Friday 7 October 2016

Modern Hexies Rainbow

Last week I finished my Modern Hexies Rainbow.


This table runner / wall hanging is made using a technique made popular by Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft. You can find her tutorial here.

I decided to made a rainbow wall hanging because I loved the thought of the bright hexies against the grey Heath fabric from Alexander Henry.  I had some Heath left over from my Wheel of Fortune mini quilt.


I recycled the 1" hexie papers I used to make Honeycomb Spin. They are called 1" hexies because each side is 1" long (that's how paper pieces are measured).


And for my final thrifty step, I dug through my scraps and cut a hexie from each of the RPYGBIV fabrics I came across. So this quilt is made entirely from things I already had at home.



Getting the hexies evenly spaced is the trickiest part of this design.  I had already made a mini quilt just to try out this technique (see below), and I knew the hexies had to be straight so the quilting lines could run through them nicely. I like to use my long ruler to keep the rows evenly spaced.


The hexies are all glued down with Roxanne's glue, and then machine quilted, so they are quite secure.


I decided to quilt with a variegated Auriful thread I had on hand.  I thought that white thread would highlight any crooked lines in the quilting, and dark colours might just disappear into the grey.  So I decided to compromise and use a variegated thread.
 


I marked lines with my hera marker, but they were difficult to see on the grey Heath fabric, so I resorted to using a chalk pencil too.



When it came to the binding I was really stuck.  Did I want black and white to let the hexies shine? Or did I want a bright colour? And if so, which colour? Mulitcolour just looked crazy.


So I went to my local quilt shop, Nancy's Stitch Studio, and the owner Mary Self suggested black and white with pops of colour.  I loved that idea, but was worried that a pop of colour might end up on the corner bend and be very bulky.  Mary said that sometimes she just makes up the binding as she is sewing it onto the quilt! What a rebel!! Why hadn't I thought of that?  Anyway, that's what I did.  I started with a little bit of quilt maths, but then made it up as I went along.  Thank you Mary!

Unfortunatley the grey background is very hard to photograph.  It looks dark in some photos and light in others.  Trust me - it's really nice in real life.

Finished size 40" x 20"


10 comments:

Lyndle said...

Love this! And I'm impressed that your stash covers the full rainbow!

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

Look at you embracing the rainbow! It looks fabulous :)

Susan said...

Lovely Wendy! And I also enjoy reading about your process too!

Rochelle aka Bella Quilts said...

What a beautiful table runner. I have to ask, Can this be washed..by hand maybe? Not that I wash wall hangings.

Cathy Melancon said...

I sure love this runner! Makes me want to do one! Using the fabrics in your stash makes it even better! That grey Heath makes for a,gorgeous setting!!!

margaret said...

what a great way to use hexies I can see getting them lined up perfect;y could be a challenge thank goodness for the glue to hold them in place, one great runner/wallhanging

Gemini Jen NZ said...

I love the rainbow theme - so lovely against the grey!

Sandi said...

This is just so clever and wonderful in so many ways Wendy, thanks fot sharing your tips.

Granny Maud's Girl said...

Isn't it fun to play with rainbows! And everything from your stash. I am impressed. I also love the binding.
If I am trying to avoid bulges in the corners of binding, I do a test pin before sewing and adjust accordingly. The seams are never long so are really fast to undo and redo.
Those hera marking lines are tricky!

A Quilter said...

Thanks for the inspiration to use the hexies I have that are just waiti g for a project.