Thursday, June 4, 2020

A Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing

A Finished Quilt
Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt
Click on any image for a larger view.

English Paper Piecing (EPP) was what kept me busy not only for the month of March, but also the month of April. I haven't kept a stitching diary and the days, weeks, and quilts have blurred, but my Instagram account tells me that the last seam for this quilt top was completed during the first week of May 2020.

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt
Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt
Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

I started cutting the hexagons for this quilt in January 2020 but I lost momentum and diverted my energies into hand-piecing my Trip Around the World Quilt. In April I resumed cutting fabrics and worked on the color palette. Initially it was all blues, then I added splashes of grey/black and green, and eventually I introduced hint of pink. All of the hexagons fabric pieces were cut and basted to paper pieces before I started sewing, and fabric selection includes many quilting cottons, Liberty of London Tana Lawn, and several pieces of linen/cotton blend fabric.

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

I have again kept the quilting really simple by stitching edge to edge, vertical straight lines across the quilt, spaced 1¼" apart. This worked perfectly for this quilt with lots of stitching guide points to avoid having to mark lines on the quilt top. It is also an easy way to straight-line quilt a hexagon quilt that has been English Paper Pieced without ditch-stitching any of the hand sewn seams; these seam lines may not fare well when the heavier needle of the sewing machine stitches into seam (particularly as seam allowances have been pressed open).

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

For the back of the quilt I have used a single floral fabric from the Menagerie Collection by Rifle Paper Co. for Cotton + Steel (RJR Fabrics). The pretty floral design is printed on a soft blue background. This collection was released in 2017 and the yardage, bought for quilt backing fabric, has patiently been waiting in my stash for the right quilt to come along. Using what I have on hand is so satisfying.

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt
Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

For the binding I have used a narrow (1/8" inch) blue/white stripe fabric by Riley Blake Designs - again from stash. And ... I think I may be a hand slip-stitch binding convert. I have avidly machine stitched the binding on my quilts for the last 10 years, but I can now say that I actually enjoy working these final stitches of the quilt by hand.

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

QUILT DETAILS
Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues 
Finished quilt measures 50.5 inches x 60 inches.
English Paper Pieced.
Hexagon size: 1¼ inch sides.
A total of 769 Hexagons.
(I re-used my papers from my Liberty Hexagon Quilt)

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

Started: January 2020.
Quilt Top Finished: April 2020.
Finished: May 2020
Machine Quilted - domestic sewing machine.
Cotton fabrics, linen/cotton blend, and Liberty Tana Lawn.
QuiltLite Batting
(more details on QuiltLite batting here).

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

TOOLS AND NOTIONS
 1¼ Inch Hexagon Papers
1¼ Inch Acrylic Hexagon Template with 3/8" seam allowance.
Water Soluble Basting Glue - Sewline.
Straw Needles - Size 11.
The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads
(a neutral color thread - I used color #655 throughout).

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

I am not selling my quilts at the moment but will make them available again when domestic and international shipping settles into a reliable new normal. Hopefully soon!

As always, thank you for your time and for browsing my website.
Rita

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing | © Red Pepper Quilts 2020 #hexagonquilt

RELEVANT LINKS:
More RPQ Hexagon Quilts:
Scrappy Hexagon Quilt - August 2019
Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt - October 2018
Scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - September 2018
Floral Hexagon Quilt - September 2017
How I stitch my scrappy hexagon quilts in blocks to keep my project portable:
https://www.redpepperquilts.com/2019/07/a-scrappy-hexagon-quilt-part-1.html



COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.

9 comments:

  1. I love the combination of colors and textures in this quilt. English paper piecing is one of my favorite methods. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  2. This is just beautiful. x

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  3. I love hexagons and the combination of colours in this quilt.

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  4. Always love your quilts and am always amazed at the speed of your hand stitching. You must love hand stitching. You normally used striped binding on your quilts, don't you. Again, very nice touch. Appreciate all the details that you put in your blog about making the quilt. Did you say the binding was 1/8"? Or did I read that incorrectly? or maybe that was a typo?

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  5. A beautiful and fast finish!

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  6. Beautiful and inspirational!

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  7. Pretty quilt, it's a great inventory quilt. Looks like we have some fabrics in common, I love the matches grey one too ;)
    Feel free to join TGIFF link party today, and Patchwork & Quilts link party on Sundays, all in my place ;)

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  8. This is really beautiful - congratulations.

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