English Paper Piecing Hexies

My best friend from high school, Margie, asked me about the Hexies I had posted a few years ago.  (see "Two Years Ago" dated 11/15/14)  She wanted to know how they were made.  I told her English Paper Piecing.  

Diagram 1

I've made 3 different sizes of hexies.  (Diagram 1) The smallest flower here is made out of 1/4" hexies, the middle one is 3/8" and the largest one is made out of 1/2" hexies.  I've only made one of the 1/4" ones; as much I LOVE little things, even those were too small for me!  At the time I made these I had no clue what I was going to do with them.   Since then I've made so many, I haven't counted.  Working on an idea for a very long narrow wall hanging.

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

English Paper Piecing is done with card stock weight templates that you wrap your fabric around.  There are many different shapes (not just hexies) you can buy or make yourself.   In Diagram 2 you can see several different sizes.  They're measured by the length of one side.  I can't find my bag of the 1/4" hexies.  The one on the bottom of the ruler is 3/8"  the others, are from left to right, 1", 3/4" and 1/2".  In Diagram 3  you can see a Hexie punch that makes 1/2" hexies.  It's the smallest punch I could find.   I used index cards to punch them out.  My friend, Selma, saves the postcards you get inside magazines and uses those to punch hers out.   I've purchased the 3/8" ones a Cotton and Chocolate Quilt shop; most stores carry them.  The good thing, is once you've attached enough together, you can pull them out and reuse them.

Diagram 4

There a couple of ways to keep the fabric wrapped around the templates.  Diagram 4 shows that I've "basted" the fabric around one of the pink templates using black thread so you can see it.  Fold one edge over and then the next counter clockwise.  I take one stitch and then move my needle over to the next folded down fabric and take a stitch and keep going around the hexie.  This turned out to be very time consuming.

Diagram 5

Diagram 6 

After watching a demonstration at the C & C booth at PIQF, I saw how to do it with basting glue.  I use Sewline glue stick.  (Diagram 5) The reason I like it is that the glue comes out blue so you can see where it is.  It dries clear and washes out.  When using the glue you need to be careful not to get it on the template but only on the fabric.  Again I start with folding one edge over and put a dab of glue before folding down the next edge, working around the hexie.  I work around the hexie in a counter clockwise direction.  (Diagram 6)  shows, the six green hexies in stages of being glued down, starting at the top and working clockwise.  REMEMBER, don't get the glue on the template or you won't be able to remove it!

Diagram 7

Diagram 8

Next you're going to want to attach one hexie to the next.  Not sure if you can see in Diagram 7 (another picture at the end may be clearer) that I've joined the brown hexie to the pink one using a whip stitch.  I used white thread in hopes that it would be more visible.  You want to catch just the fabric on the edge of the template but not pierce the template itself.  With hexies, once one side is sewn, I like to make a slip knot before going on to the next edge.  In Diagram 8, I've bent the pink hexie in half so that I can line up the next side 

Diagram 9

of the brown hexie to the next pink one.  Diagram 9 shows the two lower edges of the right brown hexie has been attached to two of the pink hexies.  

Hope my explanation has made sense.  Like I said at the beginning, I'm working on a very long wall hanging.  I'll show you later, when it's finished.  But because it is so very long, I've been piecing it in parts.  (Diagram 10)

Diagram 10

The hexie in the middle white row second from the right, has it's paper template removed.  It will lay flat again once the entire piece is quilted.

Whip stitching 2 hexies together
(Diagram 7a)