Hexies Are EVERYWHERE!

Have you noticed that Hexies are found everywhere these days?!? We bought a new (to us) car last spring and believe it or not, the seats have a Hexie texture to them! I drive a Nissan Juke if any of you want a Hexie car too! Haha! it is not the reason we bought the car, but it sure was a fun little perk for me!

And here is a close up view!

Since then, I've started noticing Hexies EVERYWHERE !!! Here are a few pictures I've collected. These are from TV- weather reports, auto commercials, news reports, TV shows, football; Product Packaging- toothpaste, TVs, advertising, clothing, non quilting magazines, Auto grills, shopping carts and MORE!! That snowflake is a photo of a real snowflake! Look at that Hexie in the middle!

 

As I'm typing this post in the living room, a news story has come on the TV and I just had to pause it and snap a nice picture of a few more Hexies! This is a 3D food printer...WOW! And see the beautiful Hexie shapes it's using to build sugar decorations?! WOW! Wouldn't we love to build candy Hexies in our own kitchen to serve our quilty friends a special treat!

 

As you are out and about, start looking...Hexies are EVERYWHERE!! So fun! We Quilter's are not the only ones Hooked On Hexies!! Have these shapes always been used in marketing and TV or am I just now noticing??

I'm sewing on some Hexies today trying to finish up the little Candy Stripes small quilt I started a while back. (Like a YEAR ago!) This little quilt keeps getting pushed to the back of the line when it comes to stitching order. But it's so cute, I thought I'd bring it front and center in stitching order to get this little gem done.

I have made up kits for the Dallas Show in a few weeks. Some are red and ivory and some a blue and ivory. If you happen to fall in love with this little gem, send me a note and I'll give you pricing info. This little Candy Stripes Quilt is about 12" Square. Just big enough for a little mini quilt or table topper! Of course, you could always add more to it and make it any size you want.

This little quilt pattern explains my starch basting process and is a good starter if you want to learn my way using the Finger Stiletto and Starch Brush found on my website. It's just another little addition to my starter kits to learn the method. Quick and simple, not counting all the time it sat in my "to do" pile! Haha!

Notice I don't keep the papers in while sewing Hexies together. I keep my finger nail very close to the edges and this helps me to take tiny bites in the fabric, keeping the stitches hidden from the front.

This picture shows how I "bind" the edges, which really isn't a binding, but just a pretty old fashioned finish. After the top is completed, I lay more Hexies around the edges, right sides together and sew all around the edges, attaching the new pieces together at their side seams so they will lay flat. When they are sewn all around the edges, I'll just flip them to the back side. You can see those pieces lifted slightly in the picture below. While looking at the backside, see how wonderful those seams look? That Starch keeps things nice and neat!

 

When all of the "binding" pieces are sewn in and flipped to the back, I'll slip in the batting and backing, appliqué the edges of that binding down and quilt a simple design!

I wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you who have been purchasing the kits for Colors Of Coxcomb which is in the current Spring 2015 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine. It's been overwhelming and I'm so grateful that so many of you like this little wool or punched design! Thank you, thank you!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Take Care,

Missie, PS- I've added a new tip to the Gardens Of A King Tab

 

 

Visit my web store www.TraditionalPrimitives.com

Back Home!

The trip to Garland was wonderful! The Garland Guild has a great thing going with a full room of quilt loving women chatting, laughing and enjoying the fellowship that comes with a guild. If you are a resident of North Dallas, be sure to check out this guild. They really have a good time together. The workshops went well at the two stores I visited, Sew Let's Quilt It and Happiness Is Quilting. Such sweet ladies all around!

 

Patty at Sew Let's Quilt It gave me a demo of her computerized quilting machine. Wow! Are those nice! It was very cool to see how it works and how they get each block measured and quilted. She has some beautiful samples hanging in her store and has custom quilted them using her fancy machine. I was a bit jealous! The workshop for the Zebra Wallhanging was great. So fun to see students squeal with delight as they sew those first two blocks together and they discover the process really is worry free!

Happiness Is Quilting had me for two days and I so enjoyed watching them work and interact with customers. The store is beautiful with lots of samples and a little bit of something for everyone from modern to reproduction, Dutch florals, Punchneedle, machines And just about any notion you could want!

 

Darling pink walls with beautiful samples!

One of my hostesses for an evening showed me her lovely seeing studio! Oh, to have a place as beautiful as this room would be so wonderful...maybe some day....

First of all...it was Clean and Organized, secondly it was a perfect size, and lastly it was decorated perfectly with many of her favorite things! This is just one corner of this great space.

And here' s a nice close up of some of her lovely trinkets!

Now that I'm home, I'm doing my best to get my room organized. No space for many trinkets and pretties, but at least I do have my own space to be creative in and that I'm grateful for.

Once I got my sewing room a bit cleaned up, I had to mess it up again with a little wool. Can't stay clean for long, I must admit! Since about half way through making "George"...the Gardens Of A King, I wanted to try it in wool. Well...it worked just great! Below you can see my first block with wool appliqué on cottons...went together in an afternoon full of visiting and stitching! Very quick and easy!

I also did a little rug punching...so relaxing and rewarding because it's so quick to do! I'm in search of a new background color. This one isn't quite right....uh oh! Another reason to buy wool! Recently, I made a purchase of a new blade for my rusty old cutter. It should cut like butter the next time I need to cut strips. Should be exciting!! ( Why is it so exciting to cut wool strips? Am I crazy?!? LOL!).

Have a wonderful week!

Take care,

Missie

 

Visit my web store www.TraditionalPrimitives.com

The Gardens Of A King is 100% Done!

The quilting on this quilt really had me stumped! I've been pondering how to quilt it for quite a while. You remember back in October I had quilted the center and wasn't happy with the thick batting, so before I added the borders, I unquilted it! That was lots of work, but needed to be done.

 

To an advanced quilter, this quilt has great "negative space" to fill, but to a beginner custom quilter, I just couldn't see anything but simple shapes. In the coming months I will be teaching a BOM on this quilt and plan to make another. Maybe by the time I quilt it, I will be an improved negative space quilter!

You can see the quilting's not perfect, but I am happy with it and will improve on the next quilt I get quilted.

See that striped fabric under the outer sharks tooth border? That is a scrap of fabric used to help me while quilting. My foot tends to catch on lofty battings so I lay strips of scrap fabric just under the edge of the quilt edge and baste them in place as I baste the edges of the quilt before quilting the center. After the quilting is finished, I cut off this strip of fabric as I trim the outer edge. Any leftovers that have been sewn in stay there and become part of the batting inside the binding. I do my best to keep this extra fabric 1/4" inside the edge so it does not extend into the body of the quilt and show through light fabric.

When folks see my quilting machine, they often ask what kind I have. This is a Bailey Home Quilter 17" mid arm. It's mounted on a Hinterburg frame...nothing fancy at all, but efficient for what I need and it makes a beautiful stitch.

Last night was my trunk show for the Garland, TX guild. These ladies have such an active group!! One activity I was impressed with is that those interested can participate in a BOM exchange. Each month they get block instructions for the blocks that will be brought the following month. When they bring the finished block their name goes in the hat for a drawing to win the blocks. They had enough blocks for 3 drawings of 17 blocks each last night! How wonderful is that!!! They had several other programs and this guild has lots of participation in their activities!! They laughed and chatted and had good food. Wish I lived closer and could visit and stitch with them more often!!

Today I'm teaching the Wild Zebra cutaway appliqué technique to create a difficult looking quilt with ease. The class is at Sew Let's Quilt It in Dallas.

Tomorrow Punchneedle Mini Quilt and Friday Wool Appliqué at Happiness is Quilting in McKinney.

If you are nearby and want to join in, call the stores listed above and join in the fun!

Saturday is the English Paper Piecing workshop where I will teach all sorts of English Paper Piecing tips and techniques, including my favorite way to baste for English Paper Piecing using starch.

Thanks to the Garland Guild for inviting me to join you this week!

Take care,

Missie

 

 

 

 

 

Visit my web store www.TraditionalPrimitives.com