An apology and another tutorial - combining it all into one fabulous hexagon

I made a mistake - mea culpa! I work very hard to credit to others for their work and ideas but I recently made an error in attribution. In my January 26, 2014 post  I shared pictures of blocks made by Soupcon Quilt Along participants. I incorrectly labelled one block and gave credit to the wrong maker. The block in question was made by Talb9999, not Jean. I thank Talb9999 for bringing the error to my attention and I sincerely apologize to her for the error.

The offending post has been corrected and by way of an apology, I would like shine the spotlight on Talb9999's block. This is her first hexie block and first time English paper piecing EVER! Amazing! The block is embellished with little rosebuds. She was asked if they are wrapped ribbon but said she "didn't have any ribbon the right size so she used material and doubled it over to avoid rough edges". To see a close-up of this blog visit Talb9999s blog! To see more wonderful Soupcon blocks please visit the Soupcon QAL FLICKR Groupl! 

Tutorial Time!!!!  I've showed you three hexagons which are all variations on a simple star. I started with a tutorial for this simple star block on January 19, 2014 and January 20, 2014.

Then on January 23, 2014  I posted a tutorial for this block. I used the same method as for the previous block but added a border around the inner edges.

The third tutorial and variation of the star block was on January 26, 2014 . In this block the star points are divided in half and made with two different fabrics.

So now it's time for the fourth tutorial in which elements from all three stars are combined!

You will need a sheet of 1" hexagons which you can find here. Start by drawing your sewing lines to form the start points on the hexagons; the directions were in my January 19, 2014 post. You'll need six star points and one hexagon for the center.

The next step is to add the horizontal line that is 1/2" up from the base of the star.

The last step is to divide the remained of the star point in half. This line will be used to match up the seam of the two fabrics used to form the star point. As always the numbers represent the order of placement and sewing of fabrics.

If you've been reading my blog you have the basic technique down pat so I'll go through the steps quickly! If you aren't familiar to could start with my January 19, 2014 post for the basics.

To make the star point stitch two 1 1/4" x 6" strips of fabric together along the long side. Press the seam open and cut six 1" slices. The papers are tacked with a dab of glue to the wrong side of the fabric making sure to lineup the seam on the line in the star point.

 Fold on the line and trim the fabric.

Cut twelve background pieces that measure 1 1/2" x 2".  With right sides together stitch a background fabric to the star point. Don't forget to shorten your stitch length. Trim the seam allowance if necessary and then fold back the fabric. Finger press or press with a hot, dry iron.

Repeat on the other side and trim the fabric around the outside being sure to leave a seam allowance of about 3/8".

Carefully pull the paper away from the stitches, fold it back on the line and trim the seam allowance down to between 1/8" to 1/4".

With right sides together stitch the last piece to the base of the star. Press it open and trim the remained of the seam allowance.

Baste using the traditional English paper piecing method.

I like to chain piece so I'm working on all six hexagons at once. After they are all basted they can be stitched together. The colour change in the star point is very subtle but very effective!

Now if you really want to have fun with all of these hexagons why not try some different arrangements? How about this one for starters!

Think outside the hexagon!

This could be the beginning of something interesting!

How about this little switcharoo?

So how did I decide to stitch them together? Well I can't tell you right now because I've got oodles of hexagon fun planned so you'll just have to stay tuned if you want to find out what I did with them!

One of my lovely readers recently told me about The Needle and Thread Network. It is a place where Canadian fibre artist of all sorts can display their work on WIP Wednesday. Sign ups begin on Tuesday and close on Thursday. You can check out this blog here!

Until I post again, happy hexagoning!
Karen H