I am so excited to share this quilt with all of you! Do you love hexies as much as I do? Have you always been terrified of all those Y-seams? Fear no more, I have found the best tutorial for sewing hexagons! I put the tutorial to the test on this quilt, and I have to tell you - I loved every minute of working on it. Here's how I did it:
Supplies:
14 Fat Quarters (or 14 quarter yards)
1-1/2 yards Backing
1/2 yard Binding
Crib size batting
Here's the best part...this entire quilt was cut on the Accuquilt in our classroom. In less than
15 minutes I had all of these fat quarters pressed and cut into hexies! And so can you! Stop in the shop with your fat quarters (or we would LOVE to help you pick some out) and we'll get you all set up to cut your whole quilt out before you leave. Our Accuquilt can cut up to 10 layers at a time. An assortment of shapes are available, including many sizes of hexies, circles, 2-1/2" squares, 5" squares, 2-1/2" strips and many more. The Accuquilt is available for use as part of Open Sew in our classroom, which is just $5 an hour.
Hexagon measurements in the quilting world are typically referring to the finished size of one edge. For this quilt we used the 4" hexagon die for the Accuquilt. It creates a finished hexi that is 6-3/4" across and 7-3/4" from top edge to bottom edge.
Next I used my design wall at home to help me figure out the layout. I spent way too much time on this step...as usual, it's best not to overthink it.
I started here....
And then tried this, among other things, before I landed on my final design.
I do have to say that having a design wall is a lot of fun and really helps you think through your quilt before you start sewing it all together. As much time as I might have spent on different layouts on the design wall it was still MUCH faster than ripping out seams!
Once you've got the design figured out it's time to get sewing! The tutorial I used to sew the hexies is from
Jacquie Gering. Gering's new book Walk is on it's way to the shop and you'll definitely want to check it out...it's all about machine quilting with your walking foot and it is fantastic! I also really enjoyed a podcast interview with her that you can listen to
HERE. The tutorial for sewing the hexies together can be found
here on her blog. I would definitely suggest practicing a bit with some scrap hexies before you dive into your quilt. As she explains in the tutorial, precision is important to make all the hexies fit together. But, with a little practice you'll have no problem.
My hexi quilt finished at 39" x 51" which I think is a really great baby quilt size! I quilted it using my walking foot following the lines of the hexies.
The backing is a great print from April Rhodes called
Overshot Gold from Art Gallery Fabrics. I bound it with my new favorite fabric from Friedlander by Carolyn Friedlander called
Orchid.
Are you ready to dive into a hexi quilt too?! I hope so! If you're still feeling a little nervous - no problem! We have a class on sewing hexies using this tutorial coming up on
Saturday, March 4th. We would love to have you join us! Hexies will be cut in class on the Accuquilt, so there's nothing to prep except picking out your fabric!
Sign up here today.
Happy (hexi) sewing!
Connie
