Hexies - work in progress

     In September, I observed another quilter work with English Paper Pieced (EPP) hexies.  I asked a few questions, and found a few blogs about the process, and decided to give it a try.  I have been looking for a little handwork project to carry with me.  My kids live about 6 hours by car away, and I was curious if this would be a workable project for those car rides. 

     My first step was to buy a hexie punch.    I got the biggest size, which is 2 inches in diameter, with one inch sides.    

     I have a large stash of used manilla legal folders (from my dad's old office).  I am punching out my little paper hexies from those, which make for nice sturdy patterns.   I have noticed that some bloggers have a little hole in the middle for the pin.  I know I have a hole punch somewhere, and will take this extra step!   

I punch around the perimeter, then cut off that punched part and start again.  Lots of hexies from one folder! 

     I had a quilt related car trip in September, and since I wasn't the driver, decided to try out putting together the hexies in the car.  I used some scraps and found that it was fine (i.e., I didn't get car sick!).  

Little test pieces! 

     As part of that trip, we did a little shop hop, and I picked up a mini charm pack of 30s fabric.  These 2 1/2 inch squares fit the hexies pretty perfectly.    These were my test piece, and I just started sewing them up. 

Most of them sewn together

The back.  Not pretty, but it will be covered up! 

     Once I got all 42 little hexies together, I wasn't quite sure what to do with them!  I mulled over a few possibilities, and settled on making a pillow cover.  I want to preserve the hexie look, so I made additional hexies in red, and will then trim those and add more fabric if needed.    

Adding the solid red squares. 

The back

     Since I like this project, and since we have a few long road trips planned this fall, I purchased eight fat quarters of rich red, purple and pink and gold and green batiks at a quilt show, and am going to cut them up, add some from my stash, and start making hexies!  I haven't yet decided if I will go with the traditional flowers or some sort of geometric pattern for the finished piece!  Plenty of time to decide that.  I think it will take a while to make so many little hexies!

The pieces already cut up.  

My bowl of hexies!  

     If you read my blog often (and thank you so much if you do!), I decided to add a 9 inch border around the "Fall"ing Star quilt.  I made the blocks, and will hopefully get this top finished at my retreat!  It will finish at about 66 inches square, which is a nice lap/couch quilt size.   I have to admit I am really pleased with the scrappy light background! 

Take care,
Gretchen