Finishing my new hexi sewing machine mat

It’s been a while since I shared how I’d fallen for some of Tula Pink’s bright designs, but since then there’s been a fair bit of activity and I’ve even finished both of my intended makes; one fully, and the other the sewing element is complete, but I’ve still to find the right kind of day to get my paintbrush out.

Today I’m sharing the fully completed project, which wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye back at the start. I enjoyed the whole English Paper Piecing process so much that once I’d finished the top for my sewing box, I wanted to carry on.

And so I did, and the result is a gorgeously bright mat to go under my sewing machine. Not that I really need a mat, but it will prevent any marking on the surface and I’ve got used to having my sewing machine on a mat. I’d been using an old and worn out cutting mat, and that helps me move the sewing machine back and forth on the desk when it’s not in use.

But it wasn’t very pretty. The finished mat is way prettier, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

An organic plan

I didn’t have an exact plan when I started, other than to create a mat for my sewing machine. I knew I wanted it roughly the same size as the old and worn cutting mat I’d been using, but I hadn’t really worked out - at the start anyway - how I was going to finish it, if I was going to quilt it (or how), and what the backing would be.

I knew I probably had some batting somewhere, so that was covered and I knew I wasn’t keen on having the hexagonal shapes on the edges, so I was always going to square those off somehow.

But when I started, finishing this mostly hand sewn project seemed a long way off.

Yes mostly hand sewn.

All of the piecing and quilting on the colourful front is done by hand. The binding was added with two rows of machine stitching on the front, and attached to the back by hand sewing slip stitches all the way round.

The back though is mostly machine sewn, the strips pieced by machine and also quilted by machine. And you know what, that’s perfectly ok.

Starting out

Back in January I needed to crack on with assembling enough hexies, and deciding on a layout - and the layout was probably the hardest part!

In my head I thought I’d create a colour graduating design, which would look both slick and chic. But try as I might, it didn’t feel right - and so I abandoned the layout above, and adopted a more random placement design. Switching individual pieces around to get a layout that I was happy with - don’t get me wrong, there was lots of switching, trying to get the different patterns evenly spaced.

Once I’d decided on my layout - and taking a picture so I didn’t forget it, I did the clever design trick of looking at the photo in grayscale to ensure that the lights and darks were also relatively evenly spaced.

And then I numbered every single hexi with its row and position so that sewing them together could be relatively mindless. With rows for each stack dotted around my craft room, at times it felt like I’d never reach the end.

Front assembled, now for the back

But gradually the individual hexagons were attached into rows, and the rows sewn together in order to create the front of my mat. I decided to fill in the gaps on the top and the bottom, but to leave the smaller gaps on the sides.

And I settled on the backing fabric too. I wanted something equally colourful, but something that would come together much more quickly, and nor did it need to be quite so labour intensive.

In the end I settled on some of the less Christmassy fabrics that I’d picked up at the Newark Quilt Show at the start of the year. All of the fabrics were part of a ‘grab bag’ and a lucky dip. Part of their attraction for me was their selvedges, so I was keen to keep these on show.

I’d slightly misjudged the size making it longer than it needed to be, but not as wide - so with my organic plan and solutions brain mode, I added part of what I’d cut off the bottom onto the side - which you can see on the left above - and that makes me smile.

Hand quilting the front

With the back complete - sewn together, and machine quilted - I could no longer procrastinate about how to finish off the front. At one local sewing group evening one of the ladies asked me if I was going to hand quilt my piece - I laughingly said no, I’m not a glutton for punishment.

However, it turned out that I am - as it needed some kind of quilting, and I thought machine quilting this side would lose some of its charm. I started out with a plan to chain stitch individual hexies to form an oblong shape, and I completed the inner oblong. But realistically, it took way longer than I wanted it to take and it didn’t look as good as I thought it would. I wasn’t unpicking it though.

So instead I changed tack, and added a small running stitch around the remaining hexies using the same embroidery thread.

Adding the binding and elastic

As I neared the end of the hand quilting I was thinking of how to finish this project - by chance I saw a haberdashery company online showcasing their widest bias bindings, and I was hooked. I did a rough calculation of how much I’d need, then added a bit more for good measure and waited for it to arrive.

I hadn’t thought about thread, but thought I’d probably have something. Turned out that I did, and in exactly the same colour - what are the chances? I’d picked up a bag of part-used overlocker threads in a recent WI sale in Newark - attracted by some of the colours, thinking I’d use them at some point without knowing that would be quite soon!

By now both the back and front were pinned together and so I pinned and re-pinned the binding to the front of my mat, mitring the corners as neatly as I could, adding extra pins to keep them in place before I slowly (at times) whizzed round with a couple of rounds of machine stitching.

With a stroke of luck the mitred corners behaved and stayed in place on both the front and the back. For the back I added some glitzy pink elastic (left over from mask making during the pandemic) across the corners and then pinned the back in place before slip stitching it and completing my mat. The elastic means I can slip the corners of the old and worn out cutting mat through these and get the benefit of its solidity, but the prettiness of my new mat. Not something I originally planned for, but a useful addition.

Definitely a project to take on the go

For now my English Paper Piecing (EPP) projects have come to an end, but it’s something I’ve really enjoyed - and it’s something that is easily portable. The mini oblong pouch below - which is no more than 15cm long - carried everything I needed easily, that includes needle and thread, small scissors, a thimble, a thread catcher and approximately four rows of my hexi top. That’s where the row and positional numbering came in handy too - that’s definitely a top tip, write these on the back of the cardboard - mine took the format 6.1, 6.2 etc for row 6 position 1, position 2 and so on. Absolutely invaluable, unless of course you are creating a truly random design.

So my new sewing mat looks good, is functional and is in place in my craft room. Now I need a day to paint my sewing box charcoal - I have the paint already. I need a day that’s not too hot, not too cold and one where I haven’t already committed to other things! Then I’ll share the other half of my EPP Tula Pink creation - don’t hold your breath!!

Getting organised with pegboards in my craft room

I’d had my eye on some pegboards for my new craft room since the room itself was a glimmer in my eye! Initially I thought we would make them up ourselves so that they could be truly customisable for whichever space I chose, as it really couldn’t be that hard. And if I had a truly awkward space I don’t think it would be that hard, but once I’d worked out where I wanted to put my fictional pegboards, and once I’d seen the IKEA Skadis pegboards and how flexible they were, there was no other choice for me.

I decided that my pegboards would make the best use of a blank wall inside the small walk in cupboard in my new craft room, which would also be the ideal way to store my quilting rulers. Since we’ve moved, and I’ve unpacked my craft room, they’ve not really had a dedicated space and nor were they all together. But that soon changed!

What I chose: pegboard size and accessories

Our house is a new build, which means there’s a lot of white - and for a self-confessed colour addict, surprisingly I’m ok with all the white, so for me it was always going to be the white version, although the black colourway would also have worked. I opted for two 56x56cm square pegboards, while I did have room for one of the larger size I wanted to keep some space clear, as that’s something else I’ve come to appreciate with our new house - we don’t have to cram it full of stuff, and the same goes for this small walk in storage space.

As I was ordering online I was keen to get the pegboards and accessories in one shop, however I didn’t really know what would work but given that the accessory pack prices were under £5 I decided to chance my luck.

The accessories I opted for were:

• Two packs of Skadis shelves, £4 each

• Two packs of Skadis clips, £2 each

• Three packs of Skadis hooks, £2 each

• A single Skadis hook rack, £2

• A pack of 5 Skadis push in hooks, £1

The final addition to my basket was the connector for Skadis pegboards, which was recommended when hanging two pegboards side by side (or in my case top to bottom!).

So for just under £50 I was able to bring a whole lot of order into a space which would otherwise have little use - and now that it’s finished it’s not only useful, but it’s a pretty and practical addition too.

MY SKADIS PEGBOARDS BRING FUNCTIONALITY TO AN OTHERWISE UNUSED SPACE

Even better though I guessed just about right on the accessory front. I used most of the ones I bought - though I did have a few challenges along the way. I naively assumed that all of my acrylic quilting rulers and templates would come complete with a hole to hang them from. That wasn’t the case, especially for those which came as free gifts from magazines, and some which I’ve had for a long time (I reckon I’ve had my Fiskars ruler - the one bottom right in the photo above - since the early 1990s), so the hooks weren’t going to work for those, or at least not in the same way.

Thank goodness for creative thinking though!

I was able to position some of the hooks so that the templates could balance on top of the hooks, and used the clips for the long Fiskars ruler, which I still probably use the most. I realised I had little use for the hooks on the hook rack, but the rack itself was useful to hold more templates.

The trays bring a 3D element to the pegboards, and while I’ve used them to store smaller templates and the hooks I’ve not yet used, I’m not sure if I’d opt to buy these if I were to do this again.

I’m glad I opted for two of the smaller sized pegboards - and the connectors were an absolute gem according to MOH who was tasked to put these on the wall for me. As well as the feeling of space, I can use the whole pegboard making use of the space below as well with the rulers, templates and metal rings I bought to make some crocheted mandalas (one day!) hanging off the bottom.

I’m so pleased with how these turned out, and how it’s made a space that usually wouldn’t be used into a functional feature. And yes, I’m using the rulers and the space is still this tidy!

Creating a space to craft

As part of our move from London it was important for each of us to have a ‘day space’ and for me that was a space to craft. It didn’t matter what part of the house it was in, but I was keen for it to be in the house rather than say an outbuilding (purpose built or otherwise) in the garden. I know that on the colder days I’d be tempted not to venture out, and heading upstairs would always be preferable.

But the main thing for me about having a dedicated craft space was to have my craft supplies together and organised. As a spoiler to this post, my craft supplies are together but not yet completely organised, but I’m confident that will come!

Previously I’d stored my crafts between at least a couple of rooms, and having them together felt like the ultimate luxury. Before we moved I toyed with the idea of an adjustable standing desk, and at one point one of those clever storage cupboards where the doors fold outwards and a crafting heaven comes into sight.

In the end I opted for neither of these, but nabbed the fourth bedroom which I’d earmarked from the very first time we viewed our new house. It’s the same size as the third bedroom, but importantly the room I nabbed has a built in cupboard, and as any crafter knows, storage is king.

It’s taken me a few months to get my space to where it is now, and I’m sure it’ll take a few months more to fine tune it but I’m back crafting. And I’ve many projects that I can’t wait to get started on, and to share with you, but first let me share more about setting up my space.

Three weeks in…

With family visiting in the first few weeks our priorities were to get living - and sleeping - spaces functional, and as a consequence the craft room became a bit of a box store, but I was determined that it wouldn’t fall to the bottom of the list. I was determined to make my mark and get my desk set up, so that’s how I ended up with this bizarre setup.

It didn’t matter that most of the room was full of boxes, that I had no actual seat and that I mostly still didn’t know where anything was, or what I wanted to craft. I had a desk and space to craft if I wanted to, and of course, the perfect excuse to disappear and ‘just sort a few boxes out’ if I wanted to.

I knew I had a lot of craft supplies, and this was OK as I also knew that when I moved I should have more time to actually get on and craft. Before my Carpal Tunnel Op I’d bought ten medium sized boxes to pack while I had the use of two hands, reckoning that after my op I’d not have much call to craft immediately anyway. I filled those boxes so quickly though that even I was shocked, and there was still so much more to be packed - which also meant that unpacking would take some time.

We had two eight section Ikea Kallax units that were being repurposed as storage in this room, along with our old Ikea washing basket and the orange legged desk which MOH had used in his office while working from home, and which I’d long coveted!

I naively thought this, along with two slim Billy units in the built in cupboard, would provide all the storage I needed.

MOH looking at the storage space I’d used already and the amount of full boxes still to be unpacked managed to say with a straight face that he didn’t think I’d pull it off and perhaps I should get more storage. Realising he was probably right we soon headed off to Nottingham and Ikea for another eight section Kallax.

And it was absolutely the right thing to do, while they’re not empty there is space to flex and grow - and I’m hoping that I’ll be using supplies too, so there’ll be some natural turnover of stuff.

Starting to take shape

With the right amount of storage, by the middle of August the room was starting to take shape. I’d requisitioned the orange legged desk from its temporary place in the kitchen area as soon as the usefulness of having a desk for paperwork was proven, and quickly realised the advantage of having a double length desk space. Gone was the idea of the adjustable standing desk!

But just as quickly I discovered the shortcomings of my mismatched desks.

Yes, differences in sizes. The desks were about an inch different in height, and more like three inches different in depth. I could manage with the tops being different colours, but not the size differences, so I needed a plan B.

Plan B

I thought it would be simple to buy another desk from the same seller on Etsy to match the orange legged desk. Not so, the seller was no longer trading and try as I might I couldn’t find anything similar. A more imaginative response was needed.

I knew I could buy the hairpin legs as this was something we’d looked at before, but discarded for ease when we saw the desk. In the interim I’d also realised my desks would benefit from some drawer space. I had my heart set on some Bisley drawers, initially looking at second hand units on eBay, but without much joy.

Instead after some umming and ahhing these arrived, and I couldn’t be happier.

I had the legs, and now I had the drawers - all I needed now was the desk top. I struck lucky on the internet and ordered a piece of plywood the same thickness as the existing desk, I opted not to have it bevel cut as I didn’t think the cost of that was justified. I’m not sure I considered myself quite so lucky when it was delivered at seven o’clock one morning though!

All I needed now was MOH and tools. And I didn’t have long to wait.

It wasn’t long before the two hairpin legs were screwed in place and the plywood top was positioned on top of one set of Bisley drawers, themselves balancing on a plinth to get to the correct desk height.

Not only did they look good side by side, but the top down view also shows they’re the same height, as well as the same depth so now I have the continuous space I was after. It gives me space to have my sewing machine out, but also space to use the other desk in anyway I want - whether that’s for pressing seams, or papercraft, or anything else.

I have no excuses now for not being productive, and to be honest I can’t wait to get started in earnest. In September I had my first ‘sewing day’ - or an hour or so at least, and that felts such an accomplishment. I only made some scrap kitchen towels, but the sense of achievement, I can’t tell you.

A sense of order is coming, I’m sure of it!

The more I use my craft room, the more it becomes familiar and the more I remember where I put stuff. Whether I’m making cards, journalling, using my watercolours, sewing, knitting or crocheting - or even just pondering, it’s a space that makes me happy.

With my new friend Alexa alongside me (we’re converts - more in another post I’m sure) bringing all the information, tunes and podcasts I could want, the issue could now be to get me out of my craft room.

I’m looking forward to rediscovering many of the projects I’ve started - maybe even finishing some of them, and starting the new projects on my list and sharing them here in the months to come - look out for details of the Christmas cards I’ve made this year coming early next week.