hexies
Showing posts with label hexies. Show all posts
△ Spectrum qst quilt △ & mini quilts △
I designed and made this quilt using two charm packs of Spectrum by V & Co. for a demonstration on Sewing Quarter.
It was so fun playing with the colours and layout and I love the graphic look of the quilt.
To make the blocks I sewed two four patch blocks, put them right sides together, sewed 1/4" around all the edges and then cut diagonally both ways. It is far simpler than making lots of triangles! You can watch the demo here.
Continuing the triangle theme, I made a Floating Triangles mini, using the pattern by Katy Jones in Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters. Mine is a smaller version but it's a great technique!
I think this would look amazing as a full sized quilt! Katy's quilt in the book was quilted in a grid and I completely loved it so I did the same.
Black and white prints are so striking! I want to incorporate more into my own projects. You can see the demo for this mini quilt here.
Finally I made another fun mini. This one was adapted from the pattern by Nicole Vos van Avezathe in the book Fat Quarters: Small Fabrics, 50 Big Ideas by Amanda Carestio. Nicole's original pattern was English Paper Pieced and appliqued on a pillowcase, but for this demonstration I wanted to do some quilting and a different hexie technique so I made a mini quilt. I used Nicole's cross stitch pattern from the book for the lettering and the gorgeous Flowerbox Sublime Stitching floss, which matches perfectly with the Olive's Flower Market prints (I used a charm pack).
I didn't epp these hexies, I used a paper hexagon template to press the edges of the fabric over but then removed the paper. So with the seams pressed to the back I used a glue pen to position the hexies on the background fabric. Then I chose a decorative stitch to sew between the hexies, sewing them together and appliqueing them at the same time! This is a technique that Pat Bravo demonstrated at an Art Gallery Fabrics event I went to a few years ago.
note for the future - on my Elna mode 1 #47, stitch width 5, length 2.
Once the appliqué was done I made a quilt sandwich, with backing fabric and wadding. And top stitched around the hexies. So I'm quilting all the hexies!
Below you can see the loopy swirls which are also quilting, another decorative stitch - mode 2 #30 width 9, length 2.5.
You can watch the demo here - it makes a lot more sense when you see it being done :)
My littlest fell in love with this one so I might have to make another!
Manchester Quilting Bee ~ quilt drive
In the amazing way that quilters respond when people need love and comfort, there is now a quilt drive Manchester Quilting Bee calling for hexagons to make into quilts for those affected by the recent attack in Manchester.
To see all the details please click here. My friend Michelle is collecting them and you can find the address to send them to on the post pinned at the top of the facebook page ❤ If you are in the US then you could contact @madebychrissied via instagram as she has offered to collect hexies.
You can download the hexie template here - it's a 5" hexie measuring across from the flat edges, point to point is 5 3/4" and each side measures 2 7/8". They need a 1/4" seam so the finished hexie is 4 1/2". You can send plain hexies or pieced/embroidered if you wish.
*edited to add - if possible please appliqué your hexie to a 6 1/2" square of fabric to make piecing easier!
It is a wonderful way to show our love for those affected and do something positive. Thank you for your support!
handbags and gladrags ✂ appliqué projects ✂
Late last year I designed and made some projects that I can finally share because they are in this month's Love Patchwork & Quilting: Issue 46!
I made four appliqué projects, all with cuteness and handbags in mind! I always like to have little pouches to keep the contents of my bag organised, and this one is perfect for lip glosses and balms (hence the longer and shorter pockets) or pens, washi and sticky notes. The heart kam snap on the lips is a kitschy touch that works either way.
The cord keeper is great for stopping earphones, USB cords and chargers from getting tangled up. Easy to make, I think it would make a useful gift too!
Since I was feeling playful I also designed two makes that you could decorate your bag with or actually wear yourself. The lawn scarves are really whimsical and have a nice vintage feel with the angled edges, super cute and comfortable as a neck scarf but also sweet tied onto the handles of a bag.
And lastly, total whimsy. Some quilted hexie badges, fun for fussy cutting and playing with stitches. I used monofilament thread, along with some embroidery.
Love Patchwork & Quilting Issue 46 is out now in the UK and also as a digital download. For the of you in the US it should be out in 4-6 weeks.
It features lots of amazing makes. Those pencils are just so cute!! Designed by the talented Jo Carter. Also I spied the lovely Laura Cunningham's Glitter Pouch, which I was lucky enough to test! So many beautiful projects in this issue and I'm not sure I can resist the new BOM by Nicole 💓
linking up to finish it up friday with crazy mom quilts
make do and make new
Sometimes a mistake can bring about good things! While making a bag for my sewing supplies, I cut one of the quilted panels wrong. I was so mad at myself because it was one of my favourite prints. The accident happened though and there was no fixing it. After a dig through my stash I found more fabrics I could happily use for my bag. And the panel I cut wrong has now become two cute zip pouches.
The sides were already quilted panels so I couldn't do the usual 'turn through the lining' way of making. For the larger one I added the zip, then top stitched the zip tape (from the lining side) to hide the unfinished seam. On the smaller one I did a double row of stitching to secure the zip and just lazily trimmed the seam with pinking shears.
It was nice to use some fun zips too! The smaller pouch measures 6" x 6 ¾" and the larger one is 10 ½" x 6 ¾".
Zips bought from Simply Because Crafts on Ebay
Fabric -
lining: Square Grid - Mint by kimsa
binding: Essex Yarn Dyed Metallic in Storm
This is my first finish of 2017 and I hope this year will have many! I will be back with my word for the year tomorrow.
Happy New Year! Wishing you all a creative and wonderful 2017!
p.s. free printable calendar seen in the top picture is from Simple As That
hexie flower hoops
Blogging is such a wonderful way for me to keep track of my projects and a quick search tells me I made these hexie flowers in November 2013, back when Lois was a baby! It's amazing I didn't loose them between then and now really.
Initially I think I planned to make a few english paper pieced flowers, to use up every teeny tiny scrap of Liberty. I made three. Small isn't really my favourite thing.
They have been on some of my finish-a-long lists since then but only recently have I finally found something I wanted to make with them (I did think about a pincushion and possibly a cushion at one point).
I have already made a tiny embroidery hoop using one and now the other two have been appliqued and put into adorable little hoops too.
I bought the hoops from Sew Cross Handmade, these are 2" hoops but she stocks various sizes. The quality is fabulous, I highly recommend her shop!
The hoops come with wooden backs, which you can glue on to cover the back and also add a brooch pin if you chose to. I use wonderclips to hold the pieces together while the glue dries, it works a treat.
I can tick these off my Q4 FAL list now ✔
Wishing you all a great weekend! Remember to join me over on instagram on Saturday night for the craft along :)
linking up:
linking up:
what else could brighten a dreary day...
better than lovely happy mail?! It is pure coincidence that it all matches so nicely!
The die cuts, stickers and journal cards that you see top and bottom are all part of a gorgeous kit from The Reset Girl. Her latest kit is 'Crafted', I bought the Essentials Kit and there's also a Deluxe Kit available. I plan on making some cute planner dividers and decorating everything!
The fabrics in the centre are all from Spoonflower printed on Kona cotton - they had a special offer of 2 for 1 on FQs. If you don't already know Spoonflower now also ship from Berlin, so the postage costs are really cheap for those of us in the UK and Europe. Just make sure you check the box to chose to have it shipped from Berlin! It did take about a month to arrive, which is slow but I love having different fabrics and supporting the designers.
left to right: Hexagon/spring/small by ivieclothco; Sleepy Eyes, Blush Background by kimsa; Square Grid - Mint by kimsa and Black white and mint mask by pencilmein.
Now I have to be strong and resist the urge to play with this lot right away because there's secret sewing to be done and a giveaway coming up on Friday ;)
scrap love
I had so much fun making these Bee A Brit Stingy blocks for Di. This year we started with a hexagon, a triangle and a square, every 2 months we are making each other triangles and squares. You can see my starter blocks in this blog post. It's such a great design, I love Di's colour scheme and matched it as best I could from my stash:
So here's how her quilt looks so far:
I've also been working here and there on my Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt. I've finished section 2:
Tonight I'm hosting the Saturday Night Craft Along, so if you're on instagram come and join in the party! Just tag me @charmaboutyou and add #saturdaynightcraftalong to your picture.
classes, stickers and weight loss
A random combination for a post but hey that's my life!
The new term is starting at Patchfinders - the local quilt shop I work at - and I have a fun line up of classes covering different techniques. In a previous class a couple of ladies mentioned they would just like a day to make some blocks, to practice and gain confidence, so I'm running a class doing just that. I picked two blocks that I thought were simple but fun and one block that requires fussy cutting and working out measurements to piece your own block.
The blocks alone don't look great hung up in a quilt shop though so I turned it into a simple runner with a little bit of hand quilting and scrappy binding, and now it can be displayed. Of course the blocks could easily be the start of a quilt or made into cushions.
To see details of my classes and how to book click here.
If you follow me on Instagram you will know I love stickers (I may have talked about them here too!!). My latest order was from JuJuAllOver and I am in love with this shop. Their shop announcement states, "Welcome to JuJuAllOver where you are more than welcome to be random with us." - how awesome!
I bought this cool Bokeh sheet and some custom headers (they come in lots of different colourways), which I requested to say 'To Sew', and they sent this cute free wintery sampler:
And THEN I hit the sticker jackpot (at this point it's fine for you to think I'm a bit crazy) because I've been on the lookout for some Adventure Time stickers. It's one show I will actually watch with my children! It's hilarious and sweet and weird and brilliant. The best bit is JuJuAllOver lets you customise which characters you get on the sheet!! I ordered princesses and BMO, my favourites. I bought the small sheet and there's also a large sheet with fewer but larger stickers.
I bought this cool Bokeh sheet and some custom headers (they come in lots of different colourways), which I requested to say 'To Sew', and they sent this cute free wintery sampler:
And THEN I hit the sticker jackpot (at this point it's fine for you to think I'm a bit crazy) because I've been on the lookout for some Adventure Time stickers. It's one show I will actually watch with my children! It's hilarious and sweet and weird and brilliant. The best bit is JuJuAllOver lets you customise which characters you get on the sheet!! I ordered princesses and BMO, my favourites. I bought the small sheet and there's also a large sheet with fewer but larger stickers.
For those of you into cartoons, comics, Disney or such, check out JuJuAllOver for the cutest stickers! Look at them on instagram for coupon codes and offers, and also shipping to the UK was totally reasonable :)
Stickers are going to help me track my weight loss. I made my own sort of reward chart to keep in my planner using mason jar stickers from Oregon Country Store and hexie stickers from The Reset Girl. I have a lot to lose so I'm hoping a visual will help and I can reward myself by filling up the pink jar!
I'm not on a plan or doing a particular diet - as soon as you tell me I can't have something I will have ALL of it! So I'm just being conscious, making good choices and exercising more. Wish me luck... and ask me to show you this jar in a couple of months!
Stickers are going to help me track my weight loss. I made my own sort of reward chart to keep in my planner using mason jar stickers from Oregon Country Store and hexie stickers from The Reset Girl. I have a lot to lose so I'm hoping a visual will help and I can reward myself by filling up the pink jar!
I'm not on a plan or doing a particular diet - as soon as you tell me I can't have something I will have ALL of it! So I'm just being conscious, making good choices and exercising more. Wish me luck... and ask me to show you this jar in a couple of months!
hexie label wonder clips ~ The Reset Girl Giveaway!
**Giveaway now closed**
I was cutting out lots of pieces for a quilt the other day and realised I needed to keep track of them, my usual way of doing this involves post its, scraps of paper and pins or separate zip lock bags. None of these are particularly efficient and, let's face it, not at all cute.
When I'm doing English Paper Piecing or hand sewing I always use Clover wonder clips to hold my pieces together and they work really well. Far less fiddly than pins and a better grip than post its! It makes sense to use them for my rotary cut pieces too. I considered writing on them with a Sharpie until I remembered that I did that on my ruler and rotary cutter and it wears off pretty fast.
I looked at that little space on the wonder clips and *lightbulb moment* thought about the adorable mini hexie stickers I got from The Reset Girl!
How perfect is that?!
There's loads of those little stickers on one sheet so I wrote out the alphabet and still have room left to write numbers and/or repeat the alphabet if I want to!
Now I can organise all my cut fabric pieces ready for sewing! I also know I can throw them in a pile and they will stay that way ;)
These clips will live in a special little bag inside the bag where I keep my unlabelled wonder clips (phew! I just might finally have an excuse to make a triple zip pouch!). When Clover finally come out with printed wonder clips I would like to have some credit please, although it will be hard to make them look this sweet ;)
Regardless of whether you use wonder clips or not, the mini hexie stickers are perfect for planners, calendars or to label other things.
I have blogged about The Reset Girl shop before, I love using the stickers in my planner, and as a stationery addict I like following Cori, AKA The Reset Girl, on instagram and watching the fun videos on her YouTube channel. This is not a sponsored post, I just happen to enjoy her work and products and want to share the good stuff... so much so that I arranged a giveaway.
As she is such a sweetheart Cori is kindly offering five of you the chance to win a Mini Sheet of Hexies!
*The giveaway is now closed*
The giveaway is open internationally and ends 9th November 2015 (at around 9pm GMT). The five winners will chosen by random.org and contacted by email.
Please please leave your email address in the comment so I can contact you e.g. stickersrule (at) hexiemail (dot) com - unless you are totally sure you are not a no reply blogger!!Good luck :)
Busy Girls Sews - hexagon cushion and time saving household tips!
I am so thrilled to be part of the Busy Girl Sews book tour for Heidi Staples new book Sew Organized for the Busy Girl: Tips to Make the Most of Your Time and Space.
This book made me smile, from the gorgeous projects and beautiful layout to Heidi's honest and fun approach. It is an inspiring book with small and larger projects, some of which are perfect for gifts and others that are great for when you want some selfish sewing. There are brilliant tips for organizing from Heidi as well as other quilters and the whole book felt to me like a good friend giving great advice. It's warm, real and hugely motivating!
I could have picked any of the projects to make for this tour but my love of English Paper Piecing won and I chose to make the 'Dotty Hexagon Cushion'. Turns out I had just got the most perfect fabric to work for this pattern and I immediately fussy cut hexagons from Swedish Kitchen, Lighthearted by Ayumi Takahashi...
and then created a rainbow from my stash using mostly 30s reproduction fabrics:
I love how fast glue basting is! I laid them out according to the book pattern and stitched them together. Once I was ready to quilt it I kind of wobbled, should I echo the hexagon shapes? Straight lines? And then I decided to do something different, a kind of scallop effect that makes those fussy cuts look like flowers and softens the angles. I used a spool of thread and matched the curve of the spool to the corners of the hexie. Then used my Sewline Styla pen to trace the shape and perle thread to hand quilt it.
Once those blue lines were rinsed away it left a subtle and pretty texture:
I deviated slightly from the book pattern (which has instructions for a zip closure) and I decided to add a touch of whimsy with a pom pom trim, which I had never done before but this tutorial by Angie has great tips to make it easy.
I used Swedish Text, Lighthearted by Ayumi Takahasi for the back and even used the selvedge to finish the envelope edge and did some simple straight line machine quilting.
I am thrilled with my cushion and will certainly be making more projects from Sew Organized for the Busy Girl: Tips to Make the Most of Your Time and Space! This was another check off my FAL list :)
Here is the tour list so you can blog hop:
March 30 - Lynne of Lily's Quilts
April 6 - Jodi of Tales of Cloth & Angela of Cut to Pieces
April 13 - Lindsay of Craft Buds & Debbie of A Quilter's Table
April 20 - Leanne of She Can Quilt
April 27 - Fat Quarter Shop
May 4 - Erin of Why Not Sew?
May 11 - Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts
May 18 - Svetlana of SOTAK Handmade
May 25 - Lucy of Charm About You
June 1 - Maureen of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
June 8 - Becca of Bryan House Quilts
June 15 - Beth of Plum & June
June 22 - Jessica of Quilty Habit
June 29 - Caroline of Sew Can She
July 6 - Heidi of Fabric Mutt (Tour Wrap!)
I thought I would share a couple of little things I do around the house to stay organised and save time (so I can sew more). My sewing isn't often organised and I still need to sort out my scraps (great tips in the book for that!) but with three kids I have to try and stay on top of the household stuff! I can also enjoying my sewing more if I know the house is in order.
Usually I do one bigger weekly shop and when I'm putting the food away I wash all the fruit and separate it into small resealable bags. This means I can grab snacks for the kids quickly or they can help themselves without eating it all! I do the same thing with 'grown up' snacks, sometimes adding some Bombay mix and always nuts and seeds. Yum! I try to buy nuts in larger portions because they work out cheaper but then separating them into portions means I don't eat the lot!!
I generally enjoying cleaning and have got a good routine going thanks to Clean Mama - check out the free printable calender.
Recently I realised it was WAY past time for me to clean the cooker, which is not a job I enjoy and, having started making my own cleaners using white vinegar, I really did not want to use conventional chemical oven cleaner because that stuff stinks, even the warnings on the packaging put me off using it! My sister mentioned putting lemons in the oven and after a quick google I found this site for how to clean an oven naturally. So I cooked lemons for half an hour and then once the oven was cool left baking soda sprayed with water sit overnight... I was sceptical but in the morning I literally just wiped it away and all the grease/gunk was gone!! I couldn't believe it, it was SO bad, embarrassingly bad, hence no before and after pictures. After cleaning it naturally (and cheaply) it was sparkling! Just trust me, if you've been too busy sewing to clean your oven try doing it naturally :)
My final tip is one I live by everyday. Write it down. Pen and paper makes all the difference for me. To do lists, sewing lists, my planner. If I write it down I don't have to spend time thinking about things or remembering stuff (I only have to remember to look in my planner!).
Happy sewing busy people!
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