This week there has been a lot of hexagon making! I have been focusing on two main projects, first was getting caught up on the Wild Olive Winter Stitching Club. (You can still sign up!)
I had five weeks to catch up on, I hadn’t started them because of all the Christmas projects. I love stitching these little designs, they are so cute and stitch up really quickly. I haven’t done this week’s yet, and I still have to finish the hexagons. I ordered the Moda In From the Cold charm pack, but it hasn’t come yet.
Then I’ve been making hexagons like crazy. I got Quilting on the Go: English Paper Piecing Projects You Can Take Anywhere
and the Moda 30’s Playtime mini charm pack with an Amazon giftcard I had from Christmas. I quickly used up the whole charm pack and started reaching into my fabric scrap bin for hexagon sized pieces.
I also used a Hobby Lobby giftcard to pick up this Fiskars X-Large Hexagon Punch,
it was totally worth it!
One of the things keeping me from paper piecing was the lack of motivation to cut out hexagons. With this punch I can make stacks of hexagons in minutes. I have a lofty quilt goal for these, but I might get burned out and use them for smaller projects, we’ll see. But right now, I’m addicted to making these!
I’m going to be taking a respite from the hexagons while I start a new cross stitching project, but I will definitely be coming back to these! What have you been working on? Do you have any new addictions?
Also, have you entered the Darby Smart giveaway?
Are you going to be making a quilt out of them or something else? I love the shape and different patterns 🙂
A quit is my ultimate goal, but it’s definitely a lofty one. Hopefully I can keep up with it!
love your hexies!
Thanks so much! They are so fun!
What beautiful colors! I love hexie projects, but I wasn’t aware of the hexagon puncher. That’s awesome! I’ve always purchased the templates and only have 100, which sounds like a lot until you try to do something.
I called all the local quilting stores and none of them had the hexagons. I bought some reusable plastic ones but returned them and got the punch instead. I’m so glad I did because there were only 25 plastic ones!
Those are so cute! I can’t wait to see your projects come together.
Okay I think I need an education. I love the hexagons but what happens next? Are you going to sew 6786543 hexagons together into a giant quilt? Do you use them as border pieces for other bigger things? Why paper? Is the paper still inside those fabric hexagons? How do you get it to stay? If you leave it there won’t it get weird in the wash? Omg…I sound really dumb.help make me smarter!
Ok, let me see if I can explain, I was confused at first too. Especially about if the paper stayed in there.
I would LIKE to make a big quilt made up of a million hexagons, but that might be a crazy goal. It might end up either being accent pieces in a quilt with larger pieces of fabric, or being a smaller project all together.
The paper enables you to do more precise piecing of shapes, I’ve even seen paper pieced pictures before. It gives a lot more possibilities, but it also requires doing it all by hand since you don’t actually sew through the paper. You stitch the fabric around the hexagon but don’t actually sew through the paper at all. So that when you are sewing the hexagons together, you can take it out after.
Believe me, it’s a confusing concept. I’ve spent a lot of time reading and researching, I didn’t understand at first either!
The Zen of Making has a great tutorial to help you if you’re interested in trying!
Oh wow! I am a really bad seamstress (I can only do straight lines and even those are a struggle) and so the idea of hand stitching a million hexagons sounds like a nightmare!
I am not super great with a sewing machine and I think that’s why I like the hand stitching of the hexagons. It forces me to go slower and be neater.
Wow! A hexagon punch! Will the wonders of human ingenuity never cease? 😉 I simply must get one – I’ve tried cutting out my own hexies, but somehow they look like they were made by a pre-schooler. And that’s before I even get to the fabric bit! I love your hexie stack, it will make a very pretty something! Chrissie x
I am the same way! I can’t cut straight at all! And whenever I try to draw straight lines, even with a ruler, they are always crooked. So the hexagon punch has been a lifesaver!
Lovely hexies! I too have been working on some hexies, and need to catch up with my WO’s Stitching Clubs. Instead of continuing to follow along with the finished projects portrayed in the instructions, I’ll like to turn them into lap quilts… Granmother’s Flower Garden lap quilts :-)!
Have fun stitching!
I might have to consider doing a lap quilt or something similar as my first project. It might be a bit too ambitious and crazy of me to try to make my first quilt be an entirely hand joined one!