A Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues - English Paper Piecing

A Finished Quilt

Click on any image for a larger view.

English Paper Piecing (EPP) was what kept me busy not only for the month of March, but also the month of April. I haven't kept a stitching diary and the days, weeks, and quilts have blurred, but my Instagram account tells me that the last seam for this quilt top was completed during the first week of May 2020.

I started cutting the hexagons for this quilt in January 2020 but I lost momentum and diverted my energies into hand-piecing my Trip Around the World Quilt. In April I resumed cutting fabrics and worked on the color palette. Initially it was all blues, then I added splashes of grey/black and green, and eventually I introduced hint of pink. All of the hexagons fabric pieces were cut and basted to paper pieces before I started sewing, and fabric selection includes many quilting cottons, Liberty of London Tana Lawn, and several pieces of linen/cotton blend fabric.

I have again kept the quilting really simple by stitching edge to edge, vertical straight lines across the quilt, spaced 1¼" apart. This worked perfectly for this quilt with lots of stitching guide points to avoid having to mark lines on the quilt top. It is also an easy way to straight-line quilt a hexagon quilt that has been English Paper Pieced without ditch-stitching any of the hand sewn seams; these seam lines may not fare well when the heavier needle of the sewing machine stitches into seam (particularly as seam allowances have been pressed open).

For the back of the quilt I have used a single floral fabric from the Menagerie Collection by Rifle Paper Co. for Cotton + Steel (RJR Fabrics). The pretty floral design is printed on a soft blue background. This collection was released in 2017 and the yardage, bought for quilt backing fabric, has patiently been waiting in my stash for the right quilt to come along. Using what I have on hand is so satisfying.

For the binding I have used a narrow (1/8" inch) blue/white stripe fabric by Riley Blake Designs - again from stash. And ... I think I may be a hand slip-stitch binding convert. I have avidly machine stitched the binding on my quilts for the last 10 years, but I can now say that I actually enjoy working these final stitches of the quilt by hand.

QUILT DETAILS

Hexagon Stash Buster Quilt in Blues 

Finished quilt measures 50.5 inches x 60 inches.
English Paper Pieced.

Hexagon size: 1¼ inch sides.

A total of 769 Hexagons.

(I re-used my papers from my Liberty Hexagon Quilt)

Started: January 2020.

Quilt Top Finished: April 2020.

Finished: May 2020

Machine Quilted - domestic sewing machine.

Cotton fabrics, linen/cotton blend, and Liberty Tana Lawn.

QuiltLite Batting
(more details on QuiltLite batting here).

TOOLS AND NOTIONS

 1¼ Inch Hexagon Papers

1¼ Inch Acrylic Hexagon Template with 3/8" seam allowance.

Water Soluble Basting Glue - Sewline.

Straw Needles - Size 11.

The Bottom Line 60wt thread by Superior Threads

(a neutral color thread - I used color #655 throughout).

I am not selling my quilts at the moment but will make them available again when domestic and international shipping settles into a reliable new normal. Hopefully soon!

As always, thank you for your time and for browsing my website.
Rita

RELEVANT LINKS:
More RPQ Hexagon Quilts:
Scrappy Hexagon Quilt - August 2019
Liberty of London Hexagon Quilt - October 2018
Scrappy Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt - September 2018
Floral Hexagon Quilt - September 2017
How I stitch my scrappy hexagon quilts in blocks to keep my project portable:
https://www.redpepperquilts.com/2019/07/a-scrappy-hexagon-quilt-part-1.html

COPYRIGHT: Do not copy or use any content or photos from my blog without my written permission. This is original content from www.redpepperquilts.com.