This is part of the series of posts for the Hexy MF quilt along. For more information see the previous posts here and here.

So by now you may have started cutting and are wondering where to go next. How do you turn all those bits of paper and bits of fabric into hexagons that you can sew together?
Well, you need to baste the fabric to the paper shapes, and there are a couple of ways you can do this – glue or thread. On Saturday I’ll show you how to thread baste, but for today we are looking at glue basting which is how I’m doing my shapes (although most usually I thread baste). Firstly – let me apologise for the slightly blurry pictures, it’s tricky taking pics and basting at the same time!

The benefits of glue basting are mostly to do with the amount of time you will save. It’s fast, it’s precise, you get a lovely clean edge, and it’s easy. The downside is the glue can become hardened if you leave your project for a long while, and the papers can be trickier to remove because of it. Tip – steam your finished piece with a steam iron, or by hanging in a steamy bathroom to loosen up the glue when it’s time to take out your papers and slide a pin under the edge of the fabric to loosen the paper a little as you remove them.

(You can click on this mosaic pic below and it’ll take you to flickr, where you can download it to your computer and print out for easy reference should you wish!)

First up – you will need to get a sewline glue pen. You can buy these in many haberdashery/sewing/craft stores, or just pop a search in google for online stores. The glue when wet is coloured, but dries clear. I would suggest you test it out first on a bit of scrap fabric though, just to be safe. You can also use a regular glue stick, but don’t get a good brand – the cheaper the glue stick, the weaker the glue, and the better it is for removing your paper later. Although I would recommend the sewline glue pen over a regular glue stick, regular glue sticks are water soluble but they are also stickier and gloopier and the glue makes the papers trickier to remove. If you want to use a regular glue stick just bear this in mind – it saves you money, but isn’t as good.

Give your paper a quick swipe in the centre so it’ll stick to the wrong side of your hexagon and hold everything in place as you baste.

Now swipe a thin line of glue onto the edge of one of the hex sides. Don’t use too much.

Fold over the edge and finger press down

Move on to the next edge

And keep going with all 6 sides

And there you go – carry on with all of your hexies in the same way…or hang on until the weekend and consider thread basting instead.

I have FINALLY decided upon a winner of the Lillybelle bundle. It was so tricky deciding on a new name, I am very fond of Hexy MF with it’s reference to Prince and one of my favourite all time songs, but it is a little bit rude. Teresa was the first to suggest keeping the name,but just changing what the MF stands for – that way you can decide, Hexy Mother F…… or Hexy Multiple Flowers? Leanne suggested changing the MF bit to Modern Flair. I can’t decide on a winner between the 2, so both are winners and so both will get a FQ bundle of Lillybelle. Congratulations ladies, send me an email at katy@fatquarterly.com with your addresses and I’ll pop your fabric bundles in the post!