Joy of Hex-... agons. ;)

I recently discovered the joy of hexies.
I knew about the wonderful knit hexies that can quickly be made from scrap yarn and joined into little puffs to make a blanket. Or pillow, depending on your attention span. ;)

But I've been on a quilting kick for several months now and because my back and hip have been getting worse each week, it seems, I've been forced to figure out more stuff I can do in the recliner or bed, instead of sitting up in the craft room at the sewing table.

Enter HEXIES!

I'm not going to get into the history or anything of these delightful little paper-pieced hexagons that can be joined into all sorts of pretty patterns... or just left random and scrappy.

As with just about anything I do these days, I glutted myself on videos, tutorials, and forum posts, reading and absorbing as much info as I could before I cut my first piece of paper or cloth. I'll try to post a few of the Pins I found the most helpful, but really, if you just do a search for 'hexies' or hexagon quilts, you'll get so many pins to look through, and really, isn't that a lot more fun than my providing specific ones? No? Okay, I'll do what I can. ;)

Anyhow, I LOVE the hexies. I printed out a template onto regular printer paper and spent a bit of time carefully cutting those out. You can buy packages of pre-cut papers, but I was broke and impatient and I'm not sure if any of the stores around here carry them anyway, so I just bit the bullet and did it myself. I wasted an hour trying to cut plastic templates for cutting the cloth, but then realized that several of the blogs were right: The cut of cloth doesn't matter as long as you have 1/4" seam allowance or more. I now use squares, since those are easy to cut, and just trim around the paper as I go. Seriously. it's a LOT easier that way, though I'll admit that it does waste a bit of material. But if you're using scraps anyhow, it's no biggie. And I keep my teeny scraps to use for stuffing stuffed animals, which is another recent love in my sewing life. :)

Here's my first sept-group, using scrap fabric from my grandmother's stash from more than 25 years ago. <3

 

Back of flower group, showing the outer papers still in place. The middle piece was removed, as it's no longer needed for stability. 

 

And here's the first sept-group or 'flower', made with leftover Halloween prints from last year and a few fat quarters that I picked up just for this.

If there's interest in it, I'll do a down and dirty tutorial on how to do hexies, but this post is actually for the ironing pad that I made to use here in the living room while watching tv or whatever.

For this little ironing pad, I got a small clipboard, 6"x9" from Walmart. I already had everything else... including the tiny craft iron, but I'll list everything in case you need to get it all.

I purposely made this ironing pad so that it all comes apart, in case I need to us any of it separately or in case I need to wash the pad at some point. I used the straps to keep the pad on, instead of making a sleeve, because I wanted to use the cutting board on the back, but it's personal preference. I'm not cutting out entire quilts all at once on this cutting mat, so I only needed enough space to cut the hexies, if I wanted to do it that way.

Materials:
6"x9" clipboard
6"x8" cutting mat (or other size that fits)
2 pieces- 10 1/2"x 7" duck cloth or other sturdy material
cotton thread (any time you use something for an ironing pad, you want to use cotton!)
8"x12" Insulbrite or 100% cotton batting. (You'll fold this in half, so if you have scraps that are 8"x6", use two layers of that)
2 pieces-  1 1/2"x 7" cloth to make strips for back, or cotton ribbon or binding scraps.

1) Iron your duck cloth or fabric.

2) Starting on a long side, about halfway down, sew with a generous 1/4" seam, all the way around the edges. Leave about 4" unsewn on the first side, for turning. Clip corners, turn, and iron flat.

3) fold insulbrite in half (or baste two layers together and fold) and insert into pad. Center as best you can and make sure it's all flat and pretty. Sew with a 1" seam allowance, making sure you're catching all the edges of the Insulbrite... or at least enough to secure it in place. This isn't rocket science, like I said, so this is all 'whatever works'. You now have a padded center with 1" margins of material.
Top-stitch all the way around, making sure to catch that opened bit from where you stuffed it.

 

 With top-stitching:

4) Fold the 1 1/2" strips in half, then open and fold each side in toward the center, creating a 1/4" folded strip. Top-stitch down the open edge, stopping before the end to fold under the raw edges at the bottom. Finish sewing. You now have one finished end and one unfinished end.

5) With the unfinished end, lay the strip over one edge of the pad so that it crosses both seams on the pad. Sew strip into place, following sewing line of pad, and backstitch several times for security. Repeat on edge, using top-stitching as your guide. Repeat with other strip. You should now have both finished ends flapping in the breeze, waiting their turn. You can trim the strips that have been sewn on, but remember to leave at least 1/4" so it doesn't come loose.

6) Fold strip over to meet opposite edge of pad and top-stitch in place, back-stitching for security.
NOTE: You CAN use a slightly longer strip and sew strips the same as step 5, securing in two places. I just didn't think of it when I did this one. If I make another, I'll do it that way, probably, just because it will probably be stronger that way.

Check the fit of your pad. It should be snug around the clip board, but not straining at the seams. Adjust as necessary.

That's it! You're done!

Flip the board over and you've got your ironing pad. Flip it back to the 'front' (the clip side) and you can slide a small cutting mat under your straps, secure it with the clip, and you're good to go.

Simple, quick, and easy. :)

Here it is, ready for action, with my most recent hexi project on it. Helpful, since I need to iron that 'flower' group. :)

If you'd like to see a hexi tutorial, please let me know in the comments and I'll put one together.

Also, if there's a step you'd like to see more detailed pics about, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy! :)