My first "Hexie"

I really needed a distraction yesterday, and as I read through just about each and every post on WIP Wed, I decided it was time to do my first hexie!  I've been an admirer of these hexie quilts for ages, but the hand sewing part of it really discouraged me from trying.  My hands are really in bad shape after too many years of uncorking and corking test tubes in the medical lab, so I really try to avoid hand sewing, because it causes my hands to cramp and go numb if I do it for too long. 

So I decided to start small.... really really small, with the tiniest of subjects.  One of tiniest of things is a molecule.  The hexie shape,  recently acquired coffee fabric and my inner science nerd coalesced yesterday, and the "caffeine molecule hexie" was born. I have to admit too, that it really was so nice to have a hand project to work on while I watched the finale of American Idol last night (for the record, James "Durbin was my favorite, with Cassey being a close second).

It was my first ever use of freezer paper, first hexie, and first hand-sewn project in many years (I was an avid cross-stitcher in high school, college and through my 20's though).  Trying to get my new machine to sew the rest was a challenge, and I'm not entirely happy with the outcome, but for such a small project, I learned a heck of a lot in a very short time!!  It also reminded me that I don't need to tackle a whole quilt to learn a new technique.  Sometimes just a sample block and a few hours can teach me a great deal!

Of course one thing led to another and as I worked, I came up with a new quilt idea, and different techniques to try next time!  I don't think I'll be doing very many more of these hand sewn beauties, but I'm very happy to admire others in blog land!!