Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A path for Birds

On Monday I wrote about making the round of rosettes that will frame the medallion in my Birds in the Loft hexagon quilt. I neglected to mention that the units made of three caramel prints will also need to have a path fabric added in order to fit everything together. There are eight of these units so the sewing will go quickly.


In the past I've written about constructing the path for a hexagon quilt. Hexagon rosettes will surround the medallion in my Birds in the Loft hexagon quilt and they will be separated by an off-white path. The easiest method of constructing the path is to sew together five hexagons and then these hexagon unit is stitched to the rosette. My thread colour will match the path hexagons.


I'll need to cut and baste 900 hexagons. The cutting will be fast and easy. I'll start by cutting 2 1/2" strips of path fabric and then I'll quick cut the fabric using the method I wrote about here.  So how many strips will I need? I can cut 18 hexagons from each strip so I'll need fifty strips which translates into 3.25 meters or 3.5 yards of fabric. I sure hope I have enough but if not I'll pull something similar and add it to the mix! I will need to prepare more path hexagons to finish the outer edges of the rows of rosettes but I'll write about it when I get to the point where I need them.

I will attach the path units of five hexagons to 180 of the rosettes. The remaining 20 rosettes will surround the medallion and many will require a different number of path hexagons. They are attached to the caramel connector units that go around the medallion will also need the path hexagons attached to them but they will need different numbers of hexagons depending on their position in the ring around the medallion. In the following diagram you can see the medallion with the rosettes. Inside each rosette I've indicated the number; it corresponds to the diagram that shows the placement of the 100 pairs of rosettes. Beside the rosette I have placed a number and it tells me the number of path hexagons that need to be stitched to the rosette. From this point on the rosettes with the path of five hexagons shown above will fit perfectly around the medallion. I'll explain how in an upcoming post.


For now how about another rosette or two? Well your wish is my command so here we go! I struggled with selecting a centre for this rosette. I just set it aside and every now and then I auditioned it on different fabrics until I found a good fit!


The dragonfly in the middle is cut from the same piece of fabric that I used for the four bees in the medallion. I really think it is a good idea to repeat fabrics in this way to control the scrappiness of the quilt.

Time for me to do some cutting and basting so until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

10 comments:

  1. I love the pattern, the hexies look wonderful

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    1. Thank you Gisela! Sorry I couldn't send you an email because you are a no-reply blogger! :-(

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  2. Both rosettes are pretty, but I especially love the movement in the second!

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  3. Wow - I've never thought about the logistics of figuring out how to assemble the hexies :)

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  4. Your progression is very interesting.....and your hexies pretty!

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  5. Your hexie rosettes and the way you plan them out is amazing. I really learned a lot from your explanation about the path hexies and how you plan for what you need, both in the hexies and fabric needed to make them. Thanks for taking the time to do this for us non-mathematical types.

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  6. Hope your knife is sharp enough for the 900 hexies, :-). Till now I had no plan wben I start with the hexies or stars. Reading your blog I think is better to know what you want. Thanks for the lesson. Groet, Dientje.

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  7. Really like the fabrics used in the rosettes. I have not seen the bottom 2 outside fabrics until now. OMG. I have missed buying some fabric!! Or have forgotten that it is in my stash!! Your planning is fantastic & it makes so much sense. I did go check out your hex square cutting tutorial----very smart way to keep the edges even. Thanks for the new info----always learn something from your posts

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  8. Another beautiful quilt Karen. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

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  9. I am LOVING this quilt! I love the framed birds and the whole layout. It is beautiful. It is such a huge blessing and privilege to read your blog and watch all your quilts grow, and that you share your thought process. You have so many beautiful, interesting prints, and you have a wonderful eye for pairing them up. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy Stitching. :)

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