Stars and hexies, oh my!

And here she is:  The Starry Menace, coming down to the wire.  I figure another horizontal and another vertical row, and she just might be done.  I'm done.  Enough already.  She'll be a good size for cuddling in, and I'm not into making a bed quilt.  Now how to finish those edges.....Any ideas, folks?  I think I'll buy a Kaffe print for the back and for the binding.  Right now, she's sitting on the living room floor, where she thinks she belongs.

And here's the new craze:  Hexies!  1.25" hexies in the cutest fabric from Connecting Threads, Hello Sunshine.

The plan is to have 5 rows of hexies, with half hexies filling in the edges.  Then using some coordinating solids, put a border or two around them, and then sew those boxes together.  Nope, I didn't think of this.  I got the idea from Tacha Bruecher's book, Hexa-Go-Go: English Paper Piecing 16 Quilt Projects. 

So far I have approx 12 of 14 prints already made up into hexies, and I want 17 hexies making up each box.  I love doing these little guys whenever I have a few moments.  I've been sewing the hexies onto the  cardboard templates by sewing through both the fabric and the paper.  I did try a few just by sewing through the fabric, but it annoyed me to do this.  I'll try glue next, and then decide which one to use in the future.  The thought of glue kind of bothers me, although I know that lots of people do it.  Whatever, it's fun to do.

If you are just exploring EPP (English paper piecing), Tacha's book is full of great ideas.  She has projects where you do just a bit of EPP, and then the rest is machine sewing, and then she has a bunch where EPP rules.  

I buy my little templates from Paper Pieces, and it saves me tons of time in cutting out the little pieces, plus the pieces are really accurate, as opposed to my not-so-great cutting.  What can I tell you?  I'm not the most accurate sewer in the world, and never will be, but I'm pretty darn good at these little guys.  Another source for hexagon templates is here, but you have to cut them out yourself.  On the other hand, you can use the other side of scrap printer paper, and feel good about recycling paper.  Just don't cut them out with your sewing scissors or you'll get a very crummy pair of shears.  

Other news:  Our most fun 12 year old grand has gone home, the house is quiet and messy, but then it's always messy.  We mess, therefore we are.  I could seriously use a wife.

I'm back to the gym with a vengeance.  All of a sudden, my body wants to exercise.  I can't believe it either, but I just love the feeling of fatigues muscles.  I feel so delightfully tired and virtuous.