on hands and wrists and is also the slowest method, as described in the book.

If you have my POTC book, you know I am not a fan of EPP and prefer a hybrid method, sewing some seams by hand and some seams by machine.

Jeannie’s hands don’t enjoy hand sewing anymore, but that did not stop her! I admire that.

Jeannie’s website is called Quilt Contrary, so we should expect some surprises, okay?

Jeannie Hering Campbell POTC

My method for POTC is a hybrid and Jeannie’s method is a hybrid but she takes a couple of cool twists and turns.

Jeannie wrote, “This is probably sacrilege, but due to my arthritic hands, I have figured out how to machine stitch a POTC block. Much faster too!”

No, Jeannie. It is not sacrilege. It is inspiring and innovative. Lucy Boston would have loved it! She was an innovator when she was making quilts, when she was creating her magnificent garden at Hemingford Grey, and when she wrote her imaginative Green Knowe books.

double POTC templates

Jeannie’s method of combining pairs of hexagons

This is very cool!

When Jeannie fussy cuts, she sometimes uses double hexagon templates. It allows Jeannie to get some intriguing effects.

She does not use freezer paper for this step, which is what I would do, but otherwise, this is compatible with my hybrid technique. I would mark the sewing lines manually and sew them by hand. Jeannie does it with machine appliqué.

machine applique POTC

Jeannie’s method of machine appliqué

This is something that might inspire you too.

Jeannie describes her method of pinning, gluing, and taping the shapes together in messages on the POTC Facebook group.

machine piece POTC

No matter what method of sewing you use, I think all of us would be thrilled to make beautiful blocks like Jeannie’s.

Jeannie Hering Campbell POTC

Jeannie’s low-contrast fabric choices

Another difference in Jeannie’s approach is the way she chooses fabrics for POTC.

For me, quilting is all about the fabrics. I do a lecture about Choosing Fabrics. And it’s not just about the dreaded color wheel! Because fabric isn’t like paint (paint doesn’t come in prints) besides value, there is scale. Scale of the prints. Put it all together and you want to achieve Balance and Unity.

When I choose fabrics for a quilt, I often use a focus fabric that has a big print that gets used as my border. I like a print that has at least three colors in it so it can take me in three different directions. But I usually choose fabrics with different scales so there is a contrast.
These POTC blocks I have been doing are different. I made a mess out of my sewing room by pulling a whole bunch of print fabrics and dividing them by color. They all have multi colors, so my table ends up looking like a Trivial Pursuit game board with spokes coming out in all directions connecting different piles of fabric. I find two fabrics that have the same two colors with one of them having good kaleidoscope potential for the center.

Jeannie Hering Campbell POTC

Jeannie goes into more detail about her concepts of value, contrast, balance, unity, and scale in her messages in the Facebook Group. It is worth reading.

Jeannie Hering Campbell POTC

You can leave messages for Jeannie below. I’m sure she would love to know what you think about her fascinating methods.

12 thoughts on “Lucy Boston POTC by Jeannie Hering Campbell”

    • Hi Kelly, It is a compliment to Jeannie that you cannot tell! 🙂 The outer ring of hexagons has the seam allowances folded under (similar to EPP) and positioned carefully on top of the seam allowances of the interior hexagons. Then Jeannie uses a machine zig-zag stitch along the edges. I think she uses an invisible thread.

      Reply
  1. Gorgeous blocks and very inspiring. Her method reminds me of Karen K. Stone’s English Paper Piecing by machine, which I love.

    Reply
  2. I’ve know Jeannie for over 20 years and her work has always been above and beyond beautiful! I’m so glad she’s been able to adapt EPP to her needs.

    Reply

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