"Hey, if I had somewhere to go, I certainly wouldn't be in Cleve-Land." -Howard the Duck

Saturday, August 23, 2014

No...I'm not Paper Piecing my Hexies!

From what I've been able to research on line...it seems most people do English Paper Piecing (EPP) for their hexies.  One look at the videos of how to do that & I know I would never even want to do it that way.  Too many extra steps to get the same end result, I think.  Seems like it would take way more time than how I'm doing it...just sewing short little 1" seams on each side of the hexies. 

As you can see in this detail...I just draw the sewing line on each hexie before I cut it out.  When I started this quilt back in the 1970s...I had never even heard of EPP...and I didn't have a pattern, just memories of my Grandma & Mom's quilt.  I drew hexies onto a piece of clearish plastic from the lid of some food container...one for the cutting line & one for the sewing line. 
 
This is how the flowers look after I've sewn a round of hexies on...the inside of this one is pressed, but the green hexies are not.  The part that doesn't have hexies is where this one attaches to the previous one in the row.  You can see that the seams look a bit unruly...but no worries...they press flat just fine.
 
See???  Everything is nice & in it's place now.  I guess the EPP thing gives crisper, more accurate lines on the hexies...but the basting of the fabric to the paper, then whip stitching those hexies together would drive me bonkers.  A short one inch seam with probably 8-10 stitches per inch works so much better & faster for me.
 
The front of my flowers still have nice hexies in them...and I'm enjoying the process.  I'm glad I never knew about EPP when I started this quilt...it wouldn't have worked for me.  I got a total of 7 flowers sewn together right now...and spent the rest of this week cutting more green hexies.
 
Does anyone else sew their hexies this way???
 
I also have to do a reality check on the size of my quilt.  I've been planning an oversized queen size one...but may have to revise that based on how much of this green print I have.  Back when I started my quilt I had a double bed...so bought fabric based on that.  There's no way I can find more of this green...so I think I'll start with a double size & then if I have enough I can add on a row at a time to the length & width to make it as large as possible with the fabric I have. 
 
That's my plan for now...don't you sometimes often hate reality???
 
I'll be linking up to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday as soon as she opens it up for posts.
 
 
 
 

9 comments:

  1. Very nice to see your method of sewing hexies. This is exactly how I learned to do them from my grandmother. Your hexies are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish I had done this with mine. Hand piecing seems like a lot less work. Something I want to try soon! Your flowers looks wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. As long as it looks as pretty as yours I doubt it matters how you do it :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very pretty! I do EPP mainly because it is easier on my eyes. Your flowers are so pretty. Happy Stitching.
    xo jan

    ReplyDelete
  5. YES! That is how I do my hexagons! So much easier. I made a plastic template to cut them out with a rotary cutter and another with the inside cut out so I could draw the 1/4 inch stitching line. Beautiful flowers by the way. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My grandma stitched hers together this way. I've not tried them any way but have to admit your way looks like a lot less work.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is how my mom did hers too... she has all the blocks done I think but hasn't sewed them together yet. What a pretty block!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes I think a lot of people hand stitch hexies. It's a more recent thing around here anyway, to EPP. Very pretty! Looks very relaxing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love your hexies. I love quilts, but I'm not good at hanging in for long projects, darn it! My mom took a quilting class in the 70's and I can remember she made templates for herself.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.