Hexies

Back in June, I posted about a project that I was starting for my Creative Group….part of one of our challenges….post is here.

My first hurdle was figuring out what fabrics I wanted to use.   The first thought was to use florals

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But while I was looking for other ideas, I cam across two large Ziploc bags full of fabric that had been marbled….MANY years ago.

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I pulled out these fabrics and started cutting hexies.   I wanted to be able to place the hexagon pattern exactly so I developed my own method.   First I cut out a pattern for the hexagon and placed it on my fabric…..

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I then put the hexagon pattern back into the opening…..

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Remove the outside paper and have the hexagon in just the right spot to cut out the fabric…..

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So, I started making hexagons and placing them on my portable design wall…..

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It looked ok, but there just wasn’t any focus for the piece.   The three white blocks were going to be open, but it still didn’t float my boat.  

I was talking to another quilter friend and said that I might add some beads to it to spice it up a bit and then it hit me…..why not make the beads be the focus???

So, I started making more hexagons and adding more open spaces.   The resulting piece looked like this…..

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I knew that I needed to add some stability to the top, so first sprayed the entire piece with starch and gave it a good pressing.  Then I removed the basting stitches and started removing the papers.   I was afraid that it was going to be hard to do, but found that when I stuck my seam ripper into the paper, it would pop right out…..

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I fused a piece of fabric to the back and then added a layer of fusible batting and then started adding beads.

Most of this beading work was done while sitting in the main room at Snowbird.   When I would look up, this is what I would see…..

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I had fun trying to think of ways to compliment the fabrics with beads….DSC03337

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Then it was time to fill in the empty spaces.   I enjoyed using some beads that I bought in Italy and other miscellaneous pieces that I had on hand…..

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I have fused a backing fabric on but still need to do a bit of trimming up so that it doesn’t show from the front, but here is the final piece…..

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I am fairly happy with it as it made me try a new technique and enjoy using some of the bits and pieces that I had on hand or bought in our travels….a two-fer!!!

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