I’ve been obsessed with hexagons ( aka hexies ) lately but not the time it takes to piece them together. I’m not great at hand sewing and it’s time consuming so today I’d like to share 2 methods I’ve tried that saved me a lot of time with no sewing involved. Yes, that’s right – hexie paper pieceing that doesn’t require a needle and thread!
Hexie Paper Piecing
I’ve read a lot of posts that use needle and thread to baste the fabric to the hexagon template. My method is to simply use a glue stick ( I used my favorite Scotch brand one ) and glue down each corner. To reduce the bulk of the fabric on the back, I cut my fabric in a hexagon slightly larger than my template.
1) Start off by centering your paper template in the middle of your fabric. Fold the top edge down and glue the corner with glue stick and fold the fabric from the adjacent side over. Try to only glue the fabric and not the paper so it’ll be easier to take out the paper template later. If you do get glue on the paper, simply tug on the fabric a little and it should release from the paper. Note I’ve only tried this with a Scotch glue stick so other brands may or may not be more permanent when bonded to the paper.
2) The result looks like this. Continue gluing down the corners and folding down the adjacent side.
3) When you reach the last side, glue down both corners indicated by the arrows in the image below and fold over the last edge.
4) Your finished hexie from the front. Wasn’t that easy?
Piecing Hexies – No Sew Method
Now in the interest of full disclosure I did hand sew the hexies together for my first flower just to see how difficult it was. Needless to say, after I was done I figured there had to be an easier way!
The secret is to use fusible web to bind the hexies together. I used Pellon EZ Steam II but I think you can use any brand as long as one side is fusible and the other side has protective paper you can peel off. This product has terrible reviews on Amazon so if you can get Steam A Seam 2 I would suggest getting that as an alternative. I tried using fusible interfacing but the problem with that is you need to use a wet cloth to activate the glue which would cause your paper template to get wet and warp.
Disclaimer – I have not tried this fusible web to make a hexie quilt or stitched the hexies on to a quilt so I can’t say how it will hold in the wash. I suggest you try 1 quilt block with this method and stitch it down to batting as you would the actual quilt and then run it in the wash several times to see it the fusible web will hold up. If your project will be mostly displayed and not washed then I think the fusible web will hold.
Here are 2 hexie flowers I pieced together. The one on the left was hand pieced together and the right one uses strips of EZ steam to bind the hexies together.
Just to show you how strong the fusible web is, see how the hexies are all bonded together even when I hold it up with a clothes pin.
Closer view from the front. Can you tell it was not hand pieced together?
Another benefit of 2 sided fusible web is I can position my hexie and then iron it on like an applique before stitching it down.
So there you have it- hexie piecing that doesn’t require sewing. Do you have any hexie piecing shortcuts?
Thanks for stopping by today and happy “mad” hexie making!
Would this trick work on a quilt?? Or are they fragile? I love hexi quilts but haven’t made one yet. Have you made a hexi quilt using this technique?
Great question! I’ve updated my post with a disclaimer to address your question as I’ve gotten the same question from another reader.
Does this stay together when you make a quilt or table runner, etc.? I’m kind of a newbie at all this stuff!
I find it hard to sit long enough to make many hexie flowers, but I love how they look as accents on quilts. I will try this next time. BTW how do you get the paper out after you have glued it?
Try to only glue the fabric and not the paper so it’ll be easier to take out the paper template later. If you do get glue on the paper, simply tug on the fabric a little and it should release from the paper. Note I’ve only tried this with a Scotch glue stick so other brands may or may not be more permanent when bonded to the paper.
What are the fabrics that you used for the pink flower? Love the colour combination!
They’re both Liberty London cotton lawn fabrics. The pink is Kaylie Sunshine and the center yellow hexie is June’s Meadow.
What an interesting method! I am currently hand piecing a hex quilt.
I’m on a hexie kick lately too! My luck with glue and hexies has not been good, but your method looks a little less messy! Great tips and ideas!
Interesting idea!
Really interesting! Thanks for sharing.
What a great prep idea for faster assembly! I’ve used a fair amount of fusible construction, and here is my input on this application: Fantastic for faster assembly and ease of placement onto a top. Properly fused, the bond will be pretty good, but if it will be used and washed, you’ll want to do quilting along the joins between the sub-units to secure it more permanently (because here and there the fusible will eventually start to life up without some kind of stitching holding the edges down. A tiny zig-zag or curvy stitch would work just great. One trade-off will be the bit of stiffness added to the quilt, but using strips like this goes a lonnnng way to mitigating that. Might not be the best choice for a show/competition quilt, though. But for everyday quilts and fast production: Why haven’t I seen this technique before?? 😀 Thanks for sharing!
I already used glue, but I always glued the paper. I’ll try your method. Thanks.
Popping over from Finish it up Friday. I love the look of hexies but don’t have much interest in the hand sewing so I love the idea of the fusible. Will definitely keep this in mind. Thanks for sharing.