Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Hexie Flower Show (a free pattern)...



When I made "Miracles Happen" a couple of weeks ago, the fabric I used for the bird applique was from a 5 inch "Petit Fleur" charm square and quite honestly I fell in love with it. 
But alas, I only had one 5 inch square in that print so I wanted to use every little piece wisely and to its best and most beautiful advantage.
Looks lovely as the wing and breast doesn't it...


Yesterday Mr E began a week's holiday from work so we can both spend time together bonding with little Merri. After lots of fun and play in the morning both Mr E and our new puppy settled in for a long afternoon nap, so I thought I'd sketch an idea for using another corner of that little charm square remnant.

And this is what I came up with...


I'm sharing this little design as a free gift today because it's a quick project and is great for practicing embroidery on single paper pieced hexies.

It's important that you make your hexie first and blind stitch it onto the fabric you'll be using to embroider on.

Here's a quick tutorial I shared recently for making a single hexie (during the Hussif Tutorial)...


Trace a line a little less than  1/4" outside the edge of the hexie shape. Cut away your fabric along that line.
Fold the fabric over the paper hexie one section at a time and tack the fabric and paper together with thread.
Press gently around the edges with a warm dry iron to form a permanent crease. Wait until the fabric is cold then remove the stitches and the paper from the hexie and give it one more firm press with your iron around all sides.

NOTE:  If you do not have a one inch hexie paper simply trace the hexie shape from the design on your pattern sheet onto a piece of paper. Cut it out on the traced lines and use it as I've shown above.

Tracing the design...

Place the hexie embellished fabric over the pattern sheet and trace the stitchery design without the flower petals. Just add tiny dots slightly away from the centre circle...


Don't forget to trace one daisy onto your hexie...

 
Backstitch the words, and sew cross-stitches where indicated, using two strands of thread.
Satin stitch the centre of the daisies with two strands of thread.

Sew lazy daisy petals using three strands of thread. The larger the petals the more threads I like to use as they seem to 'fill' out the shape and create impact when you're stitching with threads similar in colour to your background fabric.


Just inside the edge of your hexie sew a line of running stitch with two strands of thread...


And that's "The Hexie Flower Show"!

I've no idea how you'll display your completed stitchery but mine became the cover of a needle-book (I have a serious addiction to needle-books this year)...


And can you see that I still have about a third of my original 5 inch charm square left? 
Never under-estimate the value of a pretty charm square and how many projects it can bring to life!


Want to see inside my new needle-book?


I chose a 10 inch square of Lecien's new Quilters Basics Smoothie Color Set for the inside fabric, then added folded charm squares from Petit Fleur as the pockets. 
I hid the raw inside edges of the pockets with cotton lace...


...and added a scrap of cotton quilt wadding for my needles and pins.


The binding across the top and bottom is the leftover piece of layer cake (origami square) that I'd used for the inside, and as I had no more left for the sides I used cotton lace instead. 


Using small pieces of fabric to create a new project is a lot of fun but I think we tend to forget that sometimes and look instead at our larger pieces like yardage or fat quarters for inspiration.

I don't use large quantities of fabric in my designs unless it's a quilt, and I only make a handful of them each year, so I've come to love charm square packs, sushi rolls and origami squares (or maybe you know them by other names such as layer cakes and  jelly rolls)  because I can buy the full fabric range from any designer I like in 'small pieces' and use them to miniature advantage. Gosh, it's fun!

What about you? Do you normally purchase small cuts, fat quarters or yardage?

My free "The Hexie Flower Show" pattern can be downloaded HERE in my shop.

Enjoy!


25 comments:

Allie said...

Oh my dear that is just gorgeous - like everything your hands find to create! The lace is THE perfect touch! Thank you!

Createology said...

I can see why you are loving needlebooks this year. This one is quite charming with the small pockets and details. The lace as binding is gorgeous. Thank you for another great FREE stitching design. I actually am on hold for purchasing any more fabrics...Mr. C has seen my supply in our recent remodel. Oops...I truly cannot complain.

Anonymous said...

Love your new needle keeper. Thanks for sharing another great project!
Carol O

Anonymous said...

That is SO adorable. I don't know how you do it time after time. A great design for a needlebook or a pincushion, and no doubt other purposes, too. I buy the biggest cut I can afford most of the time. Charm squares when I can't buy layer cakes. FQs when I can't afford yardage. =)

Martha Roberts said...

Love, Love, Love! Love how cute the needle keeper is, Love that you use every single little scrap, and Love that Mr. E took days off from work to spend with you and form an attachment with Merri. Just precious times. :^)

selina said...

ohhh my that is so adorably cute!
thanx so much for the free pattern, you are so very generous!
now all i need to do is learn to sew & embroider better :))

thanx for sharing

Águeda said...

Ha quedado muy dulce tu libro de agujas. Yo suelo comprar la tela en trozos de 25centímetros (que es un poco menos de 10"). Donde yo vivo no se pueden encontrar layer cake , ni jelly roll. Me gusta hacer mantas, pero disfruto tambien de los pequeños proyectos. En realidad podría pasar la vida cosiendo.
Gracias por tu trabajo. Bless you.

Ondrea said...

How pretty is that! Thanks for sharing.

Hildy said...

Thanks for sharing:-)

Leeanne said...

You are a generous loving person. This is so pretty.

Baa. xxx said...

Thanks for the pattern Jenny. It is so adorable!

Rya, Rotterdam said...

Dear Jenny, congratulations on the new member of your family. Breathless I watched the pictures of that sweet little doggy with her beautiful eyes.... I really can see how she wags her little tail..... Wish you luck and so much pleasure with her.
God bless you and all your loved ones.
Hug, Rya. m.lucas14@upcmail.nl

Sharon - creativity and family said...

Such a lovely little stitchery, thanks for sharing it with us. I usually buy fat quarters or larger, I have never bought charm packs, jelly rolls etc but I am starting to think that this would be a great way to get various prints in a set without spending a small fortune, especially as I have started to make a few little patchwork makes. x

Alison said...

That is a gorgeous pattern Jenny, thanks so much for sharing. I have started purchasing mini charm packs as well as I love making hexagon projects and am very keen on making small things like needlebooks and pincushions. They make such gorgeous gifts.

sunny said...

I LOVE it! I've been on a mission this year to use as much scrap fabric as possible. And sometimes I do have just a tiny piece of something that I can't part with. Thanks for sharing a great way to showcase those wee pieces.

Annerose said...

Das ist ja wiedermal super schön liebe Jenny, du machst immer so zarte schöne Sachen und deine Stiche sind wunderbar klein. Fantastisch.
Liebe Grüße Annerose

Brenda said...

Such a fun project for beautiful fabrics! On another site this morning, they were offering a English Paper Piecing Sew Along quilt project. Now you with your excellent tutorial and project. It is definitely fall and everyone is ready for the pace to slow down some. I am starting a hand applique project for the center of a DWR quilt that I think is going to be a lot of fun. Your tutorial will be of great help also. In all honesty, I am usually a yardage person. Yet, I am also a garage sale, second hand store buyer also so if I like something it does not matter to me the size, because like you have pointed out; you can still get quite a few spectacular pieces out of a 5" square. I think your Needle Case is beautiful and a wonderful way to showcase special fabrics! Thank you for sharing, enjoy your extra time with Mr.E and Merri. Bonding is especially important with puppies, plus maybe you will be able to take a nap and catch up on a few winks also! Have a wonderful creative day!

Sherry said...

I love the stitchery and your little needlecase, thanks again for sharing it with us. I like to buy charm squares, layer cakes and jelly rolls. It is a great way to buy a little of the many different fabric lines that I "fall in love" with. Have fun with your sweet puppy.

Christine M said...

What a pretty project, Jenny. That floral fabric is just gorgeous. It is amazing how far a 5 inch square can go. Thank you for sharing this pattern with us. Have a wonderful weekend with your new baby. How lovely Mr E has time off to bond with her too. Hugs, Christine xxx

Winifred said...

That is really lovely. You have such an eye for design Jenny.

Enjoy your time with the little one.

beefi8 said...

Truly beautiful! Thank you!!

Christina said...

Very pretty. Great way to use up every bit of fabric. I wish I could buy small amounts of fabric. I always buy yardage, as I'm afraid to run out or that I'll want more for a different project.

Anonymous said...

thankyou for sharing jenny its such a cute design,i hope you and Mr E have a wonderful weekend with Merri xx

Sisbabestitches said...

Such a sweet little design :) I'm a huge fan of scraps, it's so lovely to play with little bits, and it's amazing how far a truly loved piece of fabric can go.
Also thanks for showing how to sew those hexies backs, something I struggle with a bit :)

Jackie said...

You are so very talented and generous! Thank you for sharing....