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Saturday, October 01, 2011

Hexie Uh-Oh!!


I sewed hexies ALL THE WAY from Greensboro, North Carolina to Newark, New Jersey.
I sewed hexies ALL THE WAY from Newark, New Jersey to Seattle, Washington.
I sewed hexies ALL THE WAY from Seattle Washington to Anchorage, Alaska!
And yes, I even sewed hexies ALL THE WAY from Anchorage, Alaska to Cordova, Alaska if for no other reason that it was DARKER THAN DARK and storming and we were being tossed around on a little prop-job commuter plane.
The commuter plane experience was interesting….no cock pit door, so we could watch the pilots the whole time…and watch the windshield wipers going like mad, and when focusing on the front of the plane out the front windshield, you could REALLY feel that the wind was tossing us a bit side ways….
So it was BETTER to focus on stitching hexies, one stitch at a time and imagine we were driving in a bus on a bumpy road, rather than think we were being tossed about over a vast mountainous wilderness in a storm.
This pic above is one that Terri took of me sitting on that plane. Do I look exhausted yet? It was just after 7pm Anchorage time, which was just past 11pm North Carolina time, and I’d been up since 3:15 am North Carolina time. Not a pretty picture! But I kept a stitchin!
And then I noticed, as I got some of the neutral filled in just above the red border……that I didn’t think the corner turned the same way it did on the previous fill in section that was already attached to the “Mother Ship”.
UH. OH.
So until I could check it I just sewed neutrals in the neutral area, knowing that whatever I had to do or undo, that neutral area was still not going to change. In the morning, when Val went off to work….I checked it:
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Oops! I certainly AM off! I was off on my color way! I was alternating the green and neutral “centers” of the border units, but where the greens are in the DONE one, I had neutrals, and visa versa. This meant some un stitching was in order!
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I even saw that I was one row OFF on the end of the new unit…there needed to be three hexes past where I ended it, but yet the count of the number of hexes I had DONE was right? I couldn’t just add 3 red ones…everything would be a row too long then….Sheesh. How did I get so mixed up?
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Here I’ve removed the offending “wrong” parts, rearranged things, stitched some back on, left some off…and my corner is just about ready to reattach so it’s right. I will no longer worry that my hand stitches aren't going to be "STRONG ENOUGH" to hold this together. I had to work and pick to get the stitches out! Yup, this one is pieced to last!
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Back in business!!
This section needs to be identical to the one above, and then I have two more to do, in mirror image, for the two remaining corners. It’s still a lot of work. I’m guessing a year before it’s done. Serious. Still many many trips to go since I don’t work on it at home, only when on the road!
So what did I get done on the way HOME from Alaska!? I was so tired I slept more, or tried to, but I still got quite a bit added:
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Though it might not look like much, this is 197 hexes so far in this section. See? It’s got a long way to go yet!
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While in Cordova I was shown the NEATEST knitting shop! And I bought this NEW TOTE just for ME! See, it has the label of the Net Loft there on it, as a souvenir of my trip!
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It didn’t take me long to move my stuff from my OLD boring busy bag to this new cool blue one!
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Just love this new tote! Now my busy bag is stylin!!!

It's made by Timeless Totes, is called the Snapped Accessory Tote and there is a link to their page HERE.

PS….I’ve traveled around blogland over the last little while! I love that I’m seeing people recreating my hexie medallion to have one of their own. It’s a huge undertaking! I know because I’ve been working on this one for 12 years.
I’ve been asked if there is a pattern for it. Not yet --- It’s still really in the design process for me. It’s not even a complete top yet.

Some are just doing it by looking at my pictures, and that’s great.
All I ask is that if you show pictures of your hexie medallion on your blog or website, and it looks like mine, is inspired by mine, that you just link your post back here to my blog so people can find the original, okay? THANKS!

14 comments:

  1. i saw a photo of a hexie a new friend is done with and love it!! I must start one.. and have a cool bag to haul it around in.. as the bag is everything!

    your quilt is amazing by the way.. wink!

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  2. Anonymous10:02 AM EDT

    Bonnie following your instructions and looking at an English lady on youtube I started sewing hexies to learn the technique. I am impressed how exact it comes out and it moves along pretty well. Thanks for the guidance. Looking on the internet for what do do with hexies I found this: " The Mosaic quilt contains a total of 123,200 hexagons, each 1/4 inch in diameter. There are 15.08 hexagons in each square inch of the quilt. Six of these hexagons fit under a dime." Look for yourself and keep sewing. Cheers Dorothea http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/art/htmls/ks_piece_hex.html#

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  3. Just beautiful, Bonnie! I wish I had a fraction of your talent & patience

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  4. I am trying not to do hexies....love them and admire your work but I do not need this additional addiction :0).......I'll stick with my yo yo addiction for the meantime for a hand project.
    but still these are so darn cute!
    12 years and counting huh?

    Happy Sewing and safe travels

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  5. Love your Busy bag!

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  6. Anonymous12:40 AM EDT

    Bonnie,

    1. so glad you're safe after that harrowing plane ride.

    2. I'm enjoying your progress with the hexagons. I an in the design stages of my own hexie quilt.

    3. I have one of those bags it's black. I really like your blue one.

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  7. Hi Bonnie,
    I have just finished a hexie quilt top, which was 35 years in the making. Mind you there were long gaps inbetween working on it. It started off as a cot size then a single bed size then a double and eventually a king size. Now all I have to do is finish it off with batting, quilting and binding. Wonder how long that is going to take me.? Thing is I keep wanting to start another, up to now I have resisted the urge.
    Love the new bag and boy you do a whole lot of travelling.

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  8. Well no hurry on a pattern for me because I just started working on hexie's in blues and browns and creams. Haven't sewn any together yet, but printed out one of your photos to follow the center medallion. I don't travel a lot so it may take me longer than 12 years! LOL!

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  9. I thought we aren't allowed to take sewing needles on a plane due to TSA restrictions?

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  10. nice souvenir and busy bag!!! I wonder if they have a website and if your readers are blowing it up yet requesting information about buying one yet??! like the Mary Jo's fabric..

    Love the compartments!

    Love from Indiana - Bonnie

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  11. We are so glad you love your new bag from Cordova from our shop, The Net Loft. We have more bags coming in and information can be requested by emailing us at thenetloft@gmail.com. Everyone raved about the weekend! Thanks for coming.

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  12. Here is photo of what we currently have in stock as requested by some of you who contacted us. Hope it helps. Email or call. We are happy to ship.
    Thanks again Bonnie for visiting The Net Loft and Cordova!

    http://thenetloft.blogspot.com/2011/10/net-loft-custom-totes.html

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  13. I have been given some pre-cut hexagons that I'm planning on working into a quilt. They're a bit bigger than the one's you're working with. I just wanted to thank you for your helpful tips and your tutorial. It has given me a good place to start!! I don't know that I'll really do much of a pattern though. I think random piecing is in order. Of course I won't be starting this one until I'm finished with the Dresden Plate that I'm currently working on. I've got all the blades sewn together and am now appliqueing the centers in (by hand), then to applique the plates onto background fabric (again by hand). So I've still got a long way to go.

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  14. Anonymous9:14 PM EDT

    I've been working on "hexies" on all my trips and was NEVER really inspired to do anything with them...now I can honestly say that I have an inspiration or is that a new "addiction"? I can't wait to start putting some of my hexies to work...now how many do I have to have to get started??? Kidding. Thanks for the inspiration.

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