Scrappy Hexagons

Have any of you been making hexagons? I finally made some progress on mine. This sew along has been ongoing for awhile as I've gotten distracted by so many other things. I know some of you can appreciate how slow I am. It's never too difficult to keep up with me while I  finish my projects! I AM making progress on my Dear Jane triangles (only 8 left!) and a few other large quilts that have been sitting around.  Little by little  . . . 

I decided to make my quilt a little different and more scrappy this time. These hexagon flowers were so much fun to make. The original quilt is from my old book The Civil War Sewing Circle.

All of my scrappy hexies were then hand appliqued onto light background squares and the squares sewn together last month. I have to say I struggled a bit with the border. More than usual. It always takes me awhile to decide. I go back and forth for days, trying all different fabrics until one really hits me. At first I leaned toward red . . . maybe with blue corners. But brown gave it more of an antique look . . . Decisions, decisions. I'd forgotten how much fun it was to make this little quilt.

Eventually, I listened to my gut and went with a soft brown for a more antique look. But I just couldn't let go of the red so I used it for the inner border to frame the blocks. This is a good lesson if you're making a quilt with scrappy or busy blocks such as these - use an inner border to frame and separate the blocks from the outer border so they don't get lost in the scrappiness. If I had used the red borders I brought out first they would have dominated the quilt more than the hexies. I put a lot of work into hand sewing those and wanted them to shine. The brown border sure helped with that, don't you think?

 Ready to go. I'll post a better photo after I quilt it. In case any of you are interested - I pin baste, do not use a hoop, use Quilter's Dream Request batting, YLI quilting thread in Light Brown and right now am using a Richard Hemming large eye needle, size 9.  But I've been known to use a sharper needle (or a Gold'n Glide needle by John James) if stitching through the layers is difficult or my hands are feeling a little stiff. Try various types of needles until you get a feel for the one that's right for you. Remember that sometimes a longer, sharper needle will work just fine if you can't use a small "between" needle. Or, if you're just starting out hand quilting. The sharper needle will be easier to push through some fabrics. (This is a good reason to not use starch on your blocks and try a very low-loft cotton batting. Polyester will make your quilt puffy.)

Always good to keep those needles organized!