Tips for Successfully Hand Piecing Hexies

In my last blog post, I mentioned a hexagon project I have been working on for quite some time. I have found some things that make the piecing a bit easier and MUCH neater.

The first big change I have made is that I'm now working in rows rather than "rounds." I WAS piecing the hexagons together into the traditional "flowers"--a center with six hexagons around it.

Now I'm putting the hexies together in rows. Then, I'm piecing the rows together.

It is MUCH easier to keep track of where I am on my pattern, and I'm finding it easier to put the hexies together this way.

Now, for the "secrets" to hiding those stitches. You can see the stitches between the hexies in the picture of the hexie "flower" above. I did that BEFORE I knew the "secrets." If you take a close look at the stitching between the hexies in the row above, you will notice that the stitches are not visible there. I learned the "secrets" from Mickey Depre on The Quilt Show in Episode 1302.

Because of that show, I'm now using a neutral-colored silk thread to sew the hexagons together--("Secret" 1). Previously, I was using a neutral-colored quilting thread. I LOVE using the silk. It doesn't show and it rarely tangles. Another change I made is that I'm no longer holding the hexagons right sides together to whip stitch them together. This picture shows how I used to do it.

In the show, Mickey suggests that you sew the pieces together side by side (see pic below) rather than right sides together (like the pic above)--("Secret" 2). I have to say, it took me a little while to get used to this method. I didn't like doing it at first; but once I got the "hang of it," I like it a lot. Of course, I LOVE the way it looks from the front. This method keeps ALL the stitching on the back of the project.

Hand piecing little hexies is slow work. It is also a REALLY good project to take along. If you are like me, on the road a lot or waiting a lot (waiting to pick up kids, waiting for appointments, waiting on kids from athletic practices, etc.), a hexie project is a good one. You don't have to go all crazy like I have, but a small hexie project might just "fit the bill."

The picture above shows what I have pieced together so far (once I switched over to piecing it together in rows). I know the picture is a little dark, but I think you can get the idea. There are about a thousand tiny hexies in this section. Will I EVER get it finished? I don't know, but I am enjoying the work right now. One of my friends told me how bored she would be with this project. I really don't get bored. I like the slow pace of handwork; I find peace in doing it. There is also something about that connection to the past--I hardly ever saw my Grandma Helen without some hand piecing project. It makes me smile.

 

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I Wish I Had Known

I have to apologize about not being very good about posting lately. My husband has retired and has wanted to do a lot of traveling. We have also have been blessed with a new granddaughter. She lives ten hours from us, so we have spent a lot of time driving back and forth to visit with her. Of course, I have to share a picture of her with you.

This is June Beth. She is almost four months old. I LOVE being a "Mimi!"

Since we are on the road a lot, I have to have a project I can take with me. This hexie project is perfect, but it is REALLY slow going. As an FYI--I'm using the English paper piecing method of hand piecing half-inch hexies together to make my design.

Has you ever worked on one of those projects that you think will never get finished--the on-going, FOREVER project? I am working on one of those. I figure, when I die, that my family will find this partially finished project (along with a lot of others) and utter that famous line, "What was she thinking?"

You have seen this project before, because I have been working on it since last Christmas. I have made some progress and have changed the way I'm working. I even have a few hints for you if you decide to work on a hexie quilt.

Here is a picture of the front of the quilt BEFORE I switched my method of stitching. I REALLY don't like this look.

Here is a picture of the front of the quilt AFTER I switched my method of stitching.

If you would like to find out what I changed, check out my next blog post.

 

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Fuller Craft Museum

Our friends from Boston took us to the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. There was supposed to be a bojagi exhibit, but it wasn't up yet. When I told one of the museum docents I was a fiber artist and had come to see the exhibit, she was nice enough to take me "behind the scenes" and show me the pieces that had come in. I REALLY enjoyed the work, but I would have loved to see it hung.

It was a gorgeous day at the museum. This is a picture of the view from one of the windows at the museum. It truly looked like a postcard.

It was such a pretty day; I really enjoyed the outdoor exhibits.

This is a ceramic piece by Eric O'Leary called Sight.

The museum just acquired this next piece by Joseph Wheelwright called Sweet Face.

I DID manage to find something I thought would look GREAT in my studio.

I love the name of this chair by Tommy Simpson. It is called My Mummy Made Me Do It!

They had an early piece by Michael James. I hadn't ever seen a whole-cloth quilt made by him, so this was a treat. I particularly like his quilting design. This piece was made in 1976 and is called Night Sky I. It is made of polished cotton.

I took this next picture because I absolutely love the vibrancy of color in this glass piece.

The piece was made by Toots Zynsky and is called Riamato. It is made of fused and thermoformed colored glass threads.

The Fuller is a beautiful little gem of a craft museum just outside of Boston. It is well worth a trip if you are nearby.

 

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Blue and White Quilts

I'm on vacation in New England, and today we were traveling around Boston with some friends. We ended up at The Charles (a hotel in Cambridge) where I found several old quilts. There were two in the main lobby--one from 1910 and one from 1880. The largest of the two was a beautiful faded red, white, and blue quilt. I tried to take pictures of both of them, but they were under glass with terrible lighting. None of those pictures came out; however, I did get pictures of several blue and white quilts on display in a huge stairwell in the lobby. There was no way for me to take a picture of the whole wall, because the stairs were in the way; but I did my best to show you how impressive the display was. There were nine blue and white quilts arranged like a giant 9-patch block on the wall behind an open staircase. These are the best pictures I could get. The quilts were gorgeous.

This was the bottom row of the "9 Patch," and the only straight shot I could get. (These are full-size bed quilts.)

From this picture, you can see the setup of the wall. You can see some of the quilts between the stairs.

This shows you the "9 Patch" arrangement. It was a really nice display, and I appreciate the fact that someone cared enough about quilts to display them so prominently in the lobby of the hotel.

 

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Traveling Hexagons

In my last post, I wrote about working on a BIG English Paper Piecing project. I'm not very good in the organization arena, so organizing my many hexagons proved to be a big problem for me. This is my solution.

I purchased a ring from my local office supply store (shout out to Hoffman Office Supply), punched holes in the top of sandwich bags, and threaded the bags onto the ring. I organized the hexagons by color. After each hexagon is prepared, it is dropped into the appropriate bag. This really makes it easy for me to pick out the colors I need for each row in my quilt. They don't get lost, they stay together, and I don't have to search through a whole bunch of hexagons to find the color I need.

I hope you give this a try if you've had trouble keeping track of YOUR hexagons! Let me know if it works for you.

 

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Hexagons To Go Go--Tutorial for Cutting

I am getting ready to do a bit of traveling and need to get some sewing ready to take along. English paper piecing is a GREAT take-along project. I have a hexagon project I started awhile back--just to refresh your memory...

Well, I have started working on it again and will be taking it along on my trips. I read somewhere that sewing the hexagons together in rows might be easier than sewing them the way I was doing it (in clusters of sorts). I gave the row method a try, and I like it. The picture below shows you what I've been doing. It doesn't look like a lot, but there are LOTS of hexagons in those four rows!

This piece is the very top of the design on which I'm working; the first picture is the center of the design.

To get the project ready to take along, I needed to cut some fabric for my hexagons. I have a system worked out that I'll share with you. I can cut a bunch of hexagons in a short time.

First, I cut one hexagon to size and use it as a template for cutting others. For my size hexagons, I cut a strip 2" wide and fold it over so that I have four layers to cut through. I place the "template" on top of the four layers.

Next, I use my ruler to cut the segment I need. (For the size hexagons I'm using, I cut approximately 1.75 inches.)

After that, I stack the cut segment back onto the strip.

Now, I have a stack of eight layers with my "template" on top. Next, I use my ruler to make a cut at 1.75 inches again.

I line a small ruler up with the edges of the hexagon and slice off the corners of the fabric.

I continue to move the ruler around the hexagon "template" and cut all the corners off. When I'm finished, I have a stack of eight hexagons.

It doesn't take long to get quite a few hexagons cut.

I LOVE how all those little hexagons look!

 

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