English Paper Pieced Hexagon Quilt Progress

Somehow I haven’t blogged about my hexie quilt yet!   So here it is 🙂

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This is my never ending project.   Or at least it sometimes feels that way 😉   I started my hexies so I would have something to do in the evenings when I just want to sit down but keep my hands busy.  Plus we take a lot of road trips so the fact that I could take quilting on the go was pretty sweet.   It really is more about the process and less about the end result.

I started piecing my first hexagon for this quilt just over a year ago.   I’m aiming for a throw size quilt.
My hexagon template is 1″.  (That means each side is 1″.)

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This quilt is made up entirely of 2.5″ scraps from other completed quilts.

You don’t need much to get started with English Paper Pieced Hexies.   Here’s what I recommend:

Hexagon Templates

I use Geta’s templates from Geta’s Quilting Studio
I know some people print on heavier card stock but I print on plain old copy paper.
Punch a hole in each one so they are easier to remove later on.

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Needles and Thread

I’ve been using Hiroshima Tulip Sewing Needles.  With a good needle you hardly need a thimble.  When I do use a thimble I use these flexible thimbles.
I used the 40wt thread pictured to baste some of my hexies and then switched over to Aurifil 50wt for the rest.

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Fabric

I’ve seen others who cut their fabric to the shape of the hexagon template but I keep mine square since it’s faster.  If you scroll down you can see the backs of my hexagons.   The backs are not the prettiest but you don’t see that anyways 😉   For these 1″ hexagons, 2.5″ fabric squares work well.

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Basting

I’m going with thread basting for my hexagons.   I baste on the backs so the thread doesn’t have to be removed.  I briefly tried glue basting but didn’t care for it as much even though it can go much faster.

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I started out making flower shapes and then proceeded to connect the flowers into larger shapes.   Looking back it would be better to make square panels since I ended up with oddly shaped panels that I’m currently working on squaring up.

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The back can be as fun to look at as the front 🙂quiltylove_EmilyDennis-9913 quiltylove_EmilyDennis-9915

I currently have these two larger panels and a few smaller ones.  I’m working on connecting them together and making a larger rectangle.   I’ll either continue to add to that or put a solid border around it so I can finish this project and move on to something else!

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Have you joined the Hexie craze?   Any pointers or questions?