Halloween Hexagon English Paper Pieced Pillow

It’s honestly embarrassing to think about how long I’ve been working on this particular project.  While I’ve recently finished it, I know that I picked it back up over three years ago.  And that means that I’d started it a couple of years at least before that.  And I’m not sure in looking at the finished product that anyone would know how long I’ve worked on it.  But that is the beauty of a long term travel project with English Paper Piecing.

 

I was gifted this set of Halloween fabrics and the epp hexagons.  In fact, I think I won someone’s giveaway on Instagram years ago.  You know it’s been a while when you have little memory of who gave you these.  I just remember her being very sweet and generous with her fabrics and products.  Some of these hexagons came to me already glue basted to their paper.  Most of them though I hand basted the fabric around the hexagon rather than through or use glue.  There are so many different ways to get going on a project like this.

 

The picture above shows what the majority of time was spent doing.  Basting individual hexagons and then laboriously hand stitching those hexagons into rows, and then those rows to each other.  I can even tell when I worked on certain pieces because I tried using multiple hand sewing stitches to put these together.  Some of them I definitely like more than others but they are more work.  I think I’d recommend the ladder stitch method of piecing for keeping it tidy.  But let’s be honest.  Sometimes you just need to get some stitching done and don’t want to be overly fussy about it. (Think hour 3 into a plane ride with dim light and kids kicking your seat)

 

As always, I have kitty approval of my work.  I wouldn’t know what to do it the cats ever ignored my fabric.  I might have to get rid of it! lol This is definitely an interesting selection of fabrics that I did not pick out.  But I pushed myself to use it because I know that it’s important for me to step outside my comfort zone.  This pillow was promptly claimed by my teenage daughter and I love that it spoke to her.   I’ll admit that I’m particularly fond of the dancing skeletons I used for the back of the pillow.  How can you not be happy when you see how much fun they are having?

Lest you think that I encountered no problems while constructing this pillow at any stage,  let me let you in on a not so well kept secret.
I make mistakes.

A lot of mistakes.

I cut the size of the pillow incorrectly.  I chopped off the ends of the zipper and had to look up how to salvage it.  I sewed pieces together backwards.  My pillow insert was the wrong size.  Really…what did I do correctly?!

 

 

But that is all okay!  Because I remind myself that I love to create and to quilt in particular.  That it is about the journey which wanders all over the place.  The final project is fun to keep but most often I give away the things that I’ve made so I rely on pictures to even remember the project…much less the drama of the project.  Right now I’m sewing leotards for my daughter and let me tell you, that is a humbling experience.  Mistakes happen, solutions are found, and sometimes projects turn out better than expected (though they do sometimes turn out worse too). It’s all part of that creative process that I continue to learn through.

 

So after about 5 years? Maybe? Probably more! I present to you a completed project of hand sewn halloween hexagons that are english paper pieced.  And even as I bemoaned the amount of time this took, I was already planning on what my next epp project should be.  I really think it is wise to have a travel project always around and ready to go.  Suddenly I want to know if there is an ornament that I could make!  That’s a bit tinier and has the probability of getting done in 2 years or so. 😉