September in the Hexagon!
Welcome to my stop on the Hexie Blog Hop Be a Hexie Queen!
I am a hexie lover and always have an emergency supply of hexies in my bag for when I am on-the-go (which is actually very often) and when I first signed up for the blog hop, I thought I would show you a EPP (English Paper Piecing) hexie project.
That was until I remembered a long forgotten UFO that was laying in a plastic bag in my cupboard. I thought it would be the perfect occasion to get the dist and cobwebs out (no it wasn't that bad really) and give it a new lease of life!
It all started with a few scrap strips and ended with a few more strips! I ordered and received a scrap bag of Moda fabric a few years back and I received a pack of off-cuts of Migration by Holly Taylor.
I wasn't sure what to do with it until I saw this Hexagon quilt-along on Julie of Jaybird Quilts' blog that I know I wanted to join in, it was all about hexagons! And although there were machine-pieced, there was no horrible Y-seams! Sounded promising.
So I cut all my strips to the same size (2.5') wide and sew them in pairs to obtain a 4.5' strip made of 2 fabrics. Next step was to cut the strip into equilateral triangles (60° angles) to obtain 2 sets of 6 triangles. Now my strips were slightly too short for 2 sets of 6 but more about this later!
Once you have your triangles, the fun part begins as you can play! By turning your triangles around, you can get lots of different patterns in your hexagons as shown by Julie in her different blocks layouts
and of course you increase the possibilities by mixing the sets or more if you fancy!
So I played and decided to explore the possibilities to have a random quilt.
Once you are happy with your arrangement, all the hexagons are sewn together into strips first as half hexagons (3 triangles together to make a half-hexagon, attached to another half-hexagon) and then the strips can be sewn together to make the full hexagon. Easy peasy isn't it?
My next question was on how to arrange all the hexagons shapes together and DH gave me the answer: why not make a big hexagon with your hexagons? Of course, why not? Again I tried to keep some random in the fabric placement etc which is harder than it always seem and because I was short of a few hexagons, I raided my stash to make some "plain" ones in the same colourway.
And of I went to make a few more hexagons along the way.
Now I have this big hexagon made of hexagons ready to be quilted (yes I know I was planning to show it to you in a complete state but as usual I was a little bit over-ambitious with the summer holidays, the travelling back and forth to my home country for the kids at the week-ends and work in the middle of it!) but I know what I want/need to do next with it. I have planned to quilt it in a spiral pattern. I will use some of the vine fabric for the background because I have bought years ago and it has been sitting in my stash ever since! So if you care to come back in the next couple of weeks, I am hoping to be able to show you a quilted hexagon (by end of September hopefully).
And now if you have read so far, well, well done to you! You might wonder why I named my quilt-to-be September in the Hexagon? The colours of course reminds me of autumn which starts in September where I live. And when I grew up, September was back to school time but also the time where the hunting season started again and there are some birds on the fabric, the time where the leaves start falling off the tree, the time where the apples/grapes are picked to make cider and wine. And of course, France where I grew up is often referred to as The Hexagon.
Oh yes and those incomplete sets I mentioned earlier. For all the strips, I managed to cut 11 triangles and 2 off-cuts so I used the 2 off-cuts to build the missing equilateral triangle which of course is not perfect but then can be used!
Now I am sure you are very keen to go and see what my Hexie Friends have got in store for you! So hop over to
Linking to Sew Darn Crafty, Sew Cute Tuesday.
Celine
I am a hexie lover and always have an emergency supply of hexies in my bag for when I am on-the-go (which is actually very often) and when I first signed up for the blog hop, I thought I would show you a EPP (English Paper Piecing) hexie project.
It all started with a few scrap strips and ended with a few more strips! I ordered and received a scrap bag of Moda fabric a few years back and I received a pack of off-cuts of Migration by Holly Taylor.
I wasn't sure what to do with it until I saw this Hexagon quilt-along on Julie of Jaybird Quilts' blog that I know I wanted to join in, it was all about hexagons! And although there were machine-pieced, there was no horrible Y-seams! Sounded promising.
So I cut all my strips to the same size (2.5') wide and sew them in pairs to obtain a 4.5' strip made of 2 fabrics. Next step was to cut the strip into equilateral triangles (60° angles) to obtain 2 sets of 6 triangles. Now my strips were slightly too short for 2 sets of 6 but more about this later!
Once you have your triangles, the fun part begins as you can play! By turning your triangles around, you can get lots of different patterns in your hexagons as shown by Julie in her different blocks layouts
So I played and decided to explore the possibilities to have a random quilt.
Once you are happy with your arrangement, all the hexagons are sewn together into strips first as half hexagons (3 triangles together to make a half-hexagon, attached to another half-hexagon) and then the strips can be sewn together to make the full hexagon. Easy peasy isn't it?
My next question was on how to arrange all the hexagons shapes together and DH gave me the answer: why not make a big hexagon with your hexagons? Of course, why not? Again I tried to keep some random in the fabric placement etc which is harder than it always seem and because I was short of a few hexagons, I raided my stash to make some "plain" ones in the same colourway.
And of I went to make a few more hexagons along the way.
Now I have this big hexagon made of hexagons ready to be quilted (yes I know I was planning to show it to you in a complete state but as usual I was a little bit over-ambitious with the summer holidays, the travelling back and forth to my home country for the kids at the week-ends and work in the middle of it!) but I know what I want/need to do next with it. I have planned to quilt it in a spiral pattern. I will use some of the vine fabric for the background because I have bought years ago and it has been sitting in my stash ever since! So if you care to come back in the next couple of weeks, I am hoping to be able to show you a quilted hexagon (by end of September hopefully).
And now if you have read so far, well, well done to you! You might wonder why I named my quilt-to-be September in the Hexagon? The colours of course reminds me of autumn which starts in September where I live. And when I grew up, September was back to school time but also the time where the hunting season started again and there are some birds on the fabric, the time where the leaves start falling off the tree, the time where the apples/grapes are picked to make cider and wine. And of course, France where I grew up is often referred to as The Hexagon.
Oh yes and those incomplete sets I mentioned earlier. For all the strips, I managed to cut 11 triangles and 2 off-cuts so I used the 2 off-cuts to build the missing equilateral triangle which of course is not perfect but then can be used!
Now I am sure you are very keen to go and see what my Hexie Friends have got in store for you! So hop over to
Celine
Great idea, a hexagon out of hexagons. Keep up the good work! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWe love the hexagon you made out of hexagons. What a clever idea! Never knew that France was called the hexagon. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteLove all your hexie variations. It is a fun looking quilt. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat looking hexies.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt looks beautiful! I loved seeing that you do try out all the possibilities before sewing too. I will be back to see how the quilted version turns out!
ReplyDeleteThis is very clever. And I love the subtle use of colour also. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteVery nice idea....can't wait to see the way they look after quilted...
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your hexie story. The hexies will look great after quilted. I think that I must buy that hexie ruler, it looks so handy
ReplyDeleteI love your hexies Celine - do I need a special ruler to be able to cut them because I'd love to have a go??
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
Nice job. Thanks for the hexie story and the tips about the pattern.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your pretty hexie project. Enjoyed the step by step pics.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! And I love the fabrics, and the explanation. :) blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteGreat color fabric...will make a wonderful quilt
ReplyDeleteLove it! I'm going to use the 60* triangle for a hexie project one of these days. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteahhh yes I love a hexie that has many faces...totally YOU to a T....love them
ReplyDeleteGreat hexis! I love how they come together to make a big hexagon.
ReplyDeleteGreat project! I love how it's a big hexie made from little hexies :)
ReplyDeleteYour fabric and design are just super !
ReplyDeleteNeat project!!! Love how the small pieces can be arranged in so many ways for different looks - thanks for sharing in the hop!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI like your hexagon variations, they are so fun to play with and always looking great.
I like how your hexagons varies. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteNew to hexies and love what you can do with them!
ReplyDeleteYour Hexies are looking great. So nice your fabrics and the colors you used.
ReplyDeleteCool hexagons! Thanks for joining the blog hop!
ReplyDeleteYour colors do make me think of September. Very nice! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletexo jan
Super cute.Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful project Celine and it was fun seeing all the different ways you could do a block!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful quilt, Celine! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing how you made it (maybe I could do this...maybe.) It is just beautiful and I love the colors!
ReplyDeleteHow adorable....I love those fabrics....Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLove all the creative ways that hexies can be made (especially when you get to use strips and machine piecing ;o). Your quilt is looking lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing.
Wow - that looks like so much fun to play with the different possible combinations! It's definitely going on my "wish" list of upcoming projects!!!
ReplyDeleteI love these hops for inspiration. I always envisioned a hexie as those tiny little things that all have to be hand stitched. I'm so glad you showed me another way. I can totally do this! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing all the Hexie variations from the fabric strip. I love JayBird's ruler and am doing her Toes in the Sand BOM. Did you know she has a new one out?
ReplyDeleteGreat another project or 10 to add to my list:) haha!!!
Hiya!!! What a great collection, and a great mini tutorial too. I'll be checking back in to see the finished project. Thanks for sharing. Blessed be, hugs!!! Pam
ReplyDeletepamspretties57 at gmail dot com
Lovely fabric choices. I've never tried making hexagons using triangles. I've always used templates, will have to give it a try. Looks like fun.
ReplyDeleteI am loving how this looks so far! You know I almost did the whirling hexagon thing which Debby has as a pattern for foundation piecing. Still might actually. Fun to explore the shape and the possibilities it presents.
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing your playing with those cut strips making hexies. I've done some of those blocks, but now I'm going back to imitate what you showed. So many possibilities that it's truly incredible. Your work is beautiful and I enjoyed seeing all that creativity!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this technique! I really like it. Your giant hexagon is going to look great--beautiful work!
ReplyDeletePretty. I like your color choice.
ReplyDeleteThose are awesome! Great idea too.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait to see your hexagon out of hexagons quilted. Thanks for sharing many of the possibilities of hexagons. I had no idea there were so many possibilities. Can you imagine how many more if you made a strip of three pieces instead of two pieces of fabric? That would really add to the possibilites, maybe? It might cut them down, too! Your project is absolutely amazing. Thanks for participating and sharing.
ReplyDeleteEmergency bag of Hexies???? I LOVE IT! rofl.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the technique, Never tried it that way.
Cheers
maggie
maggiemine42@gmail.com
nice thanks for sharing how you make these.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is some growth to an idea, I like that. I also realize that I made a table topper using this method and didn't realize it was a Hexie until 3 minutes ago. Duh!
ReplyDeleteThat's really nay a hexie from hexies :) too cool. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteNeat!
DeleteI have a project that uses about the same process. I've only read the pattern so I was glad to see what you'd done. Love all the different arrangements - totally changes the hexies.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!! It is wonderful. It reminds me of fall also. I can't wait to see it finished!!
ReplyDeleteLove your Hexie creation! Your fabric selection is beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLoved your vision and different layouts with hexies I have to get that ruler it looks amazing. The colors are beautiful for fall and I never knew France was called The Hexagon. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVery nice hexies. I love the autumn colors. Such nice weather, with it cooling off.
ReplyDeleteGreat hexies and really like the method. Interesting seeing the different settings.
ReplyDeleteI really like this technique. It seems easier than the other way. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLovely colors! Very nice project. thank you for sharing your talent with us!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to see all the ways you can arrange the pieces. Thanks for sharing in the hop
ReplyDeleteYou've got some great hexies going. I sure like not having to do any "Y" seams. I might have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSo fun to see all the possibilities! You reminded me of some hexie minis I have made...I am going to go search for them in the closet!
ReplyDeleteHappy Quilting!
Wow, that is great! Your big hexie looks fantastic and your method is AWESOME! Thanks for sharing. I am definitely making a fall centerpiece using your method.
ReplyDeleteI love what you did. Thank you so much for sharing how it was done. It is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLove what you did with the different ways of putting together strips cut into triangles. What an amazing quilt.
ReplyDeleteOh its lovely - great colours.
ReplyDeleteI love Julies Ballerina done this way! It is on my list to make!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on using scraps to make enough pieces for your quilt! Never let them got to waste. The spiral quilting will be fab! Do you plan to straighten the edges or bind the hexie shapes as is?
ReplyDelete