Five tips for hexie organization

You guys just loved the video tutorial last week on English Paper Piecing. Click here to watch it if you missed it. I haven’t gotten so many comments on a tutorial in a while. But there were a few questions too, so I am going to do a party two blog post today with tips for organizing your hexies, collecting fabric and choosing a final setting.

Also, I heard from several of you who had trouble finding the 1-inch hexie templates I used in the video. So I put in an order with the company I got mine from and they are now available in the Quilt Addicts Anonymous shop. You can get a pack of hexies, the Sewline Glue Pen, or an English Paper Piecing Starter Kit that has both. Just click here to see the hexie-making supplies.

Now onto the organization tips!

Buy fat quarters in sets of two coordinating prints

One fat quarter will yield 56, 2 1/2-inch squares. You can split those up into three sets of six hexies and three sets of twelve hexies. When you put those together, you will end up with six flowers from two fat quarters.

I typically buy a dark and a light in the same color family. For example, if i find a light blue that I like, then I find a dark blue that works with it to go in the same flower.

I am making my hexies in the traditional 1930 reproduction fabrics. So I am only using yellow for the center hexie and I have not used any green yet. I will save that for when I connect the flowers at the end.

Find a container that is just for your hexies

I have a super cute basket to keep all my flowers and hexie supplies in. But a plastic sweater tub would work too. I chose one that is large enough to fit my finished grandmother’s flower garden pieces in along with some uncut fat quarters and all of the 2 1/2-inch squares.

This is a marathon project not something you’re going to finish in a weekend. You can to have a place to keep everything while you work on all your hexies. You want to make sure the container you choose is large enough to keep all your finished hexies flat so they don’t have creases when you finally put them all together.

Save time and be adorable by basting the hexies all at once

If you have a boatload of free time on your hands you can baste all your hexies at once and store them in an adorable container like Mommy by day Crafter by Night. They look so cute all lines up by color.

Get a to-go container

Pencil boxes like the ones you had in school work great. I also found this Super Stacker box at JoAnn’s. They come in multiple colors and are just big enough to hold your hexies, scissors, thimble and thread, but small enough to fit easily in your purse. Plus there are clamps on the side to keep everything from falling out all over your bag.

Search Pinterest for layout options

Pinterest is a treasure trove for quilting ideas. I typed in “grandmother’s flower garden quilt” and seconds later there are dozens of quilt setting ideas from traditional to modern interpretations of this pattern.

I just love how one pattern can look so different by changing up a few parts.