Hexie redux ~ Take 1

Hexagon shapes have hit, swept (and mopped up?) the online quilting world ~ they are everywhere these days. People, including yours truly, can't get enough of making these little paper-pieced shapes.

For me, they are a relaxing way to spend the evening with my family, much the same way as knitting used to occupy my time. But, as much as I enjoy making them, there is always the question of what to do with them in the end? Their classic use isn't for me - it's great, but not for me ~ too traditional.

So the question remains, what to do with all these little hexagons? I wanted something that would lend a modern feel and a fresh perspective? I have been thinking about this problem for a while now and have come up with a few answers to my own question. Here is the first one ~ a little hexie redux, Version 1.

You have already seen the beginnings of this project in this post. Here is the final version. All my hexies sewn up together and ready to be made into a pillow ~ the Walking in the rain pillow

Why a pillow? ~ Because I'm on a mission to redo all the toss pillows in our house. The Pillow talk swap was impetus enough to retire our boring plain pillows and come up with fabulous replacements. Reason two is because these are half inch hexies! That's a finished hexagon about 1" across and believe me, after hand-piecing 400 of these babies, I'm ready to be done. A pillow was about a big as this project was going to get.

It's black and white and grey as you can see, which is a "color" scheme I'm fond of in our house. Seems to be everywhere.

See?...

Fit's right in.

I threw in a little splash of color to stir things up a bit by appliqueing the little person walking in the rain and used some free-motion stitching to attach the applique.


Add some quilting and a back and it's a throw pillow!

Looks nice next to the Cathedral Mod pillow and the Mid Mod Quilt, no?

So there you have it! Hexie redux, part 1. Stayed tuned for part 2, coming in August.

Happy Sewing!

Nifty Notion

Check out this nifty little gadget. It's a needle threader. Not one of those little wire doo-hickeys that breaks the first time you use it either! A real needle threader.


I have been doing so much hand sewing lately, and therefore threading of needles, I decided to pick up this little guy at the fabric store. Ok and I will admit that threading needles in my apparently advanced age (ugggh) is getting a little bit trickier than it used to be and that may have contributed to my purchase (maybe, possibly, but I'll never tell). This needle threader is super easy to use - I mean seriously! Why even bother trying to thread a needle the other way? - this is a just plain no-brainer.
You put the needle in the hole on top, you lay the thread in the groove and press the button. Takes all of 0.9876 seconds.

With hand threading, you have to trim the thread sharply to make sure that those little fine strands of thread are really clipped so they don't misdirect the thread away from the eye of the needle - know what I mean? Yea. No worries with the threader. It even has a handy thread cutter built in. I'm sold on this gadget. Go check it out.

In the meantime, I have two quilt tops done and a third nearly complete. So I’m making a lot of progress but no piccies until I get them quilted which will be awhile because we will be busy all weekend at Da Vinci days doing this


And this

and watching this



yes that's mud...

there is also water...



and sand...


and oh yeah - solid ground is allowed too.


Happy Sewing!

Shameless thread grubbing post

Sew Mama Sew is doing a giveaway for the new Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett thread collections. Check it out here. My answers to the questions are at the end of this post.

And because I feel a wee bit uncomfortable using my blog to just win a contest, I'm going to show you my latest quilty project first. Still in the works mind you ~ I'm currently making the "Outside the Box" quilt from Modern Quilt Workshop for my son.



He doesn't often benefit from my sewing skills, so I'm glad to be making something for him for a change. Very guy-ish so as not to embarrass the poor kid and very appropriate for him, because he is definitely an outside the box kind of person.



What follows next is my shameless attempt to win some thread and oh yeah, my answers to the questions Sew Mama Sew had posted ~ read on if particularly interested in my thread preferences or have some spare time on your hands.

* How did you select colors for your personal thread collection?

I pretty much pick the colors when I need them for the project I'm working. I don't typically stock thread without a project in mind but of course I have lots of leftover thread from old projects. The exceptions to this would be basics such as white/black/brown and maybe navy and red, those I do stock because they get used so frequently.

* Do you always match the color perfectly to your project?

That depends. If I'm sewing internal seams on purses/bags, then no because that isn't usually seen. However, for garments I'm pretty careful about matching the thread to the fabrics. The same holds true for any topstitching where both sides of the stitching will be seen.

* Do you ever use contrasting thread?

Yes, definitely. Particularly if I want to accent a purse or garment - I do that a lot with knit tops and jackets. I have a cover stitch machine and use that often to introduce decorative stitching to the outside of garments and specifically use contrasting thread for that.

* Do you use the same color in the bobbin as the upper thread?
If the stitching will be seen from both sides, as in topstitching, or in a garment seam, then yes, I almost always use the same color bobbin thread.

* What if a fabric has big areas of very different colors?
Typically, I pick a thread color that I think will accent the fabric well and go with that.

* Do you have any tips or suggestions about choosing thread?
I personally prefer to use polyester in garment sewing for strength and have been using it also in my quilts. However, I'm new to quilting and have certainly heard the case for cotton thread in quilting, so I'm undecided about that. I'm quite partial to a few brands.

* Can you show us a picture(s) of your thread collection?

Umm ok, if you insist. Really kind of a jumbled mess. I need to get this better organized ~ that's still in the planning stages at the moment...
* Do you ever buy thread because you fall in love with the color (without a particular project in mind)?
Sometimes I will do this for embroidery threads, but typically I'm project oriented.
* Do you “invest” in thread?
If you ask my husband he'll say I invest in everything sewing related. Certainly with the price of thread these days, you are putting an investment into it. But since it's kind of essential to sewing, I figure it's worth the investment to use good thread considering the time and effort you are putting into creating a garment, quilt or other sewing project.
* What types of thread do you have? (elastic, quilting, all-purpose, wool, etc.)

I use mostly polyester threads since they work up well on my machines and are strong and durable over time, in the wash etc. I use polyester threads for sewing and quilting. I'll use polyneon (a high sheen polyester thread) from Madeira for embroidery projects and I'll use maxilock or wooly nylon in my serger. I always use wooly nylon when sewing knits. I do have some elastic thread, a few rayons, and a few leftover spools of variegated thread, and that's about it.

This was kind of fun. There you have my thread wisdom in a nutshell. Go over to Sew mama Sew and perhaps grab yourself a chance at some thread.


Happy Sewing!