Today is my day to see if I can rise to the lofty heights of
Hexie Queen for a Day!
Of course, considering all the wonderful projects we've been seeing
during this Hop, that would be well-nigh miraculous LOL!!!
Edited: I won Queen of Creativity!!!!
Thanks Madame Samm for that great honor!!!
(Now pardon me while I get just the right tilt on my tiara :*D)
What fun I have had playing with ideas for this Hop!
Even my new Blog Header shows off my new enthusiasm for all things HEXIE!!!
Thanks sew much, of course, to our leader Madame Samm and our very efficient
Cheerleader Debby for all their hard work in making this Hop happen!
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| My very first little EPP Hexie!!! Awwww...... isn't it sweet? |
I was really excited when the
Hexie Queen Blog Hop was announced, because my favorite part of joining in on the fun of these hops is the way I am always stretched and challenged until I
freak out manage to create something I didn't even know I wanted to do. I will always love the
Stitchery Keeper I designed for the
Dare to Dresden blog hop in January - I had never made a Dresden block before and relished the chance to force my hand and make myself a Dresden!
(You can read that post here.)
I was hoping to have the same kind of experience with this Hexie Hop. I kept seeing so many really cute and fun Hexie projects in Blogland, but I just kept procrastinating when it came to trying any of them out for myself. This is one block design that has really upped the game for modern quilting! And even traditional Hexie quilts are far more creative today than our "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilts of old..... anybody remember these???
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| Sandpaper templates that I used to make a GFG quilt many, many years ago!!! |
So I decided it was time to force my hand and signed up for this Hop. Needless to say, I was delighted when the creativity began to flow! I especially wanted to experiment with some of the different ways we have available to us to make Hexies today - EPP, machine paper-pieced, fusible, quilt-as-you-go - you name it and I played with it!
My goal for this Hop has been to create something not only beautiful and fun but also
useful.... and I think I succeeded....you'll have to tell me what
you think!
=^..^=
For a while now, I have really wanted to make a BIG market-type bag for quilt shows, shop hops, etc. You know - you end up with a dozen little bags of "stuff" and go crazy trying to keep up with them all. I had picked up Pink Chalk's Mail Sack pattern some time earlier.....
I love the size of this bag, and the fact that it goes over the shoulder. It leaves my hands free and takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders. So first I pulled this Michael Miller lettered fabric from my stash......
I had the idea that these letters would look cute cut into hexie shapes and fused down like any raw-edge applique project..... and it worked like a charm!!!
Then I started pulling red, white and black fabrics so they could come out and play with the cute Hexie letters......
happy fabrics....
fun fabrics....
exciting fabrics... just like today's modern Hexie's!
And then I fused & stitched the letters down..... Q - U - I - L - T ..... and hand-stitched some perfect little stitches all around them with black perle cotton for my first attempt at Big-Stitch Quilting!
Not bad, huh? Now that was fun!!!
My new Quilty Market Bag is just perfect for me - I am SEW happy with it!!!
My bag has lots of space inside,
............. gotta love that polka-dot lining :*D
with nice, large sectioned pockets on one side for cell phone, pens, etc. .....
........ and a zippered pocket on the other.
I had never done a zippered pocket like this before and was amazed at just how easy it was!
And, did you notice.....??????
This little hand-stitched English Paper-Pieced (EPP)
Hexie Flower Pin is made from tiny little 7/8" hexies, and I love the perfect little touch of whimsy it adds to my bag, don't you?
Even the fabrics for these little hexies are Hexie designs :*) I used Heat 'n Bond Ultra to fuse the Hexie Flower to a fabric backing to give it enough stiffness to be wearable, and I made sure to insert the pin before fusing. Then I added a touch of Fray Block to all sides of the backing fabric just to be sure all the edges are secure and won't fray. I love that I can wear this pin separately from the bag anytime I want!!!
Next, I decided to try paper-piecing a Hexie block and remembered pinning a pattern by
Charise Creates to my
Pinterest board. Before you could blink, I had downloaded that pattern lickety-split and printed off the pieces! The link to this cute pattern is
HERE - be sure to check out her other patterns - too cute!!!
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| Does anyone else think this would make a marvelous butterfly? |
This was an easy and very fun project to paper-piece. I couldn't resist appliqueing a tiny fussy-cut pincushion in the center. As I was working on the block, I kept wondering how it could best be used in a project..... remember, my objective was not just to make Hexies, but to make them into
useful items.
Then I spied the little round box I had been using for my EPP supplies....
..... functional - but not very exciting, right?
And it occurred to me that my paper-pieced hexie block was just about the same size as the top of this box.... and that it would make a
great cover for the box! I had learned how to cover boxes just a few weeks ago at a class held at my Guild - (you can see my gorgeous new Selvedge Box
HERE!) - so I set to work covering the lid of this little box, including the bright idea to make the top of it a pin cushion!
I added just enough fabric to the edges to make it just the right size .....
.... and then drew a circle around it, adding a 1/4" seam allowance with this handy-dandy little never-before-used tool that has been languishing in my sewing cabinet drawer forever ....
you just never know when those little miscellaneous doo-dads you've picked up here and there will come in handy :*)
I quilted the block to several layers of batting, adding a little extra under the center hexie to give extra loft for pins...
..... and then added on a fun stripe fabric for the edge and glued it down to the box lid with Aleene's Tacky glue...
Voila!!!!
A new Hexie Project Box!!!
This little box holds everything I need to make more little hand-pieced Hexies....
One tin holds my little needle case
(a hand-made gift from a very special friend!) and a packet of the tiny hexie templates...
..... while the other holds clips and my little finger thimble, etc.
Isn't it just adorable???
Oh, and we can't forget the truly cute
Quilt-as-you-go Hexie blocks that make up the special blog header for this Hop...
I made these using some of my stash of fabulously
wild fabrics.....
and bordered them with some shiny ombre solids that I picked up off the free table at Guild one month .....
They are SO simple to make! I just used these Marti Michel templates that I had on hand
(remember I said I had been wanting to make some Hexie projects? See - I wasn't lying! I had even bought templates!!!) =^..^=
I fussy cut the wild centers and a piece of batting using the smaller hexagon template, and then I cut the "border" from the larger hexagon shape. I layered the pieces, making sure the smaller shapes were perfectly centered............
........and then I double-folded over the edges of the "border" hexagon and stitched them down with a gray unifying thread -
easy peasy!!! I haven't finished making all of these yet, and I'm still not sure how I'll use them in a project, but when the inspiration hits, I'll be ready with these cute QAYG Hexies
:*)
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And last, but not least, here is the very first quilt I ever started....
the quilt that started it all many years ago!!!
.... my very traditional hand-pieced, hand-quilted Grandmother's Flower Garden!
As many of you also did years ago, I used those sandpaper templates to trace off every single hexagon shape for these flowers and then cut them out by hand with scissors. Most of the fabrics were scraps left from clothing I made for everyone in my family from the time I was 15, even the men. But some of them were treasured scraps given to me by my grandmother who taught me how to sew. I started the quilt in the early 80's, intending to give it to her one day, but she passed away before I could complete it. I boxed it up half-done, and it sat on a shelf for years, waiting for my life to slow down and for me to find the time and inclination to sew again. Happily, it was completed in 2005, and I smile with fond memories of my dearest Granny every time I see it :*)
I hope you've enjoyed seeing all my new Hexie goodies!
And now I'm off to visit my fellow Hexie Hoppers on the Hexie Queen Blog Hop today!
Come on - we'll go together..............
Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
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