More Scrappy Hexie Blocks

Yellow Scrappy Hexie Blocks

Yellow Scrappy Hexie Blocks

I am on a roll.  Today I finished 8 scrappy hexie blocks.  I don’t piece with a lot of yellow so when I saw a bag of yellow scraps/strings that someone had donated to the destash at our guild meeting, I snatched it up.  Yellow is such a happy, cheerful colour.  These blocks will definitely brighten up the finished quilt.

String Blocks

I am determined this year to make a significant reduction in my stash of strings and strips.  I have been piecing string blocks and stacking them on the shelf until I have enough to make a quilt.  I have used various materials for foundations – most recently used dryer sheets. Before using the dryer sheets as a foundation they need to be pressed with a cool iron.  You start with a pile that looks like this:

 

Used dryer sheets

Used dryer sheets

And you end up with blocks like these after trimming to 6″ square.

String blocks pieced onto used dryer sheets

String blocks pieced onto used dryer sheets

I have 121 – 6″ trimmed blocks on the shelf right now.

Stack of trimmed string blocks

Stack of trimmed string blocks

I need to decide which quilt layout I am going to use these blocks in so I know if I am close to having enough blocks for a quilt top.  I am always on the lookout for ideas to use string blocks so I don’t have to continue to repeat the same design over and over.

I have also been piecing larger blocks (8″ square) onto fabric foundations.  I was gifted some broadcloth from my MIL’s stash.  The fabric is more lightweight than I like to use in my regular quilt blocks but it makes a great foundation for string blocks.  These are a few of the string blocks.  There area a total of 95 – 8″ blocks in this stack on the shelf.

8" string blocks pieced on broadcloth foundations

8″ string blocks pieced on broadcloth foundations

String blocks pieced on a fabric foundation make for a heavier quilt top than string blocks pieced on a dryer sheet foundation.

Despite all the string blocks I have been making, I don’t seem to have a significant reduction in the string / strip stash.  I think I will be making string blocks for some time to come!

 

Scrappy Hexies

I fell in love with the quilt,  Scrappy Hexies in the March / April 2015 issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine and it has been on my “To Do” list since then.

March / April 2015 cover of McCall's Quilting magazine

March / April 2015 cover of McCall’s Quilting magazine

The quilt is a design by Bea Lee from www.beaquilter.com .

Bea Lee's Scrappy Hexies quilt

Bea Lee’s Scrappy Hexies quilt

I started my blocks today and I finished my first 7 blocks from my blue scraps.

My first 7 Scrappy Hexie blocks

Blue scrappy hexie blocks

The pattern in the magazine suggests tracing the hexagon pattern pieces from the magazine pullout section onto template plastic.  However, I recently used my discount coupon for Joann’s to purchase a large hexagon shaped ruler which has made trimming the blocks so much easier than using template plastic.