Adventures in Paper Piecing, ScrapHappy

ScrapHappy January 2026: Moving Forward on the Hexie Project

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Hello, it’s the 15th of the month I’ve rejoined the monthly ScrapHappy posting group hosted by Kate of Tall Tales From Chiconia.

Here are links to the blogs of the ScrapHappy participants:

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa, Tierney, Hannah and Maggie

Over the next couple of months I’ll be saving updates on my long time English Paper Piecing hexie rosette project to share on the 15th of each month for ScrapHappy.

In my most recent post on this project, Revisiting the EPP Quilt, I shared that I’ve been working on this project since 2016 when I fell in love with the quilt on the cover of Issue 1: Oregon of Quiltfolk Magazine.

I paper pieced 99 rosettes from my fabric scrap collection, attempting to coordinate the colors:

And finally I’ve begun setting the rosettes into blocks using my collection of scrap denim with plans to trim each block to 6.5 inches by 6.5 inches.

But I had to find the most efficient want to attach 99 rosettes to the denim scraps without having to hand appliqué them to the blocks. I was afraid if I committed to hand appliqué all 99 blocks, it would be another 9+ years until I finished this quilt!

So I decided to find a way to use my sewing machine to do it.

I researched my Bernina sewing machine books on the Bernina sewing machine feet and sewing machine stitches, and discovered I could use the #20C foot to sew a blanket stitch around each rosette to attach it (I decided to use a little Stitch Witchery Tape to anchor the rosette onto the denim before machine stitching).

After practicing on scrap denim I was able to figure it out and attach my first rosette and from there I put together my first 9 blocks:

Here they are squished together to sort of give you an idea of how the quilt might look:


I have a long way to go but it is a start!

I did discover that in addition to removing the paper from the hexies in each rosette, I still have to stitch some of the rosettes fully together! So there is a lot of work to get this project done and we’ll see how much progress I will have to report next month 🙂

Oh and yes it will be a heavy quilt using scrap denim as the setting squares but it is going to be a wall hanging in my upstairs guest room, not a utility quilt for snuggling under.

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Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

38 thoughts on “ScrapHappy January 2026: Moving Forward on the Hexie Project”

  8. I love my Bernina! (had to say) The blanket stitch is my #1 go-to for solving many types of quilty issues…it’s sooo versatile and easy (as in less time consuming than doing anything by hand) once you get the hang of keeping track of where the rhythm of the needle is when you need to make maneuvers! Great solution on the hexies!

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  11. Hi T, the first thing I actually thought of when i saw “denim” was the bit of extra weight this would have – and then you noted it at the end. And even tho it will be a wall hanging, when i thought of the extra weight, I was thinking of how awesome it would be as a “heavier option” for use on cold days or when we want a bit of weight.
    Back. in 2013, I bought this green comforter that turned out to be on the heavier side. I did not know it at the time and when I was struggling to decide between three final choices, I am so glad i went with that comforter. For a few years we used at and could have it rolled down at the foot of the bed and then brought up when more warmth and weight were needed. It was before all the weighted blankets came out to the mainstream market.
    Anyhow, we had a guest staying with us last winter and when he raved about the flannel sheets, I took that green comforter out of storage closet and he raved about that too. It is not ideal for the airbnb we have because it takes too long to wash and dry, but worked for that time. All this to say that your wonderful denim might be more functional with the extra weight – and the added bonus of cotton provides that all natrual covering!

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  12. Also, enjoyed learning more about the options your machine. offers and had to laugh with “f I committed to hand appliqué all 99 blocks, it would be another 9+ years until I finished this quilt!: hahah – glad this is not the case

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