Tag Archives: Hexies

What’s Been Happening Lately

I’ve been quiet, but I have been keeping busy.  The “Hugs and Kisses” quilt I’m making for my friend Kaori is going well.  Days ago I ran out of white and still have five rows of blocks to make, but oh well.  I’ll buy more white tonight, and meanwhile I’ve been sewing rows together and just loving how it looks!  Here’s the slowly advancing line of “doneness”.

The Slowly Advancing Line of "Doneness"

I made a new emery filled pincushion with scraps from the Lava Meets Sea quilt I just finished.  I even treated myself to new glass headed pins.  (These are wonderful because they don’t melt if you iron over them, and the emery pincushion filling will keep them sharp.)

New Pincushion

Unrelated to sewing (but still exciting for me), I got a new car!  I loved my 2003 Rav4 so much that I bought a new 2013 Rav4.  It’s so loaded down with extras that I feel spoiled every time I drive it.  I never had a bit of trouble out of the old one, so I’m hopeful that I’ll drive this one for a long, long time.

"I'll Take This One"

I’m still working on a hexie pixel/picture for my friend Missy.  Her family has been through so much loss and pain, and yet they bring so much comfort and hope to everyone around them.  Their grace is amazing and inspiring to witness.  Making hexies and sewing them together by hand, one by one, takes so much time … but it feels like just the right thing to do for Missy.  I’m working on the last row of the left half of the picture, so I’m nearly halfway there with the piecing.  I am open to suggestions for quilting/finishing ideas!

Untitled

And lastly, my next quilt project!  This one is something I haven’t made in ages — a quilt to keep!  I ordered the fabrics this morning and will get started on it once the Hugs and Kisses quilt is off to the quilter shop.  Can you see Deegie’s face?  Since he’s such a fan of quilts, it’ll be fun to put him on one.

Deegie Face Quilt Chart

sarahsigres

Recent Small Sewing Projects

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During larger sewing projects, I often take a break and make quick little items, either out of need of the item itself or just for want of some instant gratification. These are a few recent projects that I especially liked.

New Grocery List Book

After our large post-it notepad ran out, I made a fancy new grocery list notebook.  The pattern is from Pretty in Patchwork Holidays by John Q. Adams.  I bought this book to read over vacation and I just LOVED it.  I’m not much of a “holiday” person, but many of the projects don’t have to be holiday specific.  There’s a “read between the lines” pillow that I’ll probably end up making, too.

Pokemon Key Chain

My older daughter specifically asked for a Pokemon key fob.  (Instructions for making key fobs found here.)  I was happy that even if she’s grown up, she’s not that grown up.  Love the little peeking Pokey faces!

Chickie Coin Purse

I know I saw chickie coin purses when searching for vacation reading materials, but I can’t remember where!  It did inspire my own coin purse though.  And I’ll probably be looking for that book again, because it was full of cute stuff.

This last one is a continuing project.  A friend of mine recently lost her husband, and I just can’t stand it for her.  She took a picture days before, when she was beside him, of the sun breaking through the clouds.  It brought her comfort to have that picture, so I am attempting to recreate it somewhat.  But instead of trying to have a literal copy of the picture, I’ve changed it to hexies/English paper piecing to “pixelize” her picture.  The plan is that from up close it makes no sense, but from a distance you’ll be able to bring it into focus.  Someday, I trust that we’ll be able to step back and see more clearly the things that just haven’t made sense here.

Hexie Pixel-Picture Progress

This is the lower left section, with nine more rows needed to mostly finish the left half.  (The larger sections will still need to be stitched together.)  The right side will bring in the sun and its reflection on the water below.  And I still don’t know what this hexie-picture will be — a wall hanging?  Small quilt?  I’m just trusting it will be what it needs to be, too.

sarahsigres

Hexies!

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Hexies

Stenciling our bedroom wall is monopolizing my crafting time, but I’ve happily discovered English paper piecing.  Wrap little scraps of fabric around a paper hexagon, use tiny corner stitches to tack it into place, then sew them together.  Since all of this is done by hand, not by machine, it’s a perfect craft to leave in a little basket on my coffee table.  During our “vegging out in front of the TV time” in the evenings, I’ll end up with stacks of these colorful little hexies.  It’s like getting bonus crafting time!

I think I’ll make these into a quilted pillow top.  Here’s what I have so far.

Hexagons

And here’s a view of the back, so you can see the paper templates and the stitches that hold the fabrics in place.

Hexies, the Back Story

Once the pieces are all sewn together, I can slide a large needle though the hole in each template to help pop it out of the fabric.  The templates can then be reused, which is handy because making these is pretty addictive!