UPDATE :: Diamond Hexie Stars

This project has been going on for a while, but then that was the goal in the first place.  A long term English Paper Piecing Project.  When I went to Oregon the beginning of August, I wanted a simple and quick EPP to keep me occupied and out of trouble.  It did just that!



I just finished my ninth round of hexies.  Nine rounds!  When I say rounds, I mean I cut fabric for 6-9 diamonds and hand stitch the hexie diamonds completely together before I start another round.



Round six ended up having eight stars.  I have to say I love picking out the fabrics for each one.  It can be time consuming, complicated, confusing and crazy...but so much fun!



It appears I was slacking when I did round seven...really Jayne...only six?!  I feel like the Kaffe Fasset fabric was exactly what these needed.  Not just what they needed, but what I needed at the time.  It was a difficult August for me and the bold and bright colors of the fabric helped.



Round eight.  Another slacking moment!  Nearly every night I'll pick up this project and stitch for a couple hours.  My thumb is a mess, and why is it there is always one spot where the needle hits every single time?!  Painful, but worth it.  



This would be round nine.  I will say my stash of Kaffe has dwindled to a holy mess!  Fussy cutting will make a mess in a hurry. 

I have round ten cut and ready!  Beyond that I haven't a clue what I'll do.  Most likely scour my fabric and see if I can squeeze out even more.  

I thought this block was rather interesting.  I  like the oval circles!


I'm waiting to get back in to my sewing room so I can put them on the design wall.  I'm so curious as to what they will look like!!

I'll be heading to Ft. Lauderdale for a few days of fun and sun!  My daughter pretty much insisted I go with her and who am I to deny her the pleasure of my company?!

Besides, I am so...sick...and...tired...of...construction!!  I need a break from the chaos, grime and having people in and out of my house every single day!  

I've needed a laptop sleeve for a long time now.  My sisters laughed at what I was using, a large bubble mailer from Aurifil thread...what's wrong with that?!  

I used this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew as my guide, Simple Laptop Sleeve by Elizabeth Hartman.



Very simple indeed!  The outside is a Home Dec weight fabric from Ikea.  I love the graphic nature of it.  It has fusible fleece and a flannel lining as well.  Not armor, but perfectly fine and it probably looks better than a bubble mailer! 

No more laughing at me Debbrah and Kathie!!  

LINKING:

Oh Scrap

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Finished or Not 

Star Light, Star Bright

So, we all know it's Eclipse day today!   Many of us will get that once in a lifetime chance to see it in all its glory.  I'm excited even though I don't have the proper glasses.  ARGH!  I'm still going to experience it, and it is okay to look at it with the naked eye without glasses when the sun is totally covered...take a chance or not?!  

I have to say all the hype has gotten to me.  While I was in Oregon it lead every single news story several times a day. Then when I got home, same thing.  At 1:27 PM (CST), for two exciting minutes...I will be busy doing nothing more than watching a event...a big memorable event!

Before that, after that and for those don't get to see 'that', I thought I would share the only sewing I have done in a month!  Yep!  You heard that right!  I won't go into detail, but it's been a terrible month for me and my family.  

I spent two weeks in Portland with nothing more than a needle and thread.  English paper piecing is the ideal travel project.  Before I left Nashville, I had a mad scramble to come up with an EPP project to take with me.  I ended up keeping it super simple.  Diamonds. 



I'm going to sound like a broken record again, but the hardest part was picking the fabric.  I settled on Kaffe Fasset fabric for the center diamonds and added a bright solid for the outside.  I was in need of very bright, bold and happy colors.  Kaffe Fasset fit that bill to a tee!



My little EPP kit was filled with the essentials.  Scissors, thread, clips, needles and glue pen. I also brought the extra fabric both in prints and solids.  I grabbed Aurifil Sandstone thread (2370) in 40 wt.  I was hoping the color would blend with all the bright colors of the fabric and disappear...and it did!  I have to say it was the perfect choice!

Of course you must have plenty of the most important component of EPP, the templates.  I found this template at Sew Quickly where you can cut hexies, jewels and diamonds from one PDF template.  I love the versatility you get with this PDF.  I printed page after page on card stock and then cut the out with scissors.  



I used two different prints for each star.  Some prints I fussy cut so they would stand out, some were cut with a texture and color in mind.  The fabric I was working with were smaller pieces, so getting three pieces that were exact was sometimes an impossible task.   



After the stars came a solid that I felt would pop with the combination of prints.  I tried to be strategic, but it didn't always work out that way.



This one is the perfect example of semi-fussy cut diamonds.  The three circles are not the same, but they each have a green ring.  The other diamonds have the same linear blue print.



Here is another example of fussy cut matchy match!



I ended up making nine complete hexie stars and three stars.  With another half a dozen more in the pipe line.  



This was purely a project to keep me grounded, give me an emotional escape and keep my mind occupied while I was in Portland.  I still don't have a clue what I'm making or what it will become. Frankly, the last thing on my mind was a plan.  It was more important to have a distraction and not a plan.

Now that I've come home and had a chance to look at these sexy hexie stars, I've decided I want to make more and more!  This will be my long term EPP WIP!

LINKING:

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