What size of hexagon should I use?

I'm often asked "what size of hexagon should I use?" and the answer is "it depends". If you have a specific project in mind that may dictate the size of hexagons. Albert Small made some incredible quilts some of which have 15 hexagons per square inch! That's a lot of very tiny hexagons! To read more about Albert and his quilts visit the Illinois State Museum.

If you want to make a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden then really you can use any size. The smaller the hexagons the more you will need and the heavier the quilt top will be. The larger the hexagon the fewer you will need.

When you look at a single hexagon it is difficult to gauge size of block that will result. Today I thought I share with you a comparison of different sizes of hexagons and the size of the block they will produce. In the following picture there are rosettes made of hexagons that range in size from 3" to 1/2". The size of the hexagon is determined by the length of each of the six sides. The rosettes in the picture consist of a central hexagon surrounded by two rounds of hexagons. The first round is made up of six hexagons and the second 12. Each round thereafter would increase by six hexagons.

The large rosette on the left is my New Hexagon Millefiori Quilt that I am making as part of Katja's free Quilt Along. I still have one more round of hexagons to go. Each hexagon measures 3". The rosette on the upper right is 1 1/4". The rosette below it is made of 1" hexagons. The rosette on the bottom left is made of 3/4" hexagons and on the bottom right 1/2" hexagons.

The rosette made of 3" hexagons measures roughly 26 1/4"  from top to bottom and roughly 24" from side to side. It wouldn't take many large hexagons to make a quilt!

The rosette made of 1 1/4" hexagons measures 10 1/2" from top to bottom and 10" from side to side. This is the size of hexagon that is used in Di Ford's quilt Road 66. The instructions are in her book Primarily Quilts. The blocks each have one more round of background fabric and they are connected with diamonds. Only 18 blocks are needed to make the quilt!

The rosette made of 1" hexagons measures roughly 8 1/2" from top to bottom and roughly 8" from side to side. This is one of my favourite sizes of hexagons to work with. It fits neatly in my left hand when I am sewing the units together and it is large enough that the work goes fairly quickly. I used the 1" hexagons to make my Value Proposition quilt and Stars in the Loft. The brown plaid was not fussy cut however I noticed that each hexagon had some dark along one side and light on the opposite so I made a point of placing the lighter section toward the centre. Careful consideration of how the hexagons are placed can create the illusion of fussy cutting without the effort! Thoughtful placement of fabrics produces a more polished block,

The rosette made of 3/4" hexagons measures roughly 6 1/2" from top to bottom and roughly 6" from side to side. This is another of my preferred sizes to work with. I can create greater detail in terms of arrangement of hexagons. I used it to make my Good Golly Miss Mollie quilt and Lozagons. If you read my REWIND blog post about fabrics I use you will be interested to know that the six hexagons in the first round are made from 100% cotton that I found in the home decorator department of a fabric store!

The rosette made of 1/2" hexagons measures roughly 5 1/4" from top to bottom and roughly 4 3/4" from side to side. I've got a quilt top that I made with these hexagons but I've not yet shared it with you! I need to be able to get outside to take pictures but it is just way too cold these days! What I can tell you is that the quilt top is very heavy because there is more seam allowance on the back than there is fabric on the right side! This block is another example of thoughtful fabric placement. Notice that there are little paisleys in the third round and I've made sure to place them on the inside edge of the round! 

The size of hexagon you use will be dictated in part by personal preference and the size and type of quilt you want to make! I know that 1" sounds small but I find that it is a great size with which to work. So what about you? What size of hexagons do you like to work with?

I hope you enjoyed this comparison of hexagon sizes. I've posted master templates for 1/2", 3/4" and 1" hexagons on my blog and you will find them by clicking on the tab English Paper Piecing Instructions & Hexagon Fun. Be sure to use the same hexagon product for your entire quilt so if you use one of my template do not use other hexagons; this will ensure accuracy and consistency. If there is interest I will prepare and publish a template for 1 1/4" hexagons.

If you leave a comment and don't hear back from me it means you are a no reply blogger. Until I post again, happy hexagoning!

Karen H

Tutorial: Another way to fussy cut

The weather is always so unpredictable in January so rather than bring in a speaker my Quilt Guild has a demonstration night. Three Guild members are asked to do a 15 minute demo. The Guild members are divided into three groups and then they rotate from one demo to the next. I've been asked to demonstrate English paper piecing/hexagons. I decided to make some samples with different sizes of hexagons for my demo.

I have two fabrics that I thought would work well together so I decided to play with them! The top fabric is an old fabric Malvern Hill by Judy Roche & Carienne Kramer for Henry Glass Fabrics. It is a leftover bit from a backing. The bottom fabric was purchased more recently and it is Return to Romance by WillowBerry Lane and Maywood Studios. I bought it because I love the colours and thought it would be well suited to fussy cut hexagons.

There are loads of ways to fussy cut fabrics and I'll use different methods based on the fabric I'm using and the number of patches I require. I will often fussy cut by placing a window template on the wrong side of the fabric and move it around until I find the image I want to use. I'll glue a hexagon paper in the opening and then cut out the hexagon leaving a generous seam allowance. For the remaining hexagons I line up my hexagon on the next motif being sure to line up the landmarks. In the following picture you can see that I lined up the upper left corner and the lower point of the paper template  at the yellow circles. This method works great if you can see the print on the back of the fabric.

My problem is that I couldn't really see the print on the back of the fabric. On the left you can see the print and on the ride is the back of the fabric. So how did I fussy cut six hexagons to make a rosette? I could have cut one out on the right side of the fabric but how would I line up the paper template on the back if I couldn't see the print? Let me share with you what I did!

The first step was to place a window template on the right side of my fabric.

Once I found the motif I wanted to use I tacked a hexagon in the window with a tiny dab of Elmer's Purple Glue.

I carefully removed the window template. Here you can see the paper template glued to my fabric.

I next position the remaining five hexagons on the right side of the fabric being sure to line up the landmarks as described above. I don't stress about getting things lined up perfectly - close is good enough for me! The red circles indicate the landmarks I used to line up my paper templates. At this point I could cut out the hexagons adding a generous seam allowance. I like to work with a 3/8" seam allowance if I can!

When I hold the fabric up to the light with the wrong side facing me I can see the hexagon that is on the right side.

I apply a dab of Elmer's Purple Glue to a hexagon template and while holding the fabric up to the light I positioned the hexagon on the wrong side of the fabric being sure to line up the hexagons. I remove the hexagon from the right side of the fabric and I am ready to start English paper piecing as usual!

So what did the hexagon rosettes look like after they were stitched together? This is the hexagon rosette made with 1 1/4" hexagons.

This is the hexagon rosette made with 1" hexagons.

And here they are together! I think the 1" hexagons work best with these fabrics although both are pretty! I love the stars that are created by fussy cutting the peaks in the Malvern Hill fabric.

So what will I do with these hexagons after the demo tonight? I'll put them in the box of hexagons to be used in a future project!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and much as I enjoy sharing with all you people! If you leave a comment I will be sure to send you an email. If you don't hear from me it means you are a no reply blogger and I have no way to contact you unless you include your email address in the comment.

Until I post again, I hope you have fun fussy cutting!
Karen H

The second round of Rosette 1 is finished!

I've completed the second round of Rosette #1 in The New Hexagon Millefiori Quilt Along! This is where I left off before I made my fabric selection for the other six hexagons in round 2.

For the next six hexagons I chose another pale flesh tone-on-tone print, a burnt orange batik and the coral print by Kensington Studios for Quilting Treasures.

For the other six I fussy cut so that there was a dark spot in the middle of each diamond and for this six I decided to fussy cut the large white medallion in the centre. This is the first of the six hexagons.

And here it is all put together!

For the third and final round I will need several prints and after considerable searching through my stash I've found a coppery print that I think will work well with what I've already done!

Several people have asked th paper pieces I am using to make the hexagons. I am simply making copies of the hexagons and then cutting them apart. To prep the fabric I am using a slightly modified version of Missie's starch basting technique. I begin by tacking the paper templates to the fabric with my Elmer's Purple Glue. I was reading Esther Aliu's blog and she wrote that it is not a true glue but rather a starch. You can read her post here.

 I fold the seam allowance over and press with my Dritz Petite Press. I paint along the crease with a little starch and press once again.

The papers will remain in place until I am ready to remove them and I have a nice crisp fold for sewing!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

REWIND: Fabrics (and their fibre content) that I've used in my quilts

Welcome back to REWIND! Every now and then I "rewind" and republish one of my older posts that you may have missed! Today I'm going to share a post from July 2013. In this issue I talk about some of the fabrics I've used to make my quilts!

Fabrics (and their fibre content) that I've used in my quilts

Let me preface with the following: I make quilts because I like them, I plan to use them AND I will not be entering them in a juried show.

I was taught to make hexagons by my Grandmother when I was a girl but that was about all I knew about patchwork for many years. When I started quilting as an adult in the late 1970s I was living in a very small town in the far north. There were no shops where I could buy fabric or quilt guilds where I could learn. My only source of information was the odd quilters' magazine. I would see a picture and draft my own pattern. The first lesson I learned, and I learned it the hard way, was that the 1/4" seam allowance is added all around the patch! That's a mistake you only make once!

As far as fabric goes I would order it mail order from a Sears catalogue OR there was mail order business in Alaska that sold bags of scraps for quilting and they were cheap. But they were not 100% cotton. And I had no idea at that time that I was expected to use only 100% cotton. Well in that scrap bag was a lovely piece of turquoise with white polka dots and another small turquoise and white print. I loved both because they were kind of quirky and different (this was back in the days when brown calico was the rage). I used both in my quilts and this is one of the quilts that contains both fabrics. This was made back I my draft-your-own-pattern and figure-things-out days! I had no idea how to go about making a quilt like this but I did remember the hexagon lessons from my Grandma so this quilt was English paper pieced! Even the larger squares!

And I also snuck some of the turquoise into a block where it didn't belong - it was a thinking patch. I wanted people to think "did she mean to put that patch in there or was it a mistake that she didn't catch until AFTER the quilt was made"?

I used these two fabrics in many of my quilts because my plan was that they would be my "signature" fabric and I would put a small piece in every quilt I made.  That plan sort of fell by the wayside when I learned I should only use 100% cotton top quality designer fabrics and I think that is sad because looking at my quilt now I realize that I lost some of my spontaneity and creativity.
And here's another block made with who-knows-what but I'm pretty sure that there's some poly cotton in there!

I also used leftovers from the clothes that I made for myself. The blue points were from a mat dress.

And then one of the first true 100% quilting cottons was purchased. My brother sent me money as a gift and a visiting sewing store came to town. I purchase the blue fabric in the centre of this star - I loved it and bought as much as I could afford which was probably about 2 yards (I still have some of that fabric). 

Not only was I using blends but I was also using polyester thread....white polyester thread!!! It never occurred to me that you should match the thread to the fabric but then I didn't have much to chose from in the way of thread and white seemed like a good universal colour to use!

For a number of years I adhered to these rules - 100% cotton designer fabrics. But the trouble was that I was seeing some really nice fabrics that weren't designer fabrics OR fabrics that were poly-cotton blends. So what did I do? If it was a patch of fabric that I really liked and really needed it in a quilt I used it! I still try to use 100% cotton but it doesn't have to be designer fabric and if I run into the odd piece of 80/20 poly cotton that works in my quilt I use it. Why not? My quilts are to be used. And as for the notion that they won't last, neither will I so what's the problem? I made this quilt 30 years ago and it has been used like crazy.

I did stop using polyester thread for piecing and switched to 100% cotton. I still like it but am rethinking this because there are some really lovely soft polyester threads made for piecing and they work well, produce little to no lint and are much more economical. And if my scrappy star quilt has survived with 30 year old polyester thread......

Today I went to Fabricland for the 50% off everything sale. I had plenty of time so I went to the home dec section to browse. What did I see? Some fabulous cotton fabrics that are 104" wide.....and they were on sale at $12/metre. There is nothing wrong with these fabrics. They have a beautiful hand and are the same weight as quilting cottons. Can you say "cut me some of that"? I can and did! This one will make a beautify quilt backing! 

And the other fabric I purchased is a grey-beige which will be fabulous in something but I'm not sure what just yet! The print has a bit of a woven look to it like a linen.

My point here is that if you are committed to 100% designer cotton and you have the wallet for it, by all means continue. But if like me you want to make quilts that will be loved and used and the perfect fabric is a home dec fabric or an  odd bit of poly cotton blend I say go for it! It is your quilt after all and the quilt police will not come knocking at your door! And that's my two penneth worth for today!

Since I published this post I've begun using more polyester threads. I love Superior's So Fine! for piecing. It is soft and very affordable. I also use it for machine quilting! The quilt featured in this post is called A Pound of Stars. When I made it many years ago I was inexperienced and didn't have access to classes or quilt shops. I knew how to English paper piece so that is how I constructed my quilt. You can read how it got its name here!

I hope you've enjoyed this edition of REWIND. Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Round 2 of the First Rosette in the New Hexagon Quilt Along

The work continues on The New Hexagon Millefiori Quilt Along and my fingers are sore but I just can't help myself! This is what my Rosette #1 looked like the last time I shared it with you.

For the next round I'll need twelve hexagons from two different hexagons patterns. I decided to do the first six and then I'll make my fabric selection for the second six . I decided to repeat the fabric I used in the centre and to it I added a pale print with pale peach overtones and the same batik I used in Round 1. I just can't get the colours in the batik to photograph accurately. The green is actually more olive and is not as bright as it appears.

These are the six hexagons stitched together but not stitched to the centre. I'll select my fabric for the next six hexagons, make them and the sew everything together into one big happy rosette! You'll notice that I fussy cut the coral diamonds so that there is a dark motif in the centre. I think I'll fussy cut this same fabric but centre a light motif in each.

Just a little bit of hexagon sewing to go on Lozagons and then it will be finished aside from the border. I'll try to take a picture when the wind dies down!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

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

Playing with my hexagons

I've been playing with the filler bits of Lozagons am happy with the arrangement. I ran short of the turquoise so I had to substitute a slightly darker blue. I carefully placed them on either side of the middle unit and am satisfied with the effect. I'll order more of the blue so that I can add a wide border. I think it will finish the quilt nicely. Now I've got so stitch the turquoise hexagons into units for easy stitching to the rest of the quilt top.

I've done my fabric pull for the next round of The New Hexagon Millefiori Quilt Along by Katja Marek. The sun is shining on my fabrics so they are looking a little washed out. I think they will work but I won't know for sure until I cut them out and start sewing. Stay tuned and I'll have an update for you tomorrow!

Several people have asked about the paper pieces to make this block. I am making copies of the hexagons from Katja's book and then cutting them apart to make my hexagons. I'm using regular printer paper and it works just fine for me. For those who are less experienced with English paper piecing you may be more comfortable using a heavier weight paper stock because it is easier to feel the edge of the paper when folding over the seam allowance. You can buy it in the stationary store where you buy your printer paper. It is often used for professional reports (and hexagons)!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H