A while back I received a wonderful package from Quilt Jane. It contained this precious hexy flower with little cherubs and a hexy template. I asked Jane about the fabric and she said the fabric is
a print of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Two characters from children’s books
written by May Gibbs, a famous Australian author.
Note from Jane- The
attached photo is my book from childhood that I hope will be passed on through
the generations ( notice the Barbara Brackman William Morris backdrop
).
I decided to do an I SPY baby quilt for my first grand baby. No one is pregnant yet so i am taking my own sweet time collecting fabrics and adding pieces little by little.
The hexy section shown here is made from parts of the Funky Monkey line. the middle yellow monkey is me, the blue one is Gary. The hexies 1-5 represent each of the kids. My daughter-in-law is the green hexy wearing the pink dress with a strand of pearls. (very top of pic) Her hexagon is connected to the number 1 since she is married to my oldest. My second son does give her a lot of grief so I thought it fitting to put her above #2 so she can keep an eye on him.
The templates are called “Holy Peepers.” Isn’t that a great name?
The templates are the brainchild of Kim and Dave Bradley. Kimpossible and QuiltJane both sell all sizes of these templates if you are interested..
After returning from a whirlwind week at Quilt Market one of the trends that was all over the show was my favorite shape, Hexagons.
Just in case you haven’t seen how easy the moda honeycomb’s (6″ hexagons) are to sew together, Kimberly from Fat Quarter shop said I could share this video with you.
I use to be afriad to do anything with a set-in seam, but after sewing these shapes together set-in seams are a breeze.
Have you tried the honeycomb’s yet?
Yippee Yeah It’s My Day.
I hope you have been following along on the Hexa-Go-Go book tour. Tacha has outdone herself on her Hexagon English Paper Piecing book and has asked us to tell you what we think about it.
This is just once example of the happy colorful projects in the book.
Is Happy a color? It should be. If my unmade bed looked this good, Iwould never make it again.
English Paper piecing or EPP dates back to the 18th century. This method was often used to stabilize fabrics such as silk. EPP continued to the art form it is today by using the smallest bits of scraps and transforming them into today’s heirlooms. I can imagine that learning EPP was similar to the craft of
teaching stitches by making embroidered samplers.
The luxury of EPP for me is that it is so portable and requires so few tools and supplies. I even keep a small bag in my car with a clover needle threader, needle and thread, hexagon papers and scraps.
One of my favorite quilts in the book is a huge union jack quilt.
pics compliments of Stash Books
I really want to make it, but instead I started on a smaller version of the US flag quilt. I worked on this during the London Olympics, so it is kind of the same, right?
This is my table runner in progress. I ran out of time to finish the field of stars
as hexagons so I am going to quilt it to look like hexagons.
Then I am going to throw in a hexagon die and mat. You will have the complete package to aid you in this addiction to this relaxing, therapeutic form of handwork. Leave a comment and let me know what you would make from hexagons. The winner will be drawn at random Sunday night and announced Monday morning. (thank you AccuQuilt)
As you know I do love hexagons. There is something just so pleasing about it’s simple shape.
Warning: EPP does become an addiction as you will see in these pictures.
I have two different quilts started. I probably have enough hexy’s made to complete both quilts
but I keep making more.
I have even started machine piecing some of the hexy’s together.
Sneak peek on my I Spy hexy quilt for a future grand child. No one is pregnant yet and I do not want to tempt anyone to get pregnant just to get the quilt. I have a long long way to go.More on this project in a future post.
Tacha has taken the traditional EPP flower garden to an entirely new level.
The hottest trend is the new English paper piecing. Amazing how great quilters are making a craft from the 18th century trendy again.
What would the acronym for that be? NEPP
There is an old saying: Nothing good comes from boredom. It’s said that idle hands are the devil’s workshop, an old saying dating at least as far back as Chaucer in the twelfth century who called idle hands the devil’s tools.
Keep your hands busy with Hexy’s and start with Hexa-Go Go for inspiration and direction.
Thank you Tacha!
It is time for another book tour. The tour is all about Hexagons, so of course I was absolutely giddy for Tacha to have asked me to join in. Mark your calenders to follow along with designers from all over the world. Regardless of what time zone you are in, there will be a great variety of people sharing
You know how much I love Hexagons and I am a massive strip piecer.
Combine the two and that tells you about my quilt show n tell for today. I made this quilt from a pattern from Sandy Klop of American Jane. Here is the info from Sandy’s website describing the pattern.
Merry-Go-Round Pattern #(AJP205)
Round and round they go, but no curves or Y seams. Jumbo hexagons are like flowers in Gramma’s garden. Finished size 67” x 72”
It is no secret that I am also a dotaholic so this binding was done using a variety of mini pindots.
I try and stick with a theme for my quilt backs for an entire year. I thought this would make it easy to date the quilt. So this quilt was made during the year of the dot. One problem, I forgot to log what year that was. I will do a bit of research once I have all my quilts documented so I can clarify the following:
The year of the dot ( this may actually be two years)
The year of the plaid
The year of the DOG (remember the fabric that wouldnt sell?)
The year(S) of the pieced backs, etc.
Sandy’s quilt used two jelly rolls from the same collection.
HOWEVER….
started with one jelly roll,
didn’t get the quilt finished,
ran out of the fabric (yes this even happens to me)
waited,
waited,
decided to complete the quilt using the next American Jane collection.
I think this made me one block short so I improvised by making one block that has all different sections. It is my favorite block in the quilt as shown above.
I jumped on Sandy’s website to reference the Merry Go Round pattern number and look what I found!!! More stripped pieced hexagon projects to add to my list!
Geez Louise, Does she ever sleep?
photo courtesy of American Jane
Assorted Flavors (AJP286)
Life savers and fruit flavors found in mother’s purse are the best ever when you have to wait. This quilt is eye candy wherever it goes.
Finished size 72” x 69”
This quilt was made using American Jane Pin Dots by Moda.
photo courtesy of American Jane
Flying Circles (AJP294)
Cart wheels, spinning tops, ferris wheels and polka dots all spell fun!
Finished size 72” x 90”
This quilt was made using American Jane Pin Dot, Fairy Tale Friends, Pezzy Print, plus Moda Bella Solids, and Essential Dots.
photo courtesy of American Jane
Y-Knot (AJP245)
I love the name of this pattern.
This is a block I have been waiting to do. You need 3 groups of fabrics, light (plaid), medium (florals), and darks (pin dots). Making this quilt is way more fun than a camp lanyard, so why not make a Y-Knot.
I am not showing precious pictures of my kids and dogs.
I am not publishing any report cards. Do they give report cards in college?
I am not telling about how I cleaned my sewing room closet.
BRAG is short for BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY. Yes there is one more post. I could go one and on and still not cover all the great stuff happening in the quilting/publishing world.
Modern was certainly the buzz word at Market, so I thought it fitting to show you a few books with Modern in the title.
First of all, we have Simply Charming, Modern from Moose on the Porch. This is a continuing series of books from Konda Luckau. Each of the books feature quilts made using charm squares. Some of the other titles are Simply Charming- Kids, Simply Charming – Seasons, Simply Charming- Circles and Simply Charming- Fun.
Leave a commentand include the words Simply Charming if you want a chance to win.
Elizabeth has made and machine quited each of the 12 quilts featured in this book. The big bold shapes, graphic use of scale and additional color options for each project makes it a feast for the eyes. There are a few quilts I have my eye on to try. I think I will start with the escape artist quilt. I cant show you which quilt it is. You will have to check it out for yourself….. if you win this book. Yes I have a book for a giveaway. Leave a comment including Modern Patchwork and i will draw a a name on Sunday night and annoucne it on Monday morning.
Modern is not in the title of this book, but if a book on English Paper Piecing can
I am truly a hex-aholic so this review may be a bit jaded. There is something just perfect about the shape of a hexagon that I love. Tacha has created a US flag full of hexagons. How cool and dramatic. I wanted to stand up and sing the national anthem when I turned to the page. She must also have a love for the Union Jack because she has created a hexy Union Jack quilt as well.
SIDE NOTE: Did you know moda introduced a new cut at market that is perfect for paper piecing hexagons? Moda Candy- 2 1/2″ squares will be in stores this fall. Grab some Moda Candy and Tacha’s book to get started on your Hexa go-go project.
Harriet and Carrie truly have developed an entire encyclopedia of information, techniques and designs throughout their four books. Volume 4 covers creating designs, drafting patterns, working with angles or complex designs. Completing any of the projects in this book will assure you a diploma in quilting.
Leave a comment and include Academy if you are interested in wining this book.
One more book that I could only describe as Classically Elegant.
I have such an appreciation for Jan’s work because I do not see how the heck she does it. I think she wrote this book just for me. It is written for a first time stitcher with step by step illustrations to master a variety of applique and embroidery techniques. There is plenty of things in this book for the experienced stitcher as well. I had the chance to see some of the projects up-close at quilt market.
Amazing!! Look at some of the things she has created using the new ombre fabric from Vanessa Christenson’s new line, Simply Color.
You know the drill, a couple of these books I have as a giveaway. Leave a comment to let me know which book you would like to win. I will draw the winners Sunday night and post them Monday morning. I must be able to contact you via email or the book will go to the next person’s name I draw. Be sure and folow me so you wont miss out on any future news and giveaways.
Loose ends!!
One of the odd things about working at Moda is the Christmas holidays. We work on Holiday 2009 while also trying to accomplish Christmas 2008 at home. ( I am sworn to secrecy about Holiday 2009 but it is going to be GREAT!) We took a break from work and went to lunch on Friday.We had our annual ornament exchange. Pictured below are a few of the people in marketing, sampling and new product development. I think Rudolph bit Outlaw in the rear. Guess which one is Outlaw?With that being said I felt like I should follow-up on some loose ends.
Thimbleblossoms drawing.
I am delighted to be working on a quilt for Wendy! She won a drawing on Camille’s blog. Never did I expect to receive such a wonderful surprise in the mail. Camille sent me a selection of her patterns, a stocking full of chocolate and a James Taylor Christmas Cd. I have enjoyed sewing and snacking. the problem is I have also started a couple of her other patterns also. This quilting addiction is crazy! ( thank you, Camille)
Hexagons
I told you that I would post how to do English Paper Pieced hexagons by machine. I use the same technique that Blackbird Designs uses to do all of their applique quilts. Leaving the paper in, butt two of the hexagons together and sew. I use a fine zig zag stitch. The key is to use good quality nylon thread. Not the cheap stuff that is almost like fish line! The stitches almost disappear once the paper is removed. Join hexagons in sets of 2 and repeat. When you line up the next set of two slip the hexagons under the first set. This helps hold them in place as you chain piece. If you are doing the traditional hexagon flower you will have to pay close attention to fabric placement. I am doing a striped border of hexagons so mine are all constructed in rows.
Do not worry about taking out the paper or the basting stitches until you have sewn several of the sides together to hold them in place. Here are several rows sewn together. How long would this take by hand?
Once the rows and or sections are arranged you can continue to join the sections using the same technique. You do not have to have an entire section down to start sewing them together. More can be added section by section. A section sewn together!
Enjoy, try it and let me know if you have any questions.
So I will close this posting by singing out load in my home to each of you this Christmas Carol. Have a wonderful Holiday with your friends and family,
Lissa
With that being said I felt like I should follow-up on some loose ends. 
Here are several rows sewn together. How long would this take by hand?
Once the rows and or sections are arranged you can continue to join the sections using the same technique. You do not have to have an entire section down to start sewing them together. More can be added section by section. 
A section sewn together!