Round 1 of the First Rosette in The New Hexagon Quilt Along

I did my fabric pull for the first round of Rosette 1 in Katja's New Hexagon Millefiori Quilt Along. The colours are more saturated than they appear in the picture.

I cut the pieces out and prepped them. So far so good.

When placed next to the centre hexagon it still looks good. However I worry than when the other units are made and put together the rusty batik patches will just look like a rusty batik blobs. Not exactly the look I am going for!

So I pulled a second batik that is a little darker and arranged my hexagons on it to see how it would look and I think that it is better so I replaced one side of each hexagon with the darker batik.

The addition of the darker fabric gives a more dimensional effect to the cogs and I am much happier with it! These hexagons are really big - I've been told that this rosette will finish at 36" across. I think If I were to do it again I would reduce the patterns just a little because smaller hexagons would work better with the scale of fabrics in my stash. But I've already started so I will continue on with the large hexagons!

Now I have to pull fabrics for the next round. I'm considering repeating the coral fabric from the middle.

A number of readers have asked about the design sheets that I use to help with the planning and/or construction of my quilts.

PaperPieces.com had free design sheets on its site but I don't seem to be able to fin them. They may still be there and if they are please let me know. I did a quick search for hexagon design sheets and found a link to printable hexagon design sheet that you can find here. There are lots of them out there so if this one doesn't suit you can look around and I'm sure that you'll find one that works for you!

I just use a pencil to draw my shapes on the graph paper. In this picture you can see I've done my pencil sketch of the quilt top. The pink lines were made using a Frixion pen and their purpose is to identify the units that will be constructed. If I want to remove the pink lines I can just take an iron to the sheet and they will disappear but the pencil sketch will remain!

When I want to colouri the design I make a black and white copy. If I'm not happy with the colours or I make a mistake I still have the original with the pencil lines. I can just make another copy and start again!

Later this month it will be the 2015 GROW YOUR BLOG event organized by Vicki at 2 Bags Full. This is a great way to promote your blog and it is also a great way to find new and interesting blogs. If you would like to sign-up your blog you will find the details here. Many of the bloggers have giveaways and last year I was lucky enough to win two prizes! If you don't have a blog it doesn't matter - you can still visit the blogs and enter to win lovely prizes!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H