Part 2 of Hexie Tutorial - Flowers

Well hello again...here I am for part 2 of my tutorial....making a hexagon flower.

I like to join the sides (petals) of the hexagons together first.

Again...I DO NOT stitch into the paper at any time while joining the hexies.

I only take a small bite out of the fabric that is on the edge of each one that I am joining together.

I first join 2 with right sides together...then 2 more and then the remaining 2.
Then I join those segments together to form a ring.
I always knot off after joining one hexie to another.



Joining the petals first just works out better for me...and I can "audition" several hexie prints for the center...to see which one I like the best.

I leave my papers in when forming the rings.

However...I like to take the paper out of the center hexie, making it more pliable and a little bit "stretchy" if needed for allowing me to stitch the corners together perfectly.

After I have completely stitched the center hexie in...I knot off my thread and carefully pull out the papers. (see part 1 for paper removal)

If I am making a larger flower, at this point I would add another row of hexies before removing my papers....but I am using small flowers for this project.

By the way...I press the papers to use again just like I explained in part 1.

Then I press...and I mean PRESS...( I do not move my iron back and forth)...I just set it on my flower for a few seconds on the backside...

...and then I spritz it a little on the front with Mary Ellen's Best Press...and press the front.

I let it cool completely before picking it up. I like how the best press gives my flower a crisp new feeling ...and it smells good too! I used the Lavender Fields scent on this one:)

I used a regular whip stitch on the green and yellow flower above....which works just fine....however....I normally do a little something extra with my whip stitch that I want to show you.

Below is a close up of my variation of the whip stitch.

I feel that stitching this way secures my stitches better and helps to hide the stitches from the front.

I do a regular whip stitch but before I pull my thread up all the way...I insert my needle through the loop and then finish pulling the thread snuggly but not too tight as to break it ...or distort my seam so that it won't lay flat when I open my hexie flower.

This is what my stitching looks like from the top view of the seam.

This stitch is also how I knot off my thread...so I guess you could say that each stitch is a single knot

.

However when I knot off, I do the stitch two or three times in the same spot as needed for securing properly.....I also leave a small tail when cutting my thread after knotting.

I feel that by doing this, it's harder for the knot to come undone when pulled while stitching into a quilt.

I don't worry about the tails showing...I just make sure that they stay tucked in the back of my flower.

I have a good start on my flowers now....

I am making them very scrappy and all with a vintage look.

I am trying to make the centers of my hexie flowers matchy while not being too matchy (if that makes sense to any one but me)...lol!

I hope that you have enjoyed my tutorial on how I do my english paper piecing.

It works for me...and I hope it works for you too.

I would love to hear what you think!