Tutorial: Half Hexie ~ Fly Away

I had a chance to work with Amanda Herring's new beautiful line of Desert Bloom a while ago and designed this quilt "Fly Away". It is a simple quilt to make with half hexagons, but the way of putting the fabrics together make butterfly looking shapes instead of hexagons. The finished quilt is 38"x 56", it is perfect as a baby quilt. I am posting the full tutorial on my blog today, in case you missed it.

Here is how I made this:

1. Print out the PDF I created and trace it onto either thin cardboard (like a cereal box) or clear plastic to create the template.

2. I had a 7" x width of the fabric strips in 21 different fabric designs from her line. Choose three fabrics from them to make the binding tape later.

3. Lay one of the fabric strips flat on the cutting mat. Cut off the selvage and cut the strip to 6 sections of 3 1/8" x 7" rectangles. Now you have 12 (because they were folded in half) rectangles. Do the same with the other 17 strips. Depending on how you want to lay the fabrics out, you might need one fabric more than the other. With this cutting instruction, you will have quite a bit of leftover half hexies to give you that flexibility. You can make pillows or bags with the leftovers later.

4. Use the template you have created on step 1 and cut half hexies.

5. Lay them out to see the color balance. Don't they kind of look like butterflies?

6. Sew them together. There are a couple tips: Sew the pieces vertically first then sew the strips side by side. Also, when you are piecing the half hexies together, you want to lay them out right sides together and the little triangle is sticking out on the both ends as the picture is showing.

7. I decided to do straight stitches on the quilt and I like how it turned out.

Thank you for stopping by. Happy sewing! :)

Hexagon Quilt Finished!

I started this quilt last summer and I finally finished it!! It is all hand pieced and hand quilted... which is what I love to do. Don't get me wrong, I love the convenience of the sewing machine and the speed with which I can produce a quilt. Though I started as a hand quilter and I just love sitting down and working on a quilt one stitch at a time. I love the peaceful feeling I get and forget about the chaos and worries in life for a moment. Also, by working by hand, I can take the quilt pretty much everywhere I go.

Because I have other projects I am working on at home using my sewing machine, I take the project I can work on by hand with me. I stitch in the car while I am waiting at the carpool, I stitch at the kid's Tae Kwan Do studio and I stitch and stitch some more at family gatherings for when I have down time. Basically, I wasn't in a hurry to finish this quilt; it was my fun back burner project. That is why it took almost a year to complete!

The feeling of joy at finishing the project came with a slight panicky feeling like "Yikes, I need a new back burner project!". I have three projects due soon, so I should probably wait on that.

When I quilted this quilt, I didn't draw lines. It was totally free hand and I went with the flow.

I went though my stash and pieced the backing as well.

I have been meaning to find the time to lay on the couch with my quilt and have a really good reading time, but it hasn't happened yet.

Are you working of something right now?

Hexagon

I have been working on a quilt with the new fabric line from Riley Blake the last few days. I can't share the quilt until the end of this month, but I am excited about how it is coming together.

In the meantime... I have also been cutting up some hexagons. I want to do an all floral hexagon quilt. Many years ago, I made a grandma's flower garden quilt ALL pieced by hand and quilted by hand... it took me about 2 years. In the end I got tired of it and didn't want to do that ever again. Then, all of a sudden, I had this urge to make a hexagon quilt. Though, this will be a back burner project for me. I have cut all the flower fabric that are the right color for this quilt, now I am on a look out for more. In my head I have an image of this really pretty hexagon quilt laying around in my living room.

Today and tomorrow, my time will be spent more with my family. More cooking than quilting, father's day and all, you know. :)

Do you have any idea where I can find pretty floral fabrics?