EPP HEXAGON BONUS PROJECTS

We have loved seeing everyone’s excitement over the latest LITTLE BOX OF FIGS [Christmas Edition]! I know I say it a lot, but I really do enjoy hand-picking these goodies for you each and every quarter, so it warms my quilty heart to hear such positive feedback!

So we may have hinted that we had a few more fun project ideas up our sleeves with the ONE COMMON THREAD hexagon kits… we are really so in love with these hexies and the organization itself that we can’t stop gushing about it!

If you haven’t had a chance to read about ONE COMMON THREAD, would you take some time to do that? Maybe give them a follow on instagram [they are @onecommonthreadquilts ] -or- go to their website [www.onecommonethread.org] and consider donating fabric, supplies or cash to support their fabulous vision for the ladies of Honduras. Okay, enough with my shpeel…

So for today, here are a few more lovely goodies to make with your little bag of hexies [or make your own if you are not a part of our subscription] and Susan of @thefeltedpear is here to tell you all about it.

NOTE: So if you dont have our premade hexies and are inspired by one of these projects, don’t worry at all. Just gather your own grouping of fabrics, make 1″ hexies in whatever method you like and then join us with these projects anyway!

Are you ready?!

From Susan:

Tips & Notes!

• The needles in the Bohin cracker aren’t just super cute, they can be used to sew your hexies together!
• The Wonder Clips are the best way to hold your pieces in place as you are sewing them together. The clips keep them tight enough so they don’t move without making things too stiff or shift out of place. They also allow the hand that you are not sewing with to not grip your project so hard.
• When you take your hexies out of the bag, you might want to give them a quick press to keep the corners sharp and eliminate any wrinkles that formed from packaging.
• Use a light, neutral thread color when sewing your hexies. I like a light khaki color, as it blends in with most anything. Sew with a 50 wt. thread or finer to help keep stitches less visible on the front of your project.
• Don’t take out the basting stitches! These will help the seams lay nice and flat and not get in the way after you have removed the papers.
• To remove papers, you may find it helpful to use a pin or a pair of tweezers.
• Once all the papers are removed, use an iron to give your project a final press. If you want crisp edges, you may consider giving them a quick spritz with your favorite starch and then press with a dry iron.
• You can applique your finished hexie flowers by machine or hand. When I was preparing my applique, I “basted” them to the background material with pins (on the lighter-weight fabric) and used applique glue (on the cork). I then appliqued them by machine with an off-white thread color using a slightly larger stitch length (3.5 mm on my machine).

HOW TO: HEXI CORK-BACKED COASTERS

1. Make a hexie flower using one center hexagon and six hexagon petals. 
2. Remove basting papers and give your flower a good press.
3. Applique it onto your favorite background fabric that does not fray.  I used a double layer of cork because that is what I had at home, but a thick felted wool would also be fabulous.

HOW TO: HEXIE MUG MATS

1. Make a hexie flower using one center hexagon and six hexagon petals.
2. Remove basting papers and give your flower a good press.
3. Layer a 6 ½”square of toweling fabric over a scrap of batting. Pin or glue baste your hexie flower on top of the toweling and applique by machine or hand. Trim to roughly 6 ¼”, keeping a generous ½”seam border around your hexie flower.
4. Layer right sides together with a piece of backing towel and sew around all sides, leaving a 2” opening for turning. Don’t forget to add any tags or embellishments as you are sewing.
5. Turn right side out, and hand stitch opening closed.
6. Embellish with big stitch quilting. We used 6 strands of the Fig Tree Red Aurifloss.

HOW TO: HEXIE POUCH

1. Lay out your hexagons in (7) columns of (5) hexagons, offsetting the columns as needed to make the hexagons fit together into one solid panel.  Put your least favorite hexagons in the lower right and left corners as they will likely be hidden in construction.
2. Sew together your hexagons to create fabric panel.  Even though I wasn’t making “flowers” this time, I used the same technique of sewing small groupings of hexagons together first and then sewing those groupings together.
3. Remove basting papers and give your panel a good press.
4. Measure your panel and trim to approximately 8” tall and 10” wide.  You will be cutting off about half of the outer hexagons.
5. Layer an 8 ½” x 10 ½” lining fabric right side down, with an 8 ½” x 10 ½” piece of fusible fleece.  Baste hexie panel on top of the fusible fleece.  Quilt if desired, and if not stitch around the perimeter of the panel to hold all three layers secure.  Prepare a backing panel the same way using a solid piece of fabric instead of the hexie panel. Quilt as desired for extra stability. (I opted to not quilt my hexie panel, and to just quilt my backing panel). Trim panels to approximately 8” x 10”.
6. Bind the top of the front and back panels with a 2 ¼” piece of complimentary fabric.  This will keep all the edges enclosed in the back of your pouch.
7. Follow your favorite technique to turn your panels into a pouch.  If you are not comfortable with making pouches, the PROJECT BAG TUTORIAL blog post or LITTLE JELLIES pattern are great resources.
8. I “boxed” my corners by 1 ½” and my pouch measures approximately 6 ½” tall by 9” wide.
9. Don’t forget to add your favorite Fig Tree ZIPPER PULL for some additional cuteness!

THANK YOU

I hope you enjoy creating these EPP extras! Be sure to tag us on Instagram (@figtreeandco & @thefeltedpear) with your makes, and share the love with or share them over in our FACEBOOK GROUP!

-Joanna & Susan