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Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Hex Horse #2

I'm on my way with the 2nd Hex Horse piece!  I believe I have 99% of the hexes made.  These are 3/4" hexes, using paper templates.   I need the background to be at least 18-20" x 22-24" so that's why I think I have 99% of the pieces made..I may need a few more!  Who knows!
I wanted to start sewing the hexes together because I don't think my placement on the batting board would stay in place for the trip home!  So yesterday I figured out the best way to stitch the hexes together in rows.
I turned the piece and decided to start at the bottom, and, using a large pin, placed each hex in order. When I got to the 'top' hex, I marked which row it was so I can keep track of them!





Now it's a portable project, which I love!  I can take my box outside or work on while watching TV at night!  Although, I do find it a little dark to stitch...speaking of which....





When I sewed my first hex project (you can see that finished piece here), I always saw the hex pieces sewn together this way.  Right sides together and then slip stitch.  Easy, right.

This method does work but at times you can see the stitching on the front...not bad...and because I  stitch in the seams to quilt it, it's fine.  BUT....

I happened to find and start following The Scrapy Appleyard web site and saw her tutorial on sewing hexes.  Now, she does use plastic hex templates, which I don't like (I do have some I purchased but never have got the hang of using them...too hard to take out...slip in my hands, yada, yada!) but her tip on sewing the hex pieces together works great!




You hold the pieces side by side and stitch, using whip stitch.










You can barely see any stitching on the front!  I love this method.  If you're into sewing hexes, try this method.  It did seem awkward at first but you'll get the hang quickly.

So that's my current hand project.  I was going to start on the blue/orange patchwork piece but think I'll just keep working on this instead.  We only have 26 more days here (my grand daughter counted the days while we Face Timed today!) so I'll start to pack up some of my supplies...those 26 days will fly by!  But I'll still keep busy!!

1 comment:

  1. Informative tips....thanks Robbie at the construction look of this great new piece!

    ReplyDelete

Had to put Word Verification back in! Getting strange messages!!!