Preparing to Start a New BoM: Hexie Harvest

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

After sharing my Project Update last week, I was reminded of how much progress I've made on some of my Winter goals already, as well as how far behind I've fallen on others. I was really inspired to put in more stitches and get caught up on those projects as much as possible!

Since then, I've pieced two blocks for The $3.31 Quilt, finished clue no.5 for Chilhowie, and buried the last of the machine quilting threads on Simply Woven. I'm really proud that I got all of that done in just one week!

And after completing all of that, this week, I've decided to shift my focus from the projects I've been working on to a quilt along that will be starting soon; Hexie Harvest.

About Hexie Harvest

I didn't share much about this project when I first introduced it in my Winter Goals post, so introducing the project seems like a good way to start!

Godfrey, Jodi. "Screenshot of Hexie Handbook." N.d.

Hexie Harvest is a block of the month style quilt along designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth. This hexagon sampler quilt features a variety of English paper pieced blocks ranging from plain hexagons to blocks with as many as 13 pieces. The quilt along will run from February (next week) to October 2023, with two block patterns released every month. From each of those patterns, we will be making seven blocks. And since this pattern is an EPP quilt, it will be sewn entirely by hand!

I'm really looking forward to this project! I've never done a hand pieced quilt along before, and since I've fallen very much in love with hand piecing over the last few years, this project seems like it's perfect for me!

Preparing for the Quilt Along

Though I'm excited to start putting in stitches, the quilt along hasn't started just yet, and I do still have a few things I should prepare before it does!

The first thing I need is the pattern.

My Mom recently gifted me a PDF copy of the Hexie Handbook, which contains all the instructions and templates needed for the Hexie Harvest quilt. I went ahead and printed the whole booklet and bound it into this eye-searing, neon pink cover.

The only pages I really needed to print were the last few with all the templates, but I really enjoy having access to a pattern in multiple formats!

Fabric Selection

With my pattern printed, I was excited to pick out my fabrics!

From what I know about EPP, large and interesting prints are a really common choice. The uniquely shaped templates make it easy to fussy cut particular elements out of a printed fabric to be featured in the blocks, and by doing this, prints can be transformed in really interesting and creative ways!

But rather than go the large print route, I was drawn to use this set of hand dyed Cherrywood fabrics that my Aunt gifted me last year.

The bundle is called Tropicana. It has such beautiful and vibrant rainbow colours and I've been searching for an amazing quilt to use them in!

With these as my base, I still needed some additional fabric to fill out the yardage requirements of the pattern. There are many beautiful and interesting ways this can be done, but one of my favourite ways of using rainbow fabric is to put it against a black background!

I looked through my stash of fabric and remnants to collect a variety of black and dark grey prints. Some of what I have includes small coloured prints as well, but at this point, I'm inclined to not include those as I really want to focus to be on the Tropicana fabrics.

With the fabrics I have, the quilt will be about 1/3 rainbow and 2/3 black background. I'll be keeping this ratio in mind while I piece my blocks.

Making the Templates

With my pattern at the ready and my fabrics laid out, the last thing I'll need before February arrives is a set of templates.

This pattern was designed as an EPP project, but I've tried EPP in the past and found that I prefer to do hand piecing without the stabilizer papers. I still go through the process of marking my pieces and folding and basing the edges before sewing, but all of that is done with no papers.

So to make this quilt, I won't need several hundred paper templates, but I will need a single, very durable template for each shape.

Meara has kindly donated her cone (from when she had surgery last spring) to my template making efforts! The plastic of the cone is clear, so I can trace the templates through it, and there's a textured side that can easily grip the fabric while tracing shapes! And don't worry, I did clean it!

I'm hoping to get these templates cut later this afternoon, but once that's done, I'll be ready for the Hexie Harvest BoM to begin!

Friends, I'm so excited to be starting yet another quilt along! Is this a wise decision? Probably not, but it is a fun one!

If you have any experience with EPP, I would love to hear your tips and see how your quilt turned out! You can share those with me in the comments below, by email, or on Instagram @v.a.fibre.arts!

Just one week left until the start of February, in the meantime, I still have some progress left to make on my other Winter projects. I'll catch you all up on those next week!

Until Then Friends, Keep Creating!

~VA

Image Citation:

Godfrey, Jodi. "Screenshot of Hexie Handbook." Hexie Handbook, Tales of Cloth, n.d., p.1, PDF.