Handstitching Hexagons 2.0

Day 239: And here we go again! Given the generous donations of fabrics by friends, I embarked on another journey with hand quilting hexagons on June 5. I already have the first of 17 rows done and assembled, and am started on the next row. Instead of having two of each combination accented by "uniques," this Version 2.0 will be constructed with opposites, i.e., each hexagon has a counterpart in which the fabric used for the frame becomes the center, and vice versa. I have not yet decided if I will include any unique blocks, but since most of my quilts contain puzzles of some sort, it's very likely.

Heap O' Hexes

Day 183: As of bedtime last night, I had completed 100 of 230 hexagons for the quilt-as-you-go project. Fifty of them are assembled. The remaining 50 are in this pile, to be randomized in the second half of the quilt. The project has put a substantial dent in my scrap stash, and I'm still in dire need of more prints (100% cotton). To that end, I visited a quilt shop a few days ago, but I walked out without buying a single piece of fabric. "Upscale" doesn't begin to define it. Their cheapest yardage was well out of my budget. Oh, how I miss Joann's! But I recall a point in my life when fabric stores disappeared for several years, with the reason being given that there was no demand. I am hopeful that another company will step in to fill the void because I will not buy from wacked-out Hobby Lobby even if it means I never make another quilt.

Faster And "Funner"

Day 173: After many years of making elaborate costumes and other clothing, I came to a conclusion: I hate machine sewing. However, I love to sew by hand. That said, I've pieced dozens of quilts with the machine, although I almost always finished them with hand-quilting. The machine-sewing phase has always been the part I least enjoyed, and by "least enjoyed," I mean asking myself over and over why I ever wanted to do this again. This new project is entirely hand-stitched, and what has come as the greatest surprise is the fact that it's going far more quickly toward the finished product, partly because each piece is fully completed once it's sewn in place...all backed, batted and quilted, done! In addition to these assembled pieces, I have an equal number done except for stitching them together. That part goes quickly, and I decided to do it that way in order to randomize the second half with hexagons identical to those in the first half. The photos show the front and the back of the quilt respectively. It's not only faster, it's "funner" to do it by hand!

Catching Up To Myself

Day 169: As I was adding new hexagons to the quilt-as-you-go project, it occurred to me that I needed some way to ensure a semblance of randomness. I had already decided that I wanted no more than two of each center, although there might be four from a single piece of fabric (e.g., isolating two sheep for one pair and two chickens for another) and no more than four of each border/reverse side fabric. It seemed the best way to achieve this would be to make pairs as I went along, sewing one into the quilt and setting the other aside to be added in the second half. I had already assembled a dozen, so I've spent the last few days catching up to myself by sewing their counterparts (this is in addition to hand-stitching the binding to a different quilt). I have one to go, and then I'll have caught up to myself. If I have enough different fabrics, the finished quilt will be either 53.5" x 60" (218 hexagons) or 56" x 60.5" (230 hexagons).

Quilt-As-You-Go Tutorial

Day 164: A couple of people asked for more detail on this quilt-as-you-go project, so I've put together a little tutorial.

First of all, you will need to cut your fabric and batting. It won't matter if you want to use larger hexagons. The stipulation is that the sides of the large one are an inch longer than those of the small one so you can turn a 1/4" border. I have used a 3" hexagon for the backing and a 2" one for the center. The batting should be cut to the same size as the center (top left image).

Turn the large hexagon face down. Center the batting on top of it, and place the 2" hexagon fabric on top of that (top right image).

Begin by folding one edge of the large hexagon to meet the edges of the batting and center. Crease it with a fingernail. Turn it again and place a clip in the middle of the side temporarily. Turn the second edge of the large hexagon to meet the edges again, then turn it a second time and crease it as before. You will notice that the corner automatically mitres. Place a clip on the corner. Repeat the process all the way around (left middle image).

When you reach the last corner, remove the clip from the middle of the starting side and place it on the corner. Now you're ready to sew the border in place (middle right image).

Take tiny stitches through the center fabric and just catch down the border with each one. Do NOT stitch through the large hexagon backing! At the corners, take a few stitches out to the edge, then pass the needle back through the fabric to emerge at the inside corner. When you have stitched all the way around, you're ready to quilt the centers. I prefer to poke down, poke up through all three layers as if I was doing needlepoint, but you can use a running stitch if you like. It's faster to use a running stitch, but the stitches on the back will be smaller than those on the front. When you've finished quilting your hexagon, stitch it together with another one, using an overcast stitch with the front sides facing each other. The quilting stitches will be more visible on the reverse side of the piece. Build your quilt as large as you like!

Quilt-As-You-Go

Day 163: As if I don't already have enough projects going already, I stumbled across a cute "quilt-as-you-go" idea on YouTube day before yesterday and thought, "Well, I'll make just one to see how it goes, tuck it away as a reminder that it's a possibility." I've never done a quilt-as-you-go before, although I started one once, and when it came time to add the centers I'd cut beforehand (several hundred), I discovered that I'd forgotten to add a seam allowance. This was fifty years ago or so, and probably only the second or third quilt I'd ever tried to make. I was so disheartened that I abandoned the project and forty years later, used the base fabric for something else, and turned all those tiny little squares into a streets-and-alleys quilt which I gave to a friend for a graduation present. I've learned a lot since then, and the idea of being able to make fully quilted pieces one at a time has an irresistible appeal. These are easy to make. Cut two hexagons, one at 3" and one at 2", lay the larger one down with the back side facing up, put a 2" hexagon of batting in the center, put the 2" fabric on top of that rightside up, and then turn the border. Stitch the border in place, then work a line of quilting around just inside it. Bingo! Your first hexagon is done: backed, batted, quilted all in one go. I have no idea how large this quilt will eventually be. I'll just keep going until I run out of fabrics or out of enthusiasm, whichever comes first.

Kittygons

Day 264: After making two cat-themed "Cathedral Window" quilts, I still had a lot of feline prints left over. Since I enjoyed making a Hexagon Quilt so much, I decided to make one using "kittygons." One of the prints was rather large, so I used it to determine the size to which the hexagons needed to be cut to best display the cats. These larger prints need to be "fussy-cut," i.e., carefully centered on the desired image, so I've begun with them to get the hard part out of the way first. Cutting the smaller prints can be more casual. I was struck by how much the focal piece in this image resembled Skunk when she was just a little babycat ("babycat" is one word, people...don't argue with me), so it will have a place of honour in the finished quilt, and yes, I plan to keep this one. The layout requires 192 print hexagons, 32 solid-colour centers and enough background hexagons to sink the Titanic. I haven't chosen fabrics for the background, centers or border yet, but it will be backed with white muslin.

Hexagons And Me

Day 366: The top of the hexagon (Flower Garden) quilt is done but for adding white around the three remaining sides. The next step will be to batt and back it before settling in to the serious work of hand-quilting. Each hexagon will be shadow-quilted (i.e., outlined with a row of stitching) and the gold solids will each have a simple six-petalled flower in their centers. This has been one of the most enjoyable quilting projects I've undertaken in the last fifty years, although machine-piecing it wastes an astonishing amount of thread. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to making another one, perhaps from the surfeit of prints left over from the Kitty Quilt. "Cats and Kittens"....hmmmm, that concept has promise.

Flower Garden

Day 337: Known as "Flower Garden," "Grandmother's Flower Garden," "Grandma's Garden" and a host of other variations on the same theme, this quilt pattern is comprised of print hexagons arranged around a solid center, bordered throughout by another solid colour (in this case, the traditional white). It is purportedly difficult to piece, but thanks to a YouTube video, I am finding it an absolute breeze. That said, every single side of every single hexagon has to be treated as a separate seam, the thread cut at the end and restarted on the next hexagon, but by proceeding in this manner (a task which requires a substantial helping of patience), it is virtually foolproof. I am amazed every time I step over to the ironing board and...well, willyalookatthat? They press flat! I predict more hexagon-pieced quilts in my future: smaller, larger, perhaps with a second row of prints outside the first, and of course I will be on the watch for a yellow-background bee print to be turned into a honeycombed hive. The possibilities are myriad, and even though I'm not quite halfway through the piecing of this Flower Garden, I'm thinking ahead.

Flower Garden Hexagons

Day 310: "What's next?" That question is often posed by my loyal readers, but not nearly as often as it is heard inside my head. In this case, the decision was made for me when I discovered a pile of cut-out hexagons while looking for fabrics for a different quilt. They'd been hidden so long I'd forgotten all about them, or indeed what my original intent had been with respect to a pattern. I decided to assemble them as a traditional Flower Garden, keeping each grouping more or less to a particular colour scheme rather than making them entirely random. Two "flowers" were already sewn together, so I laid out the rest of the prints to see how many more I could make. In the end, I wound up cutting new fabric for four "flowers," which I then assembled for a total of 39 blocks.

Although the prints had been ready to sew, the white background hexagons still needed to be marked and cut. While precision cutting is not a requirement for this pattern, precision marking is mandatory. If the edges of the hexagons are marked precisely, sewing them together is almost trouble-free. However, each side has to be sewn as a short seam backstitched at both ends, and at the end of each seam, the thread is cut. The sewing wastes a lot of thread, but it's worth it in the final accounting to be able to turn tidy corners. In fact, assembly goes rather quickly if accuracy is maintained. That said, it takes a bit of concentration to place the blocks in the right order. The finished design is laid out for you to see in the inset. The edges of the outer hexagons will be appliqued to a white border, and then the whole project will be hand-quilted.

Hexed

Day 301: Remember those hexagons I mentioned finding in a box not long ago? The ones I said I "might pick away at?" In my copious spare time between other projects, I've managed to piece 18 of them into the "flowers" which will eventually become a Flower Garden quilt. The flowers can be made as large or as small as you desire. I've chosen to limit them to 6-hex print blocks with a solid at the center. They will be joined with white as shown in this demonstration piece laid out on fleece. This will also be a puzzle quilt. During the days of my distant youth, I enjoyed bedding down under a Double Wedding Ring quilt which my great-grandmother had made (I still have it). I would amuse myself by trying to count the number of times a print appeared, taking special delight in those which had no counterpart. My Flower Garden blooms sometimes have a maximum of three hexagons of one print, others have two. Are there any blocks in which all of the prints are different? Are there any which are made using only two prints? You'll have to wait until it's finished to find out! In fact, I'm not even sure myself.

Closet Archaeology

Day 298: With fewer than two dozen prints left to hand-sew into the Kitty Quilt, I began thinking about my next piecework project. To that end, it would be necessary to inventory my fabric stash to see if it contained enough prints to create a fresh look even though some cats or orange pieces would probably be included by default. While digging in the closet, I found a box labelled "spinning supplies/quilt parts." I knew it held the carders I use exclusively for white wool, but "quilt parts" was something of a mystery. I opened it and pulled out three bags which contained templates of various sizes and...what? Hexagons? Already cut? Oh, boy! This was the equivalent of a prehistoric find! I'm not sure how far back it dates (not having C-14 at my disposal), but I think I can safely say it's been hiding in there for at least twenty years. Some of the fabrics I recognize as having been in the king-sized Memory Wreath quilt which my husband claimed when we divorced (and rightfully so, since it didn't fit my bed). The gold centers would have been cut before I used the rest of the fabric in a pinwheel quilt which my Cockatoo used for a trampoline while I was trying to stitch, providing the upper-end date. Why did I not finish it? There was a point in my life when I thought I'd never do any more quilting, so perhaps that was when I put it away. While it may not be my very next project (I'd already decided on a half-square triangle star pattern), it is now out where it will nag me, and with COVID showing no sign of relenting, I suspect I'll be doing a lot more quilting this winter.