Funny really how things come full circle (or in this case, full hexie).
This weekend will be the first anniversary of my brother’s death. Not the cheeriest opening to a tutorial, I grant you, but I mention it because that time in my life was what started me sewing again, out of necessity for focus and displacement.
For my Summer Hexalong project I wanted to maintain some form of connection to the paper piecing that I was doing exactly this time a year ago …
I love hand sewing and I haven’t been doing enough of it recently. I find it calming and rhythmic and the crafty equivalent of tea and toast on a cold winter’s day. So far I’ve been machining my hexalogacabins, but that’s no good for a portable project, or for the vibe that I want to pursue at the moment
Back in October 2010 (I had only been sewing & blogging for about two months) I had this brilliant idea to make a double sided quilt using paper pieced 1” hexies with the batting stuffed inside … (I’d never even heard of QAYG at this stage, so I thought I’d invented it! LOL )
I ended up using all the hexies for pincushions, but the idea stayed in the back of my mind …
Ripple dissolve to now and Lily’s Quilts Summer Hexalong …
I finally found the blog post that inspired me to do this in the first place - Lee at Freshly Pieced has a lovely tutorial here … I didn’t alternate the sides on mine, I just went straight round.
So far you’ve seen these two blocks … thank you for all the lovely comments here and on flickr, btw … click on pics to go to my quick tute
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I did get a few questions asking how I was going to join these little lovelies …
Aha!
As Baldrick would say … I have a cunning plan.
When I saw these fab hexies by Silly Lil Doe I filed em in my brain along with all my other hexie plans … She used a great tutorial here (I don’t have these templates, so I improvised and cut mine from template plastic …)
This is my quick tute to show you how easy it is to QAYG a hexie!
(I cut my backing fabric 1” larger than the hexie/batting.)
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At last I have a properly portable project … If I sew up a whole load of hexalogacabins in advance I can just sandwich and join the little darlings at my leisure, wherever I may be …
Hmmm, talking of sandwiches … off to make tea and toast and go back to bed with a book on this wintery
Do let me know if you give it a go …
