Sew in Love {with Fabric}: hexies

Christmas in July continues with a week of holiday-themed tutorials! Stop by each day this week to see the featured tutorial and find out how you can enter to win the fabric line being used!

Today Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts is playing with Jackie Robinson's My Little Chickadee fabrics. And she's using hexies!

Here's Debby:

I love fabrics with animals and personality, but not so juvenile that they wouldn't appeal to an adult (for a gift). When asked to participate in this Sew in Love with Fabric Christmas in July hop, I knew that I would enjoy working with My Little Chickadee. I asked for 6 pieces (it was SO HARD) to choose

My Little Chickadees Fabrics

Look at these fabrics. You would have a hard time choosing, too!

My Little Chickadees

Here is a little bit of the print with the widely spaced chickadees:

I wanted to fussy cut those little birds. I wanted them to be the star! I thought of a previous blog post using some "birds". They are actually chickens (they're birds, right?) Do you remember this? It was called Boogie in the Hen House with No Fowl Play (the collection is called Fowl Play).

Fowl Play wall banner (or table topper)

I set to work fussy cutting 6 little chickadees. I cut a freezer paper template so I could isolate the chickadee before cutting it out. The height of my template is 4-1/2". The image will finish to 4".

One Little Chickadee

Then I cut a 2-1/2" strip of the green fabric and cut 60 degree triangles. I used a multi-sized 60 degree ruler. (I have shown how to cut these - and the hexagons - in a previous post).

60 degree triangles; will finish to 2" in height.

With 6 chickadee images and 12 green triangles, here is my next step. I sewed two triangles to the side of each chickadee hexagon (it REALLY helps to lay things out on your table or design wall so you can keep things straight). But if you visit the Fowl Play blog post, you will see these steps in more detail.

All 6 of the Chickadees making a circle

Sew three sets of chickadees together for the top and three for the bottom. Now it's time for the center seam.

Two halves of the ring of chickadees

Then - Holy Cow! There's a hole in the center? What's that about? Well, we'll just cover it up with an interfaced hexagon. This is the same size as the chickadees. Sew around outside with 1/4"; trim all excess interfacing. Clip into interfacing and turn right side out; press well. (I cover this part, too, in the Fowl Play post.)

Interface the center hexagon

And we will cut 6-1/2" triangles to square up the sides. Again, this can only be done with a 60 degree ruler. These are 30 degree triangles, btw.

Cutting the side triangles to "square up" the ring of chickadees

So, let's see the parts. The center interfaced hexagon is pinned and ready to be zigzag stitched to the ring. After I do that, THEN it's time to remove the interfacing.

Squaring up the sides

The last challenge is to find something creative to make from that awesome chickadee panel:

One of the four vertical sections of the Chickadee Panel

I am a visual learner. I often cut, stitch and then - RIP! That's what happened here. (Good thing I had more of the border fabric left!)

First border attempt

I didn't like it. So - yes - I took it off. Then I cut four borders so I could make some attempt to miter them. This is the best I could do!

Chickadee Ring

I think it's sweet, don't you? This will be a perfect Winter table topper or wall banner. It's not necessarily Christmas, so it will have a long life.

Can I show you just a few other things I made using English Paper Piecing? I used The New Hexagon book by Katja Marek for several of the blocks. And I finished them into little quiltlets as shown at Katja's Quilt Shop pages. And yes, I fussy cut the centers. Don't you just love them?

Dawn Block #23 (Traditional Twisted Hexagon block)

And there is a brand new perpetual calendar based on The New Hexagon with 366 more blocks! I fussy cut a little chickadee and put him/her in the center of the July 1 block.

Almost finished; will be a coaster or mug rug

And I did some more fussy cutting:

Fussy cutting for another of Katja's blocks

Yes, I was determined to make the best of that messed up border fabric!

Fussy cutting for another Grandmother's Flower Garden block

I fussy cut 6 birds and used them in a GFG block that includes red diamonds to "square" up the sides. Katja gives this block a name: Judy. I also turned this into a quiltlet.

11" x 13" super-sized Judy block

I am still making more of these little blocks. I can't help it. The chickadee fabric inspired me so!

Thanks, Debby! Head over to Debby's blog to enter for a chance to win a FQ bundle of My Little Chickadee fabric!

Don't miss our Christmas in July tutorials all this week!

Monday: Chris from made by ChrissieD, featuring Jolly Penguin and Friends

Tuesday: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts, featuring My Little Chickadee

Wednesday: Alison from Little Bunny Quilts, featuring Sparkle

Thursday: Cynthia from Quilting is more fun than Housework, featuring Holiday Cheer

Friday: Benartex blog design team featuring Joyful

Michele D'Amore's new collection for Contempo, Twilight, is so inviting! Warm chocolates and soothing blues shine in a variety of stripes, dots, leaves, circles, and hexies. Use the brown and blue together, or just pick one colorway. And we've got three free quilt patterns for you to download!