Holey Moley, "Small Things" are hexie-licious perfection!

Have you tried fussy cutting?

On a recent visit to Front Porch Quilt Shoppe (Ozark, AL), I purchased fabric from a Lewis & Irene collection called Small Things Pets. Holey moley hexie-licious, Batman! These prints are fabulous for English Paper piecing [EPP] and fussy cutting!

Six-inch EPP hexagons and Small Things Pets fabric from Lewis & Irene.

Lewis & Irene Small Things fabric collections
Did you know that every year, Lewis & Irene releases two "Small Things" fabric collections? 

Yep, one in the Spring/Summer and another in Fall/Winter. My latest fabric acquisition are prints from the collection called Small Things Pets. I got a fat quarter of the dogs, cats and birds... but there are rabbits, guinea pigs and turtles, too!

Block 5 Caroline: fussy cuts from Small Things Pets [Lewis & Irene].

Patterns, paper pieces and helpful tools

My EPP blocks are 6" hexagons from The New Hexagon book by the queen of contemporary EPP, Katja Marek. Or look for her latest book, The New Hexagon 2. 

The paper pieces that comprise these 6-inch blocks are 1" hexagons and companion shapes from Paper Pieces. You'll also want to get the acrylic fussy cut finder templates for previewing images for your fussy cuts. Using precision-cut papers and acrylic templates makes the piecing more successful and the process more enjoyable for you! 

(Besides, do you really want to spend your time measuring and cutting geometric shapes from card stock... that may or may not fit together properly... or have fun with the fabric? I know my answer.)

Block 13 Judy: fussy cuts from Small Things Pets [Lewis & Irene]. 
Glow-the-dark stars fabric from Light Years [Lewis & Irene].

Create a story to go with the fabric images 
I finished this block yesterday... pulling fabrics from Lewis & Irene collections Whatever the Weather (squirrels and mushrooms), Light Years (shooting star) and blenders from Suede [P&B Textiles] and Canvas [Northcott]. Two squirrels play and chase each other amidst the mushrooms. A shooting star streaks across the sky. 

You could combine various images in your patchwork to tell a story. You could create a whole English paper pieced scene with these little cut-outs!

Squirrels chasing each other through the mushroom patch.

In addition to the Small Things collections, many other fabrics from Lewis & Irene lines have smaller scale images that are conducive for EPP and patchwork. 

The bird in the center of this block is from The Hedgerow.

Block 48 Jeannie from The New Hexagon book.

Wooly socks, mittens and snowmen are from Whatever the Weather.

Fussy cut images from Whatever the Weather fabric collection.

The bunnies from The Water Meadow await the next EPP block.

Fussy cut hexagons.

Small Things Crafts coming soon!
Now that you know the possibilities for small things, be on the lookout for the next Small Things collection—Small Things Crafts—coming to quilt shops this September. There are images for quilters, sewers, knitters, painters and all kinds of crafters and makers.

So, don't stress the "small things"... make holes and use them in your next fussy cutting project!

Fussy cut images from The Water Meadow fabric.

Fussy cutting Australian aboriginal prints for EPP

The Dreamtime aboriginal designs from M&S Textiles are full of graphic symbols, geometric textures and organic shapes. I was recently discussing the possibilities for these Australian fabrics with Jennifer, the owner of  Busy Lady Quilt Shop, and she reminded me that they would be ideal for fussy cutting English paper piecing [EPP] shapes. She is so right!

M&S Textiles aboriginal Australian fabric designs.

A few years ago, some rep friends and I were on the EPP bandwagon when Paper Pieces launched the Glorious Hexagons stitch-along using Katja Marek’s "The New Hexagon" book. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of the EPP technique for these fabrics sooner... because it's perfect.

English paper pieced hexagon blocks.

So, I’m rekindling my relationship with this slow stitching technique—English paper piecing—using fabrics with aboriginal designs. The acrylic templates from Paper Pieces make fussy cutting motifs easy and accurate.

Fussy cutting swirl motifs using an acrylic template and rotary cutter.

Paper Pieces now offers the acrylics with 3/8" or 1/4" seam allowances built in. (My preference is still the 3/8" inch.)

English paper piecing with aboriginal fabrics from M&S Textiles.

The diamond shaped papers I'm using here are 1-3/4 inch card stock papers (also from Paper Pieces.) This shape can be combined to make hexagons, stars, the Tumbling Block and other designs. My 8 must-have tools for English paper piecing are detailed in this blog post.

Shapes ready for hand piecing.

If you need a portable, take-along project, EPP is the answer. Thanks for the insight and reminder, Jennifer! Can't wait to see what you make with the Australian fabrics that are coming to your shop.

English paper piecing [EPP] is very portable.

Must Stitch, Paper Pieces, two must-sees for quilters traveling to Paducah

If you are a quilter, stitcher or maker, there are two stops you should make on your next trip to Paducah—Quilt City, USA—Kentucky. The first one is Must Stitch Emporium located on cobblestoned historic Market Square.

Must Stitch Emporium on Market Square in historic Paducah, KY.

Must Stitch Emporium is nestled among the shops, galleries and the theatre center on tree-lined Market Square in historic Lower Town Paducah, and just three blocks from the National Quilt Museum. The shop occupies two adjacent shotgun style spaces with exposed brick walls that provide an inviting backdrop for the colorful quilts, fabrics, threads and displays. Shop owners, Chris and Josh, are stocking the shelves with a selection of modern, classic and traditional fabric prints in today's on-trend color palettes. As can be seen in the pieced and appliqué samples throughout the shop, there are plenty of options to fulfill your quilting and stitching desires whether you lean toward modern or traditional, classic or whimsical—or if you do it all!

Another focus at Must Stitch is counted cross stitch and hand stitching. An impressive array of hand-dyed flosses and threads from Gentle Art, Classic Colorworks, DMC and Weeks Dye Works is available in the shop. So, if you're "in" to any kind of hand stitching, big stitch, embroidery, thread embellishment or canvas work, you'll have plenty of eye candy to choose from and to inspire you to get out your hand stitching needles.

From left: Josh, Chris and Denise at Must Stitch Emporium, Paducah, KY.

The shop has been only open for a short time this summer so the expansion plans [combining the two spaces which previously housed two different businesses] are still in progress. A bricked-up archway will be opened to allow indoor traffic flow between the two spaces and make way for a large classroom space and dedicated cross stitch area for supplies, notions and patterns. It is exciting to hear about what Chris and Josh have in store for Must Stitch. So on your next visit to Paducah, Must Stitch is a must-see!
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Another gotta-stop-at place for quilters visiting Paducah is a favorite of mine, Paper Pieces—aka The Hexie House. I recently stopped in on Jess and JoAnne, the owners, to get the latest hexie news and peruse the EPP [English paper piecing] products and tools.

Paper Pieces (aka The Hexie House), Paducah, KY.

I had a few of my Glorious Hexagons blocks, so Jess and I did a mutual Show and Tell. She also mentioned that the entire crew at Paper Pieces is working on a new quilt-along that they hope to announce in a few months. Wait until you see what they've got cooking (piecing)! It's gonna be an interesting juxtaposition of history-meets-modern-meets-English Paper Piecing. If you enjoy EPP or the slow stitching movement or are intrigued by quilt history, you won't want to miss Paper Pieces' next program offering!

Hexie Update: Mixing snowmen with blenders and solids

I am in awe of those EPP-ers [English paper piecers] who are tackling the 1-hexie-block-a-day in Katja Marek's and Paper Pieces' Glorious Hexagons quilt-along. They must have a stack of over 200 by now! For me, these 4 hexagons have joined the ranks of my GH collection for a total of 64.

#5 Caroline (modified) with Splash spring and Eclipse jet.

On a good note, I'm getting a lot of milage out of the snowmen print from Sharla Fultz's Winter Bliss collection... using the snowmen as the focal point and flushing out the blocks with blenders and a black solid.

#35 Sharon with Splash spring.

My winter and holiday themed hexagons are piling up. Perhaps an actual project is on the horizon—a runner or table topper? Pearl Grid (shown here) in light gray is a background option... cool, icy, sleek.

#6 Delores with Eclipse turkey red solid.

However, the kelly green stars blender is another possibility... warm, cozy, familiar.

#4 Lorraine with Eclipse jet.

Possibilities...

Snowmen and snowflake hexagons.

The New Hexagon book is getting a lot of use... as all good books should. What's one of your most-referenced quilting books?

"The New Hexagon" by Katja Marek.

5 tips for organizing your Glorious Hexagons

Numbered tabs make it easy to find the correct page.

We're into month #5 of the Glorious Hexagons Quilt Along from Paper Pieces and there has been loads of hexie inspiration over at the Q-bies and other Facebook groups. Have you caught the hexie wave yet?

With each month comes a new packet of paper template of various shapes and sizes. It can be overwhelming! Here are some tips that help me stay organized.

1. I use Post-It notes to create tabs in my guide book, The New Hexagon book by Katja Marek. Numbers on the Post-Its correspond with the blocks that will be made with the paper pieces for the month. These tabs help me quickly flip to the page with the hexagon pattern. (BTW, when Katja signed my book—with the numbered Post-it tabs protruding from the pages—she remarked that this was a cool idea.)

2. Most quilters have several projects going all the time—each in a different stage. The same situation applies to my hexagons.
      Sometimes I like to fussy cut the fabric.
      Sometimes I am basting the pieces.
      Sometimes, assembling blocks.
To keep the pieces organized, I use clear, plastic zip-lock sandwich baggies.

Plastic sandwich bags keep hexie bits organized.

A baggie might contain a bunch of fussy cut fabric pieces, ready for basting.

A baggie of fussy cut fabric pieces.

Or it can contain all the bits for a single block... like this #47 Janet block made with a fabric line called Cheeky Pumpkins.

Diamond and triangle bits for #47 Janet block.

Here's a baggie with butterflies and kitty hexagons for a #13 Judy block.

Butterflies and a kitty cat for #13 Judy block.

Or a baggie can contain a single shape—like 1" hexagons, or diamonds—that are in the basting stages.

Paper pieces, fussy-cut fabrics and basted hexie bits.

3. I have one larger zip-lock bag with my hexie making tools: a spool of basting thread, my 80 wt. bobbins of Decobob Thread for hand piecing, a pencil, scissors and thread conditioner. See my post, "8 essential tools for English paper piecing" for details.

Tools for making hexagons.

A second large plastic bag holds my completed hexagons.

Completed hexagons.

4. Keep all your Glorious Hexagon acrylic templates in the plastic zippered pouch they came in! In other words, "put your toys back where you found them!" as your mother used to say. Why? Because the acrylic templates are clear and difficult to locate if you toss them in the baggies with your fabric pieces or your works-in-progress. And when you have multiple blocks that require the same template... you think you can easily and quickly lay your hands on the baggie it's in? Not! So don't think you'll save yourself some time. (And don't ask me how I know this.) 

Just put all the acrylics back into the original bag. You get the gist... (And, yes, your mom was right!)

Keep acrylic templates together in their plastic bag.

5. And finally, a canvas tote bag keeps all the large and small plastic baggies together for easy grab-and-go.

You can't have too many tote bags.

Do you have tips for keeping organized on your Glorious Hexagon journey? Leave me a Comment. I'd like to hear your ideas!

Glorious Hexagons Quilt Along—using a color board

We're having fun with EPP (English Paper Piecing) hexagon blocks in the Glorious Hexagons Quilt Along and posting and sharing pictures. Initially, I was piecing hexagons with random fabrics from various fabric companies just to get into the swing of the program and the technique. This "hexing with abandon" method can be crazy-fun, however, if you're looking for a more cohesive, unified look, you might consider creating and working with a color board.

Color board of cool colors; primarily blues and greens.

A tip that JoAnne at Paper Pieces suggested before I started the Glorious Hexagon Quilt Along, was to pull two or three "inspiration fabrics"—in essence, a color board—from which to base color and fabric choices. Most focal prints from a fabric collection are great choices for this. Above is a cool color board and below is a warm color board.

Color board of warm colors: yellows, oranges, reds.

From these main fabrics, you can add the supporting cast of coordinating prints and blenders. Here is how I flushed out these two color boards with other fabrics.

In the first, more blues and greens were added... light and dark... and a white to add a coolness and a sparkle... also a yellow-orange/cheddar-colored fabric to add a little zing (orange is the complement of blue).

Ensemble of fabrics for the blue/green color palette.

When choosing other ensemble members for your color board, remember the Elements of Design: value, texture and color; and the Principles of Design: scale, variety, contrast and repetition. This will make your color board interesting yet cohesive. Below is the warm color palette.

Ensemble of fabrics for the warm color palette.

Here is another color board that is grounded in grays (white, black and grays) with accents of rich, bright jewel tones.

Whites, grays and blacks highlighted with bright colors.

Blender fabrics do a great job giving breadth and depth to this grayscale color board.

Adding interest and extending the color range with tonal blenders.

Hexagon block #19 Nicole illustrates the use of the red, blue and green tonal blenders with black/white prints.

#19 Nicole block from "The New Hexagon" book and Glorious Hexagons.

For another take on the concept of color boards, here is a video of Nathan Turner for Pottery Barn, creating and working with a mood board. It's just a matter of starting with things you like and auditioning additions so everything goes together.

As a fabric collection is built around a main fabric or focus print, a color board provides a roadmap for choosing other fabrics and coordinates. So, you might try orchestrating your Glorious Hexagon symphony around a color board to help with the fabric decision-making process. If you like the "Hexie with Abandon" approach, then have fun with the process and see where your hexagons take you. Nothing wrong with either path!

8 essential tools for English paper piecing your Glorious Hexagons

Including my latest Yuki dog hexagon block, I've completed 30 blocks thus far in the Glorious Hexagons Quilt-along. These EPP [English paper pieced] polygons are very portable—whether you travel from city to city or from your quilting room to the living room. I carry my equipment, completed blocks and partial block bits in a small tote bag. So what's in the bag, you ask?

30 English paper pieced "Glorious Hexagons"

My 8 Gotta-Haves in the EPP Quilt-along Tool Bag:
1) THE Book. (Pronounced "thee," with a capital "B" in book). You need Katja Marek's The New Hexagon book because the numbered blocks in the book are referenced in the monthly paper piecing kits. The book also has instructions for English paper piecing along with a few more hexie projects (should you desire more).

"The New Hexagon" book by Katja Marek.

2) Hand sewing needles. The EPP experts at Paper Pieces recommend a #10 sharp or #10 straw needle for piecing the hexagons. These needles have small round eyes and nice sharp points. They easily pierce and glide through fabric (and the paper, if you use that method). The shaft is uniform in size with the straw needles being slightly longer by comparison. If you prefer a different size needle, remember the bigger the number, the finer and shorter the needle. A handy Guide to Hand Sewing Needles can be found on the John James web site here.

The Gotta-haves in my EPP Tool Bag: 1. The New Hexagon book, 2. needles,
3. thread and (optional) conditioner,  4. straight pins, 5. acrylic templates,
6. paper pieces, 7. scissors, 8. pencils.

3) Thread. I use a good quality 50 wt. cotton thread for basting the fabric around the paper templates. I use up the "just a little bit left" spools. However, my go-to thread for hand piecing the hexagon bits into finished blocks is Wonderfil's 80 wt. DecoBob. It is a strong, fine weight polyester thread with a matte finish. The best part is that your stitches are nearly invisible on the right side! I have a package of DecoBob pre-wound bobbins with lots of colors and change thread color depending on the color of the fabrics I'm piecing. Optional: Thread Magic is a thread condition that minimizes knots and tangles in your thread when hand sewing. I use this occasionally on the cotton basting thread, but haven't found I needed it with the DecoBob polyester. (Ask YLQS about Thread Magic.)

4) Straight pins. I prefer glass head silk dress-making straight pins for my quilting and sewing projects. The glass heads will not melt if the iron accidentally touches them. The "silk" identification equates to these pins being thin, smooth and sharp so they don't make big holes (in delicate fabrics like silk). They are strong and about 1-3/8" long. I have a lot of these so use them for EPP as well.

5) Paper templates. Get the monthly kits from Paper Pieces and all the work is done for you. Open the resealable plastic bag and start in on the fun part!

Selective cutting or "fussy cutting" multiple motifs from the fabric.

6) Acrylic templates. If you want to take your Glorious Hexagons to the apex of magnificence, you'll want to do some selective cutting (fussy cutting) of your fabrics. The New Hexagon 32-piece acrylic template set is a must-have to achieve excellence with this technique (and prevent bad words from coming out of your mouth). Each template has the 3/8" seam allowance built in, a white outline indicating the image area (the finished view of the piece), and a label indicating its shape, size and what it's used for (ie. 1-3/4" Equilateral Triangle, or 1-1/2" 6-point 60-degree Diamond).

Acrylic template for fussy cutting multiple shapes from fabric.

7) Scissors. For cutting fabric and thread. I use small embroidery scissors for cutting lengths of thread for piecing and larger fabric scissors for cutting the fabric pieces.

8) Pencil(s). For tracing around the acrylic templates to mark the cutting lines on your fabrics. If you have dark fabric, consider a white Prismacolor or a chalk marking pencil.

1 to 8. These are the essentials in my EPP Tool Bag. I'm ready to take my Glorious Hexagons on the road. What's in your bag?

My hexagons are glorious and scrappy

I've been EPP-ing (English Paper Piecing) my Glorious Hexagons, and it's becoming quite addictive. Because of the possibilities this technique has to offer, I find myself looking at fabrics in a totally different way.

Progress with the "Glorious Hexagon Quilt Along"

I quilt by the philosophy, "Why use 5 when you can use 50?" and I also adore scrappy quilts. So for right now, I'm just enjoying the EPP process while using random fabrics from Blank Quilting and StudioE Fabrics. Here are a few of them.

From "By the Sea" by StudioE Fabrics.

"A Stitch in Time" and a Splash blender by Blank Quilting.

"Natural Wonders" and "By the Sea" by Elizabeth Isles from StudioE.

Shoes from "Lady Claire" and "Bonita" from Blank Quilting.

"Gentle Forest," Autumn Elegance" and "By the Sea" from StudioE.

Several friends and I are also posting photos of Glorious Hexies and other projects made with fabrics from Blank Quilting and StudioE on our Blank Quilting Q-bies and StudioE Fabrics Q-bies Facebook groups. Come over and join in the fun.