Hi, I’m Jenny from the MSQC. And I am here today with Lisa Hirsch from the Kansas City
Modern Quilt Guild. Jenny: Welcome Lisa.
Lisa: Thanks for having me, Jenny. Jenny: It’s really fun. So we have, in January,
came out with this Mod Block. And we actually ran a, a contest at the, at Kansas City Quilt
Guild, the Modern Quilt Guild. Lisa: Yes.
Jenny: And what happened? Lisa: Well, I entered it with several other
people and in September you guys gave me a call and I was the winner for the contest.
Jenny: And she won for the contest. Now Mod Block is made up of a lot of designers that
we just had them go look at our tutorials and see if they could put a modern spin on
it. And Lisa put a modern spill on, a modern spin on our Hexi Quilt. And I want to show
you that right here because it is really cool. So what do you call this, Lisa?
Lisa: It’s called the Hexi Gems. And I used a half a charm pack and a full layer cake
to highlight some of the modern attributes of negative space and asymmetry, asymmetry.
Jenny: Oh, it’s very, very fun. I was just really intrigued by those little gems. By
how she used the hexis to make the little flowers. And so we decided, you know, the
half hexi was her inspiration. Our inspiration, she was our inspiration for this quilt. And
so we want to show you today how to make the hexi gems. So to make this quilt, what you’re
going to need is two packets of five inch squares. We’ve used Lucky by Lottie Yonsdautter
for Windham Fabrics. And you’re also going to need a packet of background squares. And
we’ve used the Bella solid, white for all of our background squares. And so basically,
Lisa, I’m going to have you show me how to do this.
Lisa: Sure. Jenny: And show you how to put it together
because you obviously might have some tips and tricks for us.
Lisa: Sure. So the first thing is you need to get these ready to go on your on
Jenny: On your squares Lisa: On your square. So you can either use
some of the fusible sheet, a Heat N Bond type product.
Jenny: And Heat N Bond, if you do use Heat N Bond you’re going to need 2 ½ yards of
that. Lisa: Ok. And if you don’t have that, then
a glue stick will work as long as it washes off.
Jenny: Something to hold it on there. You’re also going to need a half hexi ruler like
this Lisa: Um huh.
Jenny: And so show me how you Lisa: Other normal sewing things
Jenny: Well ya, just the normal stuff. Lisa: So because we cut this out from some
yardage, you’d have that pinking around it on a normal charm pack, so I’m going
to show you a trick of how to not have that in your finished project.
Jenny: Very cool. Lisa: So we’re going to first lay our fabric
on top of our Heat N Bond, get our iron going. And you probably want to make sure that you
can carefully work your iron around it so you don’t get that awesome sticky stuff
on your faceplate of your iron. Jenny: Ya, we don’t like the sticky stuff
Lisa: Nope Jenny: On the, on the faceplate.
Lisa: Give that a little jus. Jenny: Oh a jus.
Lisa: Yeah, why not? Jenny: I like that.
Lisa: And we’re going to come over here and
Jenny: I’ve got a whole new word, a jus. I’m always making up words. I like that.
Lisa: I do too. Jenny: Alright.
Lisa: So depending on what you want to do. Jenny: Did you trim this out? I’m assuming,
no? Lisa: I, I like to cut it in half and come
back and get the angles. Jenny: Oh, ok. So let me just trim this off
of here so we’ll clean this up a little bit.
Lisa: So depending on, I mean, as long as it gets cut into a hexagon, a hexagon or a
half hexi, it doesn’t really matter, right? Jenny: Well, does it? Because, because of
the little pinked edges. Lisa: Well ya, the pinked edge.
Jenny: Ok. Lisa: So I like to
Jenny: So now I have it in half. Lisa: Um huh. Really we’d have our pinked
Jenny: Let me move this so they can see it. Lisa: We’d have our pinked edges out here.
So I’m going to put the long edge of the half hexi matching with the pinked edge so
that will get hidden in the seam allowance. So I’ll turn that so
Jenny: Because this is, these are all going to be ironed on squares on top.
Lisa: Yes, ma’am, they’re just going to be satin stitched or whatever you like to
do for your Jenny: I like that. Do you like the satin
stitch? Lisa: You know, I like a good satin stitch
or I like a good blanket stitch. It kind of depends on what I’m doing.
Jenny: Yeah. Lisa: Is it more about how it’s being attached
and who’s going to use it. Jenny: Right.
Lisa: Versus, is it going to be more of like a showy kind of thing. But I kind of make
all my quilts for people to use and love and wash a bajillion times and so.
Jenny: Ya, me too. I’m pretty much a utilitarian quilter.
Lisa: So now, we’ve got that cut out. Always close your rotary cutter.
Jenny: Alright. So now basically we have to make two different sets of blocks for this
quilt. Lisa: Ya, ya.
Jenny: So let me get some solid squares out here. Down here on the bottom, I think.
Lisa: Uh huh. Jenny: Alright. So here’s our solids and
we’ve got a few more of these hexis cut out over here, ready to go. Now our first
block is just going to have two squares on it, correct?
Lisa: Yep. And so you’re going to just take two
Jenny: We can actually, we probably, well let’s do it right here so they can see it.
And we’ll carefully move it to the iron, the ironing board.
Lisa: Ok. So I’m just going to take two of contrasting fabric patterns. Maybe like
a light and a dark. Maybe like a striped and a print. Whatever you like the best is good.
We just used little strips on this one instead of using the whole sheet.
Jenny: Well ya. This is, that’s great for scraps. It’s got to hang on long enough
to do it. Lisa: So what I do is, you’re working towards
meeting this corner from the short end of your half hexi. And it’s going to need to
touch the other one. So right now they’re a little off kilter. And so you’re just
going to move it on down. It’s about an inch and a quarter depending on how the manufacturer
has got your five inch charm pack. And so they just kind of touch, just ever so in the
middle. Jenny: That’s perfect. And then we iron
those Lisa: Iron those suckers down and you’re
ready to go to your machine. So with that transference we’ll just kind of get it back
into place. Jenny: I just loved how this came together.
This was like Lisa: So fast.
Jenny: You know it was one of those . Well and you do, you do so many of these things.
And somebody just tweaks it and does something different and it’s like a whole new something.
And it’s just like, Oh my gosh, that’s so cool.
Lisa: Ya. And so the neat thing is, because my mom, she is a huge inspiration in all the
creative things that I do. And sometimes you’ve got to like start with a box mix and then
put a little spin on it Jenny: There you go
Lisa: A little lemon zest in it and it’s a whole new thing.
Jenny: Alright so now what we’re going to do is we’re going to stitch around these.
Lisa: Uh huh. Jenny: Because we want them to hold on.
Lisa: Yep Jenny: And you can use, like you said, a satin
stitch, we’re going to use a little blanket stitch. And we’re just going to stitch around
these and you’ll be able to see this right here as I’m coming around the mountain.
And. Lisa: And I don’t think you have to worry
too much about the corner on the long edge because it does get stuck into that seam allowance.
I was really picky about mine. But it wasn’t really
Jenny: But nobody saw it. Lisa: No one saw it.
Jenny: Ha, ha. Lisa: Spend your time on other things, right?
Jenny: I love how we do that though. We’re like, Oh my gosh, you know.
Lisa: I’ve got to pin it. No, just get around it.
Jenny: Ha, ha. And it’s like, oop, nobody even saw that. It was in the seam.
Lisa: Yep. And so if you’re really particular you could match your thread to each one but
in the end, you’ve got to just decide how much time do you want to put in it.
Jenny: Ya, I would never do that. Lisa: Well I was a little special and I did
that on the gray one. Jenny: Did you really? You changed
Lisa: Eleven different colors of thread. Jenny: Oh my gosh. That’s really, well you
know, and that’s really, the cool thing about that is everybody is different. Everybody
going to do something a little different. Lisa: Ya
Jenny: A little bit differently. And it’s going to work.
Lisa: The second time I made it, I didn’t do that. Ha, ha.
Jenny: You’re like, alright, I admit it. True confessions.
Lisa: Nope, nope. Get done. Jenny: Alright so are actually going to make
20 of these. Lisa: You’re gonna make 20 of those.
Jenny: And now we have to make the other set. Lisa: Yep.
Jenny: Which is the same thing but on both corners. Correct?
Lisa: Yep, I’m going to move it over here so that it’s a little bit easier.
Jenny: Ok. Let me scoot these things here so we can make sure we can see.
Lisa: And not move it around. And so when I’m looking at, at which ones to pick, I
do kind of want a little bit of everything. And since I have that blue and the polka dot
over here, it’s alright. I’m not going to put them next to each other in that one.
Jenny: Right. Lisa: So then you have a little bit more variety,
sometimes you can control that planned chaos a little bit.
Jenny: Ya, I love that word, planned chaos. That’s great. I call it controlled scrapping.
Lisa: Controlled scrapping Jenny: Oh here’s a plain orange, do you
want another? Lisa: Oh, well
Jenny: You want a flower so it’s different. Lisa: I’ve got a flower. It doesn’t matter.
So we’ll glue it down, stick it down and then, when you tumble them around, we’ll
just make sure they match up. Jenny: And again, when you cut your tumblers,
not your tumblers, your half hexis, you want to make sure that if you have a pinked edge
on one of yours that the pinked edge is on the bottom.
Lisa: Uh huh. On that one edge. Jenny: So that it will go into the seam because
all the rest of it we topstitch down. And you don’t want to have that little pinked
edge, you know, on your line like that. Lisa: Uh huh.
Jenny: So that’s probably, I would say that’s probably one of the main tips.
Lisa: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And you can get rid of that. There we go.
Jenny: So now what we’re going to do is we’re going to do the same thing and we’re
going to stitch all the way around these just like we did on here.
Jenny: So once you get your blocks done, we’re going to have 20 that have two’s and 20
that have four’s, we are ready to lay them out.
Lisa: Yep. Jenny: And this is actually a standard layout
because there are 42 blocks in the, in the, in the layer cake, you’re going to get six,
six blocks across by seven rows down. And so we have four here. And we have four because.
Yes, we’re going to put a solid square at the, on, on each side.
Lisa: Yep. Jenny: So you can see what we’ve done with
this top row. This top row is all just the two’s. And we’ve just laid them right
sides together. And Lisa, you, you, have a little trick for keeping these together.
Lisa: Yep, all you need is probably two pins. If you get to be a fancy expert you don’t
need them at all. But you would just pin it right where those half hexis start and stop
to kind of keep that. Jenny: Well you want to make sure those are
lined up. Lisa: Ya
Jenny: You do want to make sure those are lined up so that’s a good, that’s a good
tip. Lisa: The white area, kind of that secondary
focus, and so it doesn’t matter so much if they’re a little off
Jenny: Right. Lisa: I’d rather cheat that area then to
have that area. Jenny: Oh gosh yes. So, so this is our, actually
our first row. So after the first row, then what happens?
Lisa: Then I like to kind of figure out the four’s a little easier because, you know,
those are big. And then I like, alright now I know what needs to come into here.
Jenny: You start making your gems. Lisa: Yep. And so then, you can go like that.
And then, oop. Jenny: Oh that’s so cool.
Lisa: I need you to put that one over there. Because it’s a four.
Jenny: Oh I will. Oh here we go. Lisa: And then on the
Jenny: Wait. Lisa: The first column and the last column,
you’ll always use a two block so then you can have that kind of resting place for your
eye. If you wanted to have a half of a hexi gem, you could do that too.
Jenny: So then on this one over here I’m going to
Lisa: Yep Jenny: Match these up and then out here, I’m
going to have a two. Lisa: Yep.
Jenny: That is very cool. So then that really just leads you into the next row.
Lisa: You bet. Oh yeah. Jenny: Doesn’t it? Because really what you’re
making is these little gems. Lisa: Yep
Jenny: So you’ll go ahead and do six rows of these. Again there’s seven blocks across
and six down. Match your gems and put them together. So the main tips on this are we’re
going to use pins right here when we put them together.
Lisa: Uh huh. Yep. Jenny: We’re going to make sure that our
pinked edge Lisa: Your pinked edge is the long edge of
your fabric Jenny: On the bottom that’s going to go
in the seam. Lisa: Uh huh. And then using some kind of,
either a glue stick of your Heat N Bond will save you from any.
Jenny: Slippage. Lisa: Slippage. And if you put pins in there
it gets kind of a little cumbersome. Jenny: So I just love the way this flower
went together. I love, you know, it’s such a cute block. It’s, you know, I love, I
just love what you did with it, bringing them together. And you even made a little pillow
out of it too. Lisa: Oh sure. So sometimes you need those
little fast, quick gifts. And so it’s really simple
Jenny: And sometimes you really want to see what it’s just going to look like.
Lisa: Oh yeah. Test it out too. Jenny: So isn’t this darling? I think this
is a really cute idea. And sometimes you just have that one block that you need something
for. Lisa: You bet. You bet.
Jenny: This is a great idea for that as well. So Lisa’s quilt, you can actually find in
Mod Block. It’s right here. It’s called Hexi Gems, right here in our Mod Block. And
we’re calling ours Hexi Gems Garden, Lisa: Garden.
Jenny: The Hexi Gems Flower Garden. It’s been so great having you here today.
Lisa: Oh thanks so much for having me. Jenny: It’s been really fun. So we hope
you enjoyed this tutorial from the MSQC.