I just finished this English Paper Pieced challah cover. I’ve been working on this project on and off (mostly off) for about a year.
The block pattern came from The New Hexagon by Katja Marek. I love this book so much. With 52 ways to divide up a hexagon template, you could devise projects for the rest of your life! While looking through it I noticed one block looked like it had a Star of David in the center and this made me think I could use it to create a piece of Judaica for our family. A challah cover felt like a reasonable project.
The solid fabrics are Moda Grunge which I like because the print makes them look like they have just a hint of texture, even though it’s quilting cotton. I was hoping to evoke the colors of Jerusalem, although when the fabric arrived it was a bit more orange than I’d planned.
The blues are all bits of scraps and, as I was working it, I love that my kids recognized the prints from doll clothes and other projects I made for them when they were little. Each star has seven blue prints.
I decided to line it with two pieces of white fabric, rather than batting, so it would be thick enough that the EPP seams are smoothed out, but not too thick that it doesn’t drape.
This was a fun hand-sewing project and a challah cover is something we’ll really use.
Lovely Challah cover! Beautiful job and chag sameach for upcoming Hanukkah! I have a thriving Judaica section of my Little Sister Sews business so am always interested in seeing what other people do for Shabbat, Hanukkah and Pesach.
I’ve wanted to edit a book of modern Judaica sewing patterns for a long time now. There’s so much possibility to really create beautiful heirlooms and many fantastic designers who could contribute. Maybe one day!
Lovely challah cover. Looking forward to buying that book.
You’ll love it! So many project possibilities.
I’m so excited about this idea! May I send you some pictures of my work? I’d love to show you what I have made. If you like, you can see my work under Photos in Little Sister Sews on Facebook. I’m pretty much in the dark ages when it comes to promoting myself on social media…(please delete this if it is inappropriate.)
Sure, Madelyn. I’d love to see your work.
Really lovely and it’s cool that it has memories sewn into it already, which of course will increase with your family’s use of it.
Now that I think about it, the antique quilt design and the actual antique quilt utilized rectangles, but I had some charm squares that I wanted to use instead. To do this, I used charm squares to make the top and bottom of the quilt and white charm squares cut from yardage to make the background of the quilt. Of course, I had to look for more fabric in stores and on the internet.