Do you always follow instructions to the letter, or do you like to live dangerously?

I know for some the idea of hacking a pattern is risky and too scary, but in the case of English Paper Piecing (EPP) the risk involved is negligible.

The size of the pieces, and the way you put blocks together means that you can try things out, waste very little fabric, and change it back later if you decide it's not right.

In the case here, I've been working on another Eliza block for my Pemberley quilt.

For my first Lizzie block, I made it as is in the pattern, and I love it!

But...

There are huge amount of pieces in this block.

For those of us who like to keep count, Did you realise there are forty-two diamonds alone in this block??

And while you can't change these out easily, it is a simple matter to switch out the eighteen little triangles in the design, and add a half-hexie in their place.

Simply cut one of your hexagon papers in half point-to-point, and you'll have the new shape that you need.

This is a very risk-free way of changing up a pattern, with less fiddly stitching involved, and also giving an even larger range of possibilities in design options.

Of course if you love Lizzie just the way she is, that's ok too ;)

Here's my newest Eliza block, complete with substituted half-hexies.

What do you think of her? Here's a different block I hacked last year.

Is this something that you would try for one of yours?

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Ali x

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