Hexagons upon Hexagons upon Hexagons

I started a hexagon quilt a few months ago. I'd seen them on the internet in my wanderings and wondered, "What's the big deal?"

Then I tried making a few. And I figured out what the deal was: they're awesome, easy-to-make, and have provided my fidgety hands with something to do whilst watching a movie or waiting for a friend during an appointment.

I'm currently working on the charm quilt I saw on Texas Freckles blog. So far, I think I've got over 1200 hexagons (the quilt I was working on required 1,173 one inch hexagons) and 252 of those are sewn together. At the moment, I've taken a break from basting them together (which I don't enjoy nearly as much as attaching them) and am working on getting some more pieced. My goal is to get another large piece of fifteen or twenty rows sewn together before I begin basting again.

I like this quilt because it's allowed me to take a piece of every fabric I have - some that I've had in my stash for years, and haven't looked at in a long time - and utilize it in a way that I can appreciate. When I was a kid, I remember there being a quilt on my bed my grandmother had pieced. It was comprised of rows upon rows of tiny squares, of alternating colors, and I would spend the time I spent before falling asleep admiring all the pieces of it. I wanted to make a quilt like that, so someone would look at it as a whole and then spend time admiring all the pieces - and it's been pretty successful so far. Anytime I've brought it to work to show my employees my progress, they all pick out their favorite fabrics! Or they look for little patterns, like three birds in a row, or polka dots. It definitely gives you a good feeling to see.

As of yesterday, my quilt was comprised of fabrics I had from my stash, some Heather Ross (Far Far Away I and II, Mendocino, some West Hill Matryoshkas), Repro fabrics, some Japanese imports, City Weekend, Oz, Botany, It's a Hoot, Happy Daisy, Spirit, Fandango, Punctuation, Spring Roses, Eden, Origins, Dream On, Boutique, Verna, and some random pieces of recent lines (Tufted Tweets, Katie Jump Rope, and Innocent Crush, among others).

I'm still divided about whether or not to quilt this by hand or by machine. If I do it by hand, I'll most likely get my mother to do it - she's an experience hand quilter with perfect stitching, where I tend to stick to my machine. If I end up doing it myself, I'll quilt it by machine.

I can't wait to get off work so I can get to stitching!!