How to use an easy hexagon cutting template for fabric shapes

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

I’m smitten with hexies, fabric cut in the shape of a hexagon. They have been a big trend in the sewing and quilting world for probably four years now. You can even buy precut fabric hex shapes at the fabric store, in-person and online. People are using hexies in their sewing projects like crazy! Just do a Google image search or Instagram search and you’ll see. So, I bought this cool template to try my hand at hexie shapes – an EZ Quilting Tool 5″ Hexagon acrylic tool by Simplicity.

Let’s try cutting a 2″ finished hexagon. I’ll use paper to demonstrate.

1) Cut your fabric in a strip to the width you want. (1/2″ is added for your seam allowance.) Place the template over your strip of fabric, all the way to the edge, and using a rotary cutter, make cuts at the edge as shown by my dotted lines.

Note: I’ve heard that the smaller rotary cutter is much easier to use. Guess I’ll have to run out and get one of those too.

2) Flip your fabric over, and line up your cut edge with the template at the desired size. Now cut the other side of your hex shape.

3) You’re done! You can continue cutting down the fabric strip by just lining up your template edge with the corner…

…You’ll have cute triangular pieces to add to your scrap bin. (And I’m sure all the avid sewists have scrap bins.)

Short of owning my own die-cutting machine, I can make all sorts of sizes with this simple tool. *grin* And, it stores very easily.

Stay tuned for a pillow project that uses the hex shapes in an applique. THANKS!

Birthday Part 2: Painting Pottery

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

Really, this was “part one”. I kicked off my fabulous 40th birthday weekend with a ladies night out at our local pottery studio, If an Elephant Can Paint. What a treat to be able to sit and paint our own projects (not our kids’), and talk (uninterrupted).

I looked around the table at friends who span my childhood, grade school, high school, post-college and now, from my kids’ school. I am crazy blessed to have these people in my life.

We even learned a silkscreening technique.

My painted platter in progress

Salt shaker in progress

Special thanks to Vicky and her crew at the studio!! You can check out our finished projects album, too. It’s at my personal Facebook page… until I transfer some pics here. Enjoy!

Painting Rocks Shoe Style

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

My family and I had so much fun on vacation and even made time to craft. With a few river rocks and some acrylic paint, paint pens and imagination, we made a bunch of cute desktop doo-dads. The “fairy house” I painted (upper lefthand corner) will end up in a miniature fairy garden that my daughter and I have yet to make.

My sis-in-law found a flip-flop rock – ridges in the right spot for the “thong” part. The Converse-inspired rock for my nephew might be my favorite.

Mugshot Monday: Walls

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

PROMPT from Monday Mugshots Collaboration May 30th: My Walls. Do you have walls that you put up?
SHOOTERS: Shoot your mug in front of a cool textured wall.

I could have gone all deep and philosophical on this topic, but I just wanted to go for face value this time. This wall might not be super textured; it’s one wall of our home which we built on our own. (Well, let me clarify that, we general contracted on our own. My father-in-law and husband did the site management during the summer.) It seems like a long time ago now. Seven years.

My cup of tea sits in front of water-stained limestone, and next to a newly planted lemon balm plant. I’m dreaming of a tea garden where lemon balm, chamomile and lavender can coexist. We have healthy echinacea growing but I always forget that we can use the buds for tea.

This morning I snagged my husband’s Intelligentsia mug for a few sips while I worked on a friend’s subway art piece. (Needed more caffeine since I finished mine so quickly.) And yes, I cut out letters by hand.

I realize I haven’t been very timely or good about sharing tutorials this Spring, and now we’re into Summer vacation – oy! Friends, I’m primarily trying to do more, sit less… so not to worry, I’m still making, baking, creating. Join me at Instagram or at the Facebook page for more of the daily happenings. Thanks and do let me know if you’re keeping up with Monday Mugshots!

Making A Memory Pillow

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

… or you could call it a Keepsake Pillow.

Years ago, I wanted to make a memory quilt with prayers and well-wishes for my aunt and uncle. At the time, my uncle was battling an illness. Thankfully, he recovered – and then the project lay in my “to-do” pile. Fast forward to this year. We celebrated his 60th birthday. (Time has been very good to him. He stays active, keeps good company, and stays youthful with his 20-something-year-old kids.)

I resurrected the gift idea. You know, something thoughtful… but I downsized it to something manageable, like a pillow. A pillow cover, I could do; this time I added a zipper instead of doing an envelope enclosure.

Materials used: 20 in. square pillow form, fabric, iron-on sheets for an ink-jet printer, 22 in. all-purpose zipper

Wish I could say I documented all the steps, but this was really a free-flow, stream of consciousness project. No definite measurements, but I could probably go back and figure it out. Should I?

The front and back of the pillow cover are giant quilt squares. 20-1/2” square, to be exact. Something so heartfelt about handwriting on fabric. And, then to pair it with printed text… Kinda wonky, kinda cool. I worked out our family and friends’ names on wordle.net, and while I love color, I just ran out of colored ink for our printer. So black and white, it was.

(This zipper tutorial was really helpful.)

Hooray, it worked!

This is why you unzip before sewing

Another thoughtful project completed. On to the next one…

Mugshot Monday (on Wednesday): The Going-Ons

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Juliet Tiu

Surprise visit from my sis-in-law, birthday project, works-in-progress… no wonder I missed posting on Monday! Well, not totally. I did post my mugshot on Instagram. But here’s an “outtake”.

Here I have a mug of Café Maté from our favorite tea shop … a delicious alternative to coffee, lovely with milk. Almost enough to wake me up from the Daylight Savings stupor. What it as bad for everyone else? Awful.

Speaking of TeaLula, we did the Harlem Shake! Crazy tea shop friends.

So, what’s been churning in the craft room these days?

Here’s the finished nursery art project for my niece. I went with a monkey theme after the burp cloths I made for her, and she just loves her monkey “binky”. My daughter made the quilled bananas, and I found the little bugs on sale at Michael’s. I added some bling (what girl doesn’t like bling?) and buttons to add some interest. Want a closer look? I posted a picture at the Facebook page.
A Chicago Bulls fan, quilt in progress, read on!

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