Posted by After the success and sheer pleasure of my Liberty fabric paper piecing glasses case I was very keen to try out some paper piecing on something a little larger.
I still had my second bag of 50 precut Liberty hexies to play with from VeryBerryFabrics
So with plans to give our joint office/workroom a facelift in the next couple of months I have decided to piece together a Liberty hexie wall hanging to hang above my work station.
I’ll beef up my 50 hexies with another 50 from some bargain bucket Liberty Lawn picked up at Yarndale last summer. I’m hoping that the use of a single colour throughout the hanging will add some depth, bringing the whole piece togther rather than just a mass of mini print.
I’ve made a start.
But is this cheating? Look no stitches!
Jo from ThreeStoriesHigh steered me in the direction of this paper piecing glue pen.
I held off intially, thinking that I should be enjoying the WHOLE PROCESS and not just skipping to the piecing part but then I thought, ‘What the hell, my evenings are short enough.’
100 hexagons basted in one night!
Tonight the sewing starts.
I thought I would just leave you with this.
My daughter’s Bakewell tart; it was yummy! She has truly surpassed me with this bake. Jealous?
Love, Lucie xx
Love, Lucie 
Yes, please send me a slice up the A1. Clever way to avoid the tacking stage, a new one on me. It’s going to be lovely.
LikeLike
The tart didn’t last long and there is only the 3 of us in this household!
LikeLike
I NEED THAT GLUE PEN! I’m working on a couple of hexie projects at the moment and this would save me hours! Looking forward to seeing your finished product 🙂
LikeLike
I thought it would work out expensive but have basted 10o hexies with just one glue stick and it comes with a spare refill that you can also buy separately.
LikeLike
I’m obviously way behind the times as I’ve never heard of a paper piecing glue pen! I think it’s a great idea and, no, it’s not cheating because all those tacking stitches would have had to come out anyway. I also cook a mean Bakewell Tart. But mine NEVER looks as pretty as your daughter’s:)
LikeLike
I would truely recommend the pen. I’m on my first glue stick refill after 100 hexies so it hasn’t run out as quickly as I had feared.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve just read about that glue pen on another blog while surfing for ideas of what to do with my (eventual) stash of hexies. First of all I thought “well, no, I find the whole basting process therapeutic” but then I thought, do I? I can get therapy enough when it’s time to whipstitch them all together and, as sewchet says above, those basting stitches are only there to hold them together temporarily. Let’s go with the glue I say!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, ha, that was my initial thought too.The first pen is quite pricey at £5.99 but it came with a spare refill which I’ve not yet touched. I found the quick gluing of the hexies VERY therapeutic! I would go with the glue from now on.
LikeLike
Short cuts are a great idea, why spend time tacking if it can be done using a quicker method. I am sure once it is completed you won’t be able to tell the difference. The Bakewell looks delicious.
LikeLike
The removal of the paper hexies will be super quick too and I won’t end up covered in tiny pieces of thread from cutting the stitches away. So win win IMO!
LikeLike
This glue sounds amazing, is it water soluble?
LikeLike
Yes it is but I won’t need to dampen it to remove the paper pieces. They seem to just peel away from the fabric with no tackiness remaining. I’ll probably not bother washing to remove anything that remains it as this will be a wall hanging and not a bed quilt. It dries clear.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not cheating but a way to fit sewing into modern life. Also known as evolution! Enjoy that tart, looks awesome.x
LikeLike
I like that, ‘evolution’. And as you say we have moved on from hand sewing all our own garments!
LikeLike
Evolution is an important part of life, if it didn’t happen we would still be growing our own food!
LikeLike
I have been avoiding any project that involved paper piecing as it seemed so time consuming BUT you may have just changed my mind!
LikeLike
It’ll still not be a super quick project but will probably halve the overall time. I think any paper piecing project has to be seen as a relatively slow make but it definitely gets you over the first monotonous part!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jealous? Im drooling! Over the fabric too!, but ive not tried anything like what youre doing, its looks very fiddly..good luck! 😀
LikeLike
A little fiddly but I like to have a project that I can do in front of the TV in the evenings when I finally get to sit down for a couple of hours before bed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How cool! This might actually convince me to do a hexie project! Question though, do you handsew all the hexies together for the final product? If so, do you need to have neat stitching? I’ve put off trying because my stitching is a mess!
LikeLike
Yes, unfortunately you do have to hand sew a hexie project and yes, you do need to have neat stitching. I would have a quick practice before you committed time and money to something larger or just stick to machine sewn quilting/patchwork.
I have seen a technique for using a machine zigzag stitch to join hexies but of course that will give you a different result.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for all that info! Hmm, maybe I will start with something small like your glasses case – I could use one of those!!
LikeLike
Im not sure id waste all that glue on hexies (cheap pritt sticks are just as good), but i certainly use school glue regularly in quilting. Sharon Schamber uses it profusely! That is a tasty looking bakewell!
LikeLike
I was surprised that the glue stick went such a long way. 100 hexies plus with the first refill. I would get into a mess with a pritt stick, it would be too wide for me. This one is the perfect width for the fold. But then who I am to preach to the expert 😉
LikeLike
I think I’m too ham fisted. They last about five minutes for me… Im sure it’ll be immaculate whatever you do!
LikeLike
Definitely not cheating, whatever makes the craft more enjoyable is OK in my book!
Yummy looking Bakewell 🙂
LikeLike
My thoughts on both, exactly!
LikeLike
Your project looks glorious. Every time I see something you’ve made/are making I wish I could sew! Love the idea of a glue pen! I’ve just bought my friend a glue gun for his birthday (and several thousand sequins 😉 just because) and I am seriously coveting it!
LikeLike
Thank you for your lovely comments. There’s something about blogging and reading other blogs that is just so inspiring and makes me want to do just everything! Most of my wedding was held together with a glue gun.
LikeLike
Yay you got one – life is just too short sometimes for the long way home. XXXXX Happy gluing. Jo x
LikeLike