Hexie Layout

I started making crumb hexies back in 2015, as a lark.  Something to do with the pieces of fabric that seemed too big to throw out but too small to put back in my stash.  I had a bunch of extra flannel, which I used as batting.  Additionally, I wanted a project (eventually) that I could work on while hanging out with my friends, like they did with knitting or crocheting.  I created a pair of templates and started sewing these bound little blocks.

Obviously, the pick-up-and-go portion of this project was way far off.  Somewhere, maybe a year or two into making these, I decided I wanted this to be a throw quilt.  I did some calculations how many pieces I'd need (and some idea how long it would take) and went out to buy enough flannel to complete the set. 

The last time I cut flannel pieces, I finished off the yardage I had bought.  The end was in sight!  As I paired up my latest batch of hexies to fleece, I had only two pre-cut fleece pieces left.  So close!  I dug through my leftovers and cobbled together two more hexies, then cut more backing and stitched together my very last dozen hexies.

The rest were all jammed in a basket.  As I unpacked them from the basket, they looked a little like an inchworm.  298 pieces.  I can't believe it.  I managed to cut and assemble the exact number I needed.  When I laid them out on the floor, I was certain I'd either have a few extra or more likely, be one or two short.  Doesn't it look terrific?

It's a noisy quilt.  I put off stitching it together until I had all the pieces because I wanted to impose a little order on it.  I had no control over the middles, but I decided to lay out the quilt based on the backing/binding (which I couldn't do until they were all cut).  I ended up with a lot of pale colors, whites and creams.  There was lots of blue, a fair amount of green, a splash of red and a little yellow/orange/gold.  I planned to run the colors from one corner across the quilt.  But when I sat down with all the hexies, I started with the black, grey and brown, and moved out from the center.  So the colors run in a circular manner around the quilt.

Actually, now that I look at it, my black is hardly in the center.  Of course, there's lots of fabric that isn't predominantly one color.  Yeah - chaos.  But I'm quite pleased with this chaos.

I came up with a basic assembly plan, pinned pieces together, pulled the quilt off the floor.  I am laughing at the irony - I finally have a project that can travel and have nowhere to go.  Ah, the best-laid plans of mice and men....

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