Hexie Zip Bag

English paper piecing is probably my favorite type of hand sewing. It's just so portable, perfect for scraps, and cute. Of course it stops being portable when you try to make something large, so the two panels necessary for this sweet zip bag were just right to my way of thinking.

The pattern I used to make the bag is the Perfect Zip Bag by Elizabeth Hartman. You can make it with a pieced panel or without. It is my go-to pattern for zip bags because of the method she uses for inserting the zipper and covering the zipper ends. Perfect every time.

I was trying to decide who would appreciate this sort of gift, and I think it has to be a quilter, don't you? I'm going to surprise a special woman via post this week.

English Paper Piecing Revisited

I last wrote about this (very long term) English paper piecing project three years ago.  I can't believe it's been that long since I worked on it, but that's what the blog record  says.  I'd forgotten how fun it is to fussy cut scraps for the shapes.  I played around with the various effects you can get from fussy cutting stripes, dots, and other motifs on your fabric. You can see lots of individual pictures of the stars in my instagram feed.

I am still using the paper shapes from Paperpieces and the Sewline glue pen.  Making the jewel stars is relatively quick (I mean, this is hand sewing after all). I can make one, start to finish, including the fussy cutting, while waiting through one gymnastics class (about 45 minutes).  It's nice to have a portable sewing project, especially with so many sports practices these days.

Now that I have about ten stars made, I'm working on joining them to the low volume background fabrics and sewing them onto the group I made a few years ago.  This step is slow going and a bit of a puzzle.

Hopefully it won't be another three years before I have more to show you on this project.

One for the Road

We're just about to head out for our holiday travels, and I want to take some hand work along.  Jeni's drawstring bag is perfect to hold my WIPs.

The body of the bag is a special Koseki print, paired with Circa 1934 dots and numbers inside, with Heath strings.

 I'm filling the bag with my English paper piecing project.  Maybe I'll make some progress over the break.

Have a safe holiday season, and merry Christmas!

A Return to Paper Piecing

I thought I was done with English paper piecing for a long while after my hexagon pillow, but then I saw this gorgeous project by Marg.  I hadn't seen the jewel shapes before.  Aren't they great with the hexies and diamonds?

I've had a lot of fun digging through my scraps and fussing cutting each shape.  And did you notice there are no basting stitches?  Marg also shared this magical fabric glue pen.  No basting!  I love this notion.  You can find it online, but if you're local to KC, Bernina on Metcalf has it.  Best. tool. ever.

I found the templates I needed at paperpieces.  Through a mailing mishap, they were kind enough to give me some extras, which I am going to give away.  Want to start a paper piecing project of you own?  Let me know in the comments, and I'll pick a winner Monday morning. Giveaway now closed.

A Solid Finish

I finally finished my solid hexagon project. Yes, it is just pillow sized (20" square), and it still seemed to take quite a while. Hats off to those of you who are persevering through much larger hexie projects.I'm glad I decided to hand quilt it. I love how the embroidery floss highlights each hexagon. I finished the pillow with a quilt style binding in Kona coal.

The inspiration for this pillow was a lovely letter press card I saw on etsy by krankpress. It's funny how a quilt inspired card can become a card inspired quilt.

All by Hand

After making the hexagons by hand and hand sewing them together, I decided to finish my project with hand quilting. Why not. Up until a year or two ago, I quilted all my quilts by hand. As I was drawn more and more to modern quilting, I was attracted to the options created quilting by machine. And all this made me wonder, is machine quilting more modern than hand quilting?Certainly machine quilting can be used to complete traditional quilts and to make very traditional motifs (think old fashioned feathers, etc.), but it is also used in fun, innovative ways in many modern quilts. I've even seen some really cool combinations in modern quilts of machine and hand quilting used together.So, can a completely hand quilted quilt be modern? Is it the shapes used, rather than the method of stitching that makes quilting old fashioned vs modern, or something else? I've tried to make my hand quilting more modern by using embroidery floss and larger stitches to emphasize the quilting. Hey, I took time to hand quilt this, so I want you to notice. Other modern quilters use a variety of colors of floss or outlining to do the same thing.

So what do you think. Is hand quilting more retro cool or traditional?

Slow and Steady

I've begun sewing my solid hexagons together. Making the hexies is so quick, but sewing them together is more time consuming. It's slow going.

I've started my Metro Link quilt too. I scoured my scrap bins to cut narrow strips of just about every fabric to be found. Now I'm cutting the strips to the sizes in the pattern. This is also going to take a while!

Mod Hex

How is it that the right mix of solids can make a traditional block look so modern? The magic of solids meets hexagons.
These are Kona solids in lagoon, cactus, ash, white, azure, and coal.

Mystery Project

Here's the beginnings of a mystery project to be revealed in the coming weeks.

I'm currently working on three projects simultaneously which makes me feel very productive but also makes the finished products very slow in coming. I need to quilt my Quilts for Kids quilt and finish the last five blocks for my bee quilt. Hopefully I'll have something to show for all this sewing soon.

Hexagon Pillow

My first finished hex project! I loved the hand sewing on this. It's really not as hard as it looks either. There are lots of good tutorials. I used this one. The author even links you to a cool tool that allows you to download and print hex templates in a variety of sizes!
I paired my hexes with a nice linen-look cotton in a neutral color. I interfaced my front to protect the hex seams and prevent any distortion. The back is a simple envelope closure. The pillow is 12x16, and it available in my etsy shop. I really want to keep this one, but these super gorgeous colors and fabrics don't match any of my decor :(.

Scrappy Hand Sewing Projects

First, let me say a big thanks to each of you who commented on the previous post about my son's quilt. I got lots of great suggestions for names. While I'm deciding on the backing and binding for it, I seem to have caught the hand sewing bug. I'm not sure how it happened except that there are so many great pictures on flickr and other blogs of hexes and cathedral windows.
Besides being beautiful, they also appeal to my propensity for using scraps. I've got the bug so badly, I've even been buying scraps. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I have fabric envy - all those goreous bits of Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Heather Ross prints I see in the inspiration pics. Sigh. Anyway, I'm having lots of fun snuggling on the couch with these tiny beauties each night.

Thinking of trying a cathedral window yourself? Two words: spray starch. It made a world of difference in getting those folds to stay down and corners sharp.