If everything is going well, then I am gazing over the fjords of Alaska while stitching away on my new hex-snake quilt. I finished one orange set in car, but made sure to go through all the orange scraps and use my new die to cut as many sets of four as I had varieties of orange. So hopefully I will come back with a few nice oranges to start a new row. I am not sure whether I will sew the rows together or keep them in pairs for now for portability. The plan is to have a row of each color with the intertwined light and darks. It feels strange to be working with such large shapes after the last hex-diamond quilt, but this is the more standard size I think with 1 inch sides.
I cut up all of my school junk mail to make the hexies and it felt great to clear out a bunch of stuff while still making something useful. I use cardstock weight papers and then sew through the fabric but not the paper. I put a hole punch in each hexie and then will use a chopstick or crochet hook to pop out the paper after the blocks are all sewn together. The die cuts a slightly smaller seam allowance than I would leave if I were cutting the fabric by hand, but it sure is quick and easy for tackling a big stack of scraps. I did find a couple of forgotten papers in the last hexie quilt as I was doing the hand quilting, it was smaller hexies with bigger seam allowances, so the papers weren't easy to see. I don't think that will be a problem this time. These papers would be hard to miss! I was watching Last Homely House on You tube and she uses lighter weight paper and sews through both the paper and fabric. There are so many ways to do English Paper piecing and none of them is wrong. I used to use glue basting, but I really hated trying to get the papers out after, so this way works best for me. I hope that your oranges are coming along well. I should be back from my trip any day now and will check in then with updates on the new color for July. Next Saturday is still an orange day, but I will try to post the new color a bit early as I know not everyone is overflowing on orange. This is also a good month to catch up if you got too busy in any of the earlier months. I know my greens could use a bit more attention. It is my second most abundant shade after blue.
8 comments:
I did my hexi quilt with the same method as you. Your seam allowance looks very narrow, the papers might pop out by themselves. I happened to me. Hope your trip is amazing. ;^)
I hope you're having a blast on your Alaska trip, Angela! The new hexie design is really fun - perfect for travel stitching if you have a moment. Hope you'll share a few photos of the Alaska sights after you get home!
The new hexies are great! Have fun in Alaska!
Looking forward to hearing all about your Alaska trip and seeing what color you choose for July!
I hope you enjoy your Alaskan trip The scenery is beautiful. . .even on cloudy days!
Enjoy Alaska! Great progress on your hexie snakes. I use junk mail as well.
Hope your vacation trip was full of fun and relaxation. I've been working on red and green as I got done with my oranges pretty early in the month.
I imagine you getting many hexies basted during your trip to Alaska. You should be having close to 24 hours of daylight. Enjoy your vacation!
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