Little House Hexie Pouch

Whew!!! This summer has been a whirlwind! After traveling cross country and visiting 8 states over the summer we are FINALLY moved into our new home, the hubby started work today, and the oldest started kindergarten today. Lots of changes going on around our house! 

We are all unpacked but I am still in the organizing period of moving- but I thought I would take a minute from the craziness and come say hi! 

So "HI!" :)

I am super excited to start sewing again and share some fun projects I have in the works! The biggest project I am working on right now is organizing my sewing loft. I still can't believe that after sewing at my kitchen table for the past 4 years, I finally have a space to call "my studio"! Stay tuned for the progress! :) 

Alright... Before I went on our 85 day summer road trip adventure, I was trying to think of a project that I could work on while I was away from my sewing machine and on the road. Of course, I decided to continue to work on my ongoing WIP "Grandmother's Garden/ hexie quilt". I made a lot of progress on the quilt during the trip! I can not wait to finish it and put it on my daughters bed!

While working on the quilt this summer, I realized that I never got around to sharing a sweet little hexie pouch that I made a while back...

It was inspired by my Little House Needlebook and Little House Zipper Pouch. I just love a cute little patchwork house project. 

I used scraps I had laying around the scrap bin and created a pouch with pockets for hexies, a built-in needlebook, and a spot to keep a pair of scissors. 

Although it is a darling little pouch, it's not super practical... There are some things I would change if I made another. Since the pouch folds in half with no zipper around the edge, my stuff seems to fall out easily. I need to attach a ribbon to the scissor cover to tie the handle in place so those don't fall out as well. It also needs a string or ribbon to thread the spools onto to keep them in place. 

Ehh... gotta love it when a project doesn't quite work like you had imagined... But it couldn't be any cuter- so it just may find a home on display in my new sewing loft! ;)

Well the organizing is calling my name.. I had better get back to it, but now that I am home I will be getting back into my regular blogging routine! Hope to see y'all around! 

Happy sewing!!

xoxo, Ashley

Hexies.... A method to my madness!

Hexies (or hexagons) are probably one of my favorite sewing projects to work on right now. I think they are fun to put together- but I mainly love making them because I do not have to be tied to my sewing machine and can work on them anywhere! 

I first discovered them about 2 years ago when I came across one of my favorite blogs: nanaCompany. Aaaannddd... if you haven't been sucked into the hexie-ing world... you will soon be sucked in after checking out the darling little things that Amy makes with hexies. I stumbled across Tasha'sand Kerri's adorable blogs shortly after and they sealed the deal... I was set on learning how to do english paper piecing.

I learned how to make hexies by following this tutorial on Chasing Cottons and I was hooked from the get-go. I picked up some 1 1/2 hexagon papers from Paper Pieces and started using all of my favorite "cutesy" fabrics from my stash. I was determined to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt for my girls to share. I figured that to make the size quilt that I would like (full sized) I will need just over 1200 hexies! ha ha ha 

It's pure madness- I know!

I plan to use solid white hexagons around the patterned "flowers" to break up the colors and really set each flower apart. And... since it will all be completely hand pieced it just wouldn't seem right to quilt it with a machine- that would be preposterous! ;) I will probably be using pearl cottons when I hand quilt it.

I started working on it last October. Since then I have taken my hexies on 2 road trips and just try to work on them here and there. 

It is slow going, but I just love it and I am slowly building a stash of hexies to work with.

For a while, my hexies were kinda scattered and didn't have a specific place to be gathered, but a couple months ago, I came across a letterbox at Target and knew it would be perfect for my hexies.

So this is how I store them all now... It is handy when I am on the road too because everything I need can just sit right in my lap.

These are my favorite tools/items to make my hexies... 

Paper pieces: I get mine already precut from PaperPieces.com

Acrylic template: I like to use fabric that is shaped like a hexagon so that I can center my fabric and the paper to make sure I have enough seam allowance on all sides. Plus it is see through so I can fussy cut hexagons if I want. (I got mine at paperpieces.com and it allows for a 3/8 inch seam allowance)

large paper clip: to hold the fabric to the paper template while basting

John James needles: I really love this brand of needles for everything.

50 wt Aurifil thread: I love Aurifil thread and the 50 wt is the perfect weight for piecing my hexies together. I am using tan for piecing  the colored fabric and will probably switch to white when I work on the white hexies.

a spool of cheap contrasting colored thread: this is to use while making your hexies- you want a contrasting color so that you can see where to clip the threads once you have pieced your hexies together and need to remove your papers

I picked up this paper clip trick from Lori and it has saved my life!  The trick for me is not to push the paper clip all the way down because the sharp ends of the paper clip really tugs at the fabric when you pull it off- which is why I like using a large paper clip- I can push it halfway down and it still really holds the fabric in place and then it slips off easy when it's time to remove it.

This is what the front and back of my hexies look like when I am done. I like to stitch through my papers (just a personal preference) and I can still reuse my papers because I find that when I use them a second or third time I almost always stick the needle into the same exact hole that I had made the first time...

I know this project will be an endless work in progress, but it's kinda nice to have something to work on when I am watching a movie, or sitting at the park, or riding in the car places....

Happy Hexie-ing!!

Happy Hexagon Trivets

There are certain people that just inspire me with everything they make... Ayumi is one of them... 

When her book Patchwork, Please came out I knew that it was going to be awesome! I bought it knowing without a doubt that I would not be disappointed! Every project is darling in this book!

I was most excited about the Happy Hexagon Trivet... It is adorable! I knew it would make the perfect Mother's Day present for my mom.

To make the trivet you foundation paper piece the top. I love foundation paper piecing! Everything turns out PERFECT! I was so pleased with this project... I made a couple for my mom and one for my grandma . I think this will be my go-to housewarming gift for the future! It is simple but packs a big punch when you use up all your favorite scraps! :)

Another darling project in the book is this Prettified Pincushion... It is also foundation paper pieced. I knew it would be the perfect gift for my mom-in-law since she likes to sew as well. 

My hubby's grandma loves to drink tea so I figured that I would make her a "mug rug" for her tea cup... I made a mini version of the hexagon trivet by just printing it at 100% instead of enlarging it like that pattern calls for. 

You can see the difference in size... It was a cute tiny thing! :)

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I definitely recommend it to anyone that loves making pretty little things! Check out the Flickr pool for the book to see some of the things others have made by using patterns found in the book.