Thanks Goodness for Hexigon (Hexies) Quilts!

Hello Quilty Friends!

Yes, I did say "Thank goodness for Hexies"......without my little hexies over the past 4 weeks, I know without a doubt I would be in a straight jacket! After my "Rotary Cutter Accident" (mentioned in an earlier post) I have had to STOP all longarm quilting and "Sit" or "Lay" with my foot up and I have been hard at work on my Hexie Quilt.....well, when I am not sleeping.

I started this Hexigon Quilt about two years ago, just to work on in the car rider line when picking my daughter, Katie up at middle school. That 15-20 minutes always felt like an enternity so I started making hexies to pass the time sitting there.  My daughter was in the 8th grade at the time, now a Sophomore in High School and it is almost done! I have only worked on it while waiting for Katie, my nephews to get off the bus on days I had to pick them up, on two vacations, two times of sit-n-sew....and the past four weeks while recovering from foot surgery.

When I started this quilt, I had high hopes of making this one into at least a Queen size quilt...........yea right! I will officially say now that this quilt will be a Crib Size! In just one photo you will see why I changed my mind on this. Anyone, who knows me personally, knows that I am one of those people who take that risk, ummm, if that is what you want to call it, I say, I am nuts!

I have always loved a challenge and this hexie quilt was one more of those personal challenges...

When I started this I went on the internet and did a search for Free Printable Hexigons...sorry, I do not know the site, but this is what I did. I then found the size that I wanted, loaded a sheet of card stock and hit print. Waa-laa! Then I cut a few out. I then sat and traced the cardstock hexigon onto freezer paper.....over and over and over.....then I cut those out, pressed onto the fabric strips I had. I started this quilt with a JellyRoll. Then I looked around on the internet to find out what to do next..Stitch the seam allowance down....and this the adventure started...

I did misplace a bag of my hexies about a year ago, never have found them...will probably find them about the time I finish the quilt.. so, I just got busy to make more.

I will tell you that I love my Clover needle threader (thanks to my friend, Jonnie)! I can thread my needle so easy and it helps to be able to loop my needle back through so that my needle stays on the thread, even if I drop it (thanks again, Jonnie for that tip)

For me, I like to go back and forth doing the different "segment" of making the hexigons. I get bored....easily..so I have to keep it interesting...So, I prepare some for a while, then I do the seam allowance stitching for a while, then I make them into flowers for a while then I have an "add them to the quilt day(s)"

 This box is my ready to stitch the seam allowance box......I did not use my method of tracing and cutting for this box full. My friend, Lee Monroe introduced me to the AccuQuilt Cutter System and she told me about an English Paper Piecing dye that was the same size as my hexies! Wow! So much faster!

This is my "seams are stitched and ready to add" box...

 

Next, I make some into stacks. I like to set little goals for the day...So, I get a few stacks out and that becomes my goal for the day...just to get that much done...last few weeks, I have had to add stacks over the day to keep me busy...

But, now this is all the flowers left to sew together...9 little stacks! Well, I hope....we will have to see if the quilt is the size that I want it when all sewed onto the quilt...Keeping my fingers crossed, I am ready to move on to a new project but I must finish this one...I have played with it long enough...getting bored....
After the little stacks, I get it to the flower stage....

I have been making the flowers into rows..There is more than likely better ways to do this, but I just like to make the rows, then add the rows onto the quilt. I feel like I am getting more done at one time this way..I have found that with hexigon quilts, you have to be ready to feel like you are NOT getting much done in a day...really you are, but, it just doesn't feel like it some days.

 

 This is a photo of how far how I have gotten on my little hexie quilt....I am hoping to have it done before my foot recovers and I can start longarm quilting again.

I will post once more about this quilt...when it is finally finished, quilted and binding done..

I am happy (that it's almost done) and I have had fun (most of the time) making it, and that my "quilty friends" is what it's all about!

Happy Quilting!

Gina