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| HEXIE SWIRL 12" X 12" |
The first version I used 1" hexies, prints and paper pieced hearts. Hexie Hearts finished at 20 1/2" x 21 1/2" and inspired me to try a smaller hexie.
Rainbow Hexie was made with 1/2" hexies, solids and the center of each circle I machine stitched a star. This one finished ended up being 18" x 18 1/2".
The center hexie circle takes very little time to assemble normally, but when you are working with tiny pieces you have to be nimble with your hands! This final version used 1/4" hexies, solids and the center features three shades of gray and white.
I'll tell you it wasn't easy wrapping the fabric around the templates. The fabric covered the entire back because of the hexie size. I considered randomly grabbing colors and sewing them together, but I have to say I love a good rainbow effect. Instead I placed my hexies around a center of gray/white.
The previous quilts I would write numbers on the back of each hexie so I wouldn't mess up the order I wanted them to be in. With 1/4" hexies that wasn't an option. I knew it would be difficult keeping these little ones on the straight and narrow, so my solutions was to use tape, sticky side up, and gently place each hexie in the right order. I'm not sure where my idea came from, but it was the best idea ever!!
***I originally was going to use wash or tear away stabilizer for the templates. However there was no way I could fold all sides of the fabric around and get a good clean edge. Instead I used card stock and even with that perfection was hard to come by.
I hand stitch the hexies together in pieces and then assemble the entire center.
You can see just how small each piece is with my hand for scale. I could have a monster gigantic hand...but its just normal size!
I wasn't sure what to do with the quilting when out of nowhere I thought of pebbles...rainbow...thread! Sometimes we get an idea and can't shake it, this was one of those times.
Because of the size of this one, I decided to quilt the background before the circle was added. Using a white chalk pencil I outlined the circle so I would know just how far I should go with the pebbles. It almost worked! There are a few spots where the colors invaded the centers!
I finished the center of the hexie circle with pebbles using black thread. For the record there are 25 different thread colors. Truth be told I was going to keep the colors in a true rainbow spectrum, but I made a mistake with one color and I wasn't about to rip it out at that point! After that little blunder I had no choice but to go wild and put the colors where ever I wanted. Thankfully I had plenty of thread and colors to make this magic happen.
The center is glued down using Aleene's Fabric Fusion glue. It was a challenge getting the glue spread evenly on the back. I ended up using a Q-Tip for that and it worked very well.
I kind of really love all the colors and pebbles! You know me, I'm not awfully accurate with my pebble making! But I love making them.
It most certainly isn't proper to do when English Paper piecing, but I left the templates in! Seriously, there was no way I was going to get the templates out without destroying the hexies, my fingers or my mind! The good news is this isn't a quilt anyone will sleep under!
My goal at this point in the year is to finish all my WIP's. I know...there's only a few days left! I only have one more to go!
I like to start my year with a clean slate. Fresh and new! I may not be able to show all my final finishes before the end of the year, but they will be done!
However you like to end your year of sewing doesn't really matter. We all work in different ways. The quilting community is made up of a diverse bunch and who doesn't love that?!
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