Rebecca Grace Quilting: And Then There Were Eight: More Hexie Rosettes for Stonefields Quilt Border

Greetings from the Land of the Ice and Snow, formerly the Carolinas! I've been making the most of my snow days, continuing with the hexie rosettes for my Stonefields Quilt borders. These little rosettes are addictive because they turn out so differently depending on the fabrics selected and how they are used in the rosettes. Two alternating fabrics for petals? Similar or contrasting? All petals the same fabric? Cut randomly, or "fussy cut" to capture a specific motif from the fabric print? Each little rosette has its own personality. So fun!

8 Hexie Rosettes Finished, 160 to Go

I am enjoying the hexie rosettes so much that I will probably be sad when I have enough for my quilt and stop making them. It will feel like right after you I've eaten the last Godiva truffle out of the box, and I really REALLY want just one more bite of chocolate but they are all gone... (Note to self: order Godiva truffles for Valentine's Day. Note to readers: This blog post will contain affiliate links).

I did manage to get out to my favorite local quilt shop with my friend Marybeth in between the ice storm and the snow storm, on the one afternoon when the roads were passable. Several of my neighbors timidly ventured out to stock up on groceries or to fill their prescriptions, but I know how to set PRIORITIES when there's a winter weather advisory. I drove past at least eight grocery stores on our way to the quilt shop.

This is what I came home with, just a few remnants and fat quarters to mix into my Stonefields quilt, and these Laura Heine SewTite magnets for securing that last hexagon as I'm hand stitching those rosettes:

New "Scraps" for Stonefields and Smaller SewTite Magnets for EPP

Of course I had to test out my new Laura Heine SewTite magnets right away. The verdict? I still prefer to use the Wonder Clips when I'm stitching near enough to the edge of the project, but this single magnet SewTite works better than either the double magnet bar SewTite Mini or the Wonder Clip, because these new magnets can tightly secure the hexies together right in the center where there is no seam allowance. I thought they were obnoxiously overpriced at $36 for a set of four at my LQS, but I sucked it up and bought them anyway because without them, I wasn't going to meet the minimum amount to pay with a credit card and I never use cash anymore. Surprise surprise when I got home and looked them up online -- an Amazon seller has them here for $41! I did also find the SewTites Dots 5-pack for sale at Fat Quarter Shop for a more reasonable $27.99, but I'm (grudgingly) glad to have supported my local quilt shop. Sometimes it's better to pay more for something and get it immediately. Anyway, I'm pleased with how the smaller SewTite magnet works for me. Here you can see the new magnet gizmo in action:

Smaller Metal Disk on the Side Nearest Me

I prefer to place the smaller metal disk on the side of the work nearest me, so there's nothing my thread can get caught up on.

Big Plastic Flower On Back Side

The magnet is actually in the larger blob shape that is supposed to be a flower. I like to put that on the back side.

My View As I'm Stitching

See how the SewTite magnet makes a tight little hexie sandwich? Nothing is shifting anywhere while I'm stitching those edges together.

In other related news, my AccuQuilt 1" EPP Qube set arrived and I am DELIGHTED with it! At the clearance price of $120 (marked down from $540), this is an excellent deal even though I have no intention of ever using the paper cutting dies and the fabric cutting dies in the same project. After reading the product reviews, I decided that AccuQuilt is discontinuing this die set because many, MANY customers were unhappy that the fabric cutting dies in this set only allow for 1/4" seam allowances, whereas 3/8" seam allowances are preferred for hand stitching EPP. I took a gamble that the die cut fabric hexagons that were a little too small for 1" paper templates would just be a little bit bigger than what I had been cutting by hand for my 3/4" hexies, and the gamble paid off. I think all of the fabric dies in this set will work beautifully with commercially available EPP templates with either 3/4" or 7/8" sides. The paper cutting dies will cut paper template shapes with exactly 1" sides, so those dies could be used for other projects.

Purple Hexie Hand Cut with 3/8 Seam Allowance, Floral Print Was Die Cut

I think it's easier to work with slightly larger seam allowances versus too skimpy ones for English Paper Piecing, but your mileage may vary. Using the AccuQuilt EPP Hexie die, I can cut 12-16 hexies in one pass, perfect for solid or small print fabrics that don't merit fussy cutting.

Here's another Amazon purchase. I had to throw out my Odif Grippy spray when I moved because the moving company said blah blah blah, highly flammable, blah blah truck will explode, blah blah blah. Sounds like a load of baloney to me, because when I order it from Amazon THEY put it on a truck and I saw no exploding trucks in my neighborhood the day they delivered the package. This Grippy stuff is wonderful -- just spray some on the back of an acrylic cutting template and it prevents the template from sliding on your fabric mid-cut, especially with curved shapes. I first used it when I was rotary cutting giant clamshells for this quilt, then used it again on my Halo Quilt cutting templates, and now I've sprayed it on the back of my little windowed hexie template for fussy cutting. This green cutting mat rotates so I can cut three sides of the hexie, then spin the mat without lifting anything and cut the other three sides, but I ordered another rotating cutting mat that is smaller and round (Sue Daley 10" Round Rotating Cutting Mat) because this big square keeps knocking things off my table when I spin it around. Space is at a premium.

Odif Grippy Spray Stops Hexie Template from Sliding on Fabric

And now, a lesson in humility: Y'all, I SHOULD KNOW BETTER than to use a regular mechanical pencil to trace on light fabric! I DID know better, but I was lazy and didn't remember where my mechanical chalk pencils for fabric were in this chaos that is currently my studio. I traced the inside edge of the hexagon on the back of this fabric, thinking it would help me position the paper template perfectly as I was thread basting the fabric around the templates. Well, the templates still shifted during basting and the pencil marks show through to the front! AAARRGH!!

Pretty Fussy Cut Flowers With Ugly Pencil Marks Showing Through

Even from a distance I can see the ugly pencil lines:

Lovely Fussy Cut Rosette Ruined By Pencil Marks?

I know pencil comes out in the wash, but not sure I want to wait until this quilt is finished and washed to address this. Who are we kidding -- a quilt with this much hand stitching in it might never get washed at all or at least not during my lifetime. I am thinking of lightly scrubbing with diluted Dawn dish soap from the right side along the seam lines, but I still have the paper templates in those outer hexies and they are supposed to stay there until I am ready to stitch the rosette to the border. Hmmm... What if I cut myself six 3/4" hexie templates out of a plastic file folder, something that will hold the shape even when it gets wet? Need to think about that. Unlike glue basted hexies, my thread basting should hold the fabric around the templates even if the fabric gets wet and washed. I need to think about this some more.

This other rosette came out much better.

So Much Better Without Yucky Pencil Lines

Thinking ahead, I printed out a bunch of foundation paper piecing patterns for the inner flying geese border for this quilt. As with the hexagon rosettes, I'll want to use scraps from the blocks in the interior of the quilt and I thought I could work on those in fits and snatches as well. At the very least, I should be cutting out oversize center triangles and collecting them in the project box so that I can just grab and sew when I get to that point in the pattern. I decided to FPP my geese in units of four, like this:

Flying Geese Border Will Be FPP Using EQ8 Patterns

I love that I can just print out blocks from EQ8 or from their standalone size and print only program BlockBase+ in whatever size I need for a project. I print my foundation paper piecing patterns on newsprint.

These were my goals for January:

✓ Continue unpacking and organizing sewing supplies
✅ ~~Unpack serger and set up in its cabinet~~
✅ ~~Install firmware update for B990 sewing machine~~
✅ ~~Finish setting up and testing the long arm quilting machine: realign leader centers, install side clamps, check tolerances etc.~~
~~Find my FrankenWhiggish blocks~~ and put them on the design wall
Prep the next Stonefields block for stitching

Not bad, actually. I got my batting organized and unpacked all of my garment fabric and patterns, but still need to find homes for some fabric bolts, interfacing, and other miscellaneous garment sewing supplies as well as some home dec notions. Let's hear it for Realistic, Attainable Goal Setting!

Looking forward to February:

Continue unpacking and organizing sewing supplies -- maybe even FINISH?
Put my FrankenWhiggish blocks on the design wall (this is in hopes of motivating myself to make all of the stuffed berries that I've been procrastinating)
Prep and sew the next Stonefields appliqué blocks
Continue making Stonefields hexie rosettes
Start cutting triangles for Stonefields flying geese border

Also, I'm going to QuiltCon in two weeks! Woo-hoo! I am dragging my husband with me and we are just driving up for the one day to see the quilts, not taking any classes. Although I had a quilt accepted to the 2021 virtual QuiltCon Together, I've never actually attended the show in person and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties:

ONE MONTHLY GOAL

Anne-Marie at Stories From the Sewing Room

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation