Thinking Hexagons Today

I am presenting my trunk show tonight on hexies. I call it: Turning 60, The Joys of Hex. Let's see one of my oldie-goldie quilts using a half hexagon:

Half Hexagon Flower Pots

Then I made another one for Windham Fabrics. This appeared in my 2012 Wall Calendar of Quilts. You can find it (and 11 other patterns) for only $10.

Dancing Flower Pots. 10" Blocks; 55" x 55" quilt

And I used this half-hexagon pot shape for one other quilt. The flowers were fussy cut from a happy Lakehouse Fabrics fabric motif. Isn't this such a happy quilt?

Pots of Blooms

And in a FREE pattern on my Craftsy page: Trash Basket Batiks (made in 2002). I rummaged in the trash cans during a guild sew-in and grabbed all the discarded batik scraps. I got the last laugh with these fun blooms. Go get the FREE pattern: Trash Basket Batiks.

Trash Basket Batiks

I figure I probably have another one or two creations around here using the half-hexagon for a flower pot. But for now, I hope you enjoy seeing all 4 of what I found so far.

3-D Folded Hexagon Flowers and FREE pattern

Yes, that's right. I began making these little flowers about 15 years ago when I was working with some origami shapes. I saw how Kumiko Sudo was doing this with circles, but that didn't make sense to me. I needed points of orientation and figured if I started with a hexagon I should end with a hexagon, right?

The first quilt I made using this technique is a bit wild and bright! I made it about 14 years ago. I used green gros grain ribbon, folded hexagons and dogtooth sashings. Pretty crazy, I think.

Bright Dragonflies and Flowers

Here is a picture of the hexagons before and after folding. I cut my hexagons using a 60 degree ruler. You can cut any size this way. I think I've shared this on the blog in the past. The handout/free pattern has a hexagon traceable template for you.

Folded Fabric Hexagons

My most popular trunk show these days with quilt guilds is "Turning 60: The Joys of Hex." It's G-rated, by the way! I pulled this little quilt to take with me on Monday because it hasn't been out of the closet for a long time.

Hexagon Folded Flowers

The flowers are folded hexagons. The leaves are prairie points. The center of the hexagon flowers are yo-yos. Lots of dimension in this little quilt.

I put one of those folded fabric hexagons on a bag I made in 2013 using the Rebecca Collection by Windham. This is a reproduction set of fabrics and I was very taken with that purple!

Simple fabric bag (for my yarn!) with a folded hexagon and a flower button in the center

I also had this as a class sample for my small quilt using two different sized hexagons. More prairie points. What do you think?

Folded Hexagon Flowers

Now, would you like the instructions for making these flowers? It's a 2 page pdf download from my web site. And the yo-yo. Practice on construction paper to get the idea. Then you won't be able to stop, I promise.

Enjoy! Folded Fabric Hexagons

Harvest Pumpkins - FREE Pattern

Yikes! I gave you a Christmas pattern, but Halloween comes well before that. Here's one of my most popular patterns featuring pumpkins and you have enough time before October 31 to make it. And it doesn't have to be for Halloween. Pumpkins are perfect for Thanksgiving or anything Fall related.

This is also at my Craftsy pattern site, but some people just don't like having to go to Craftsy for a pattern even if it's free. So, now you can get it anonymously from my web server. Even they don't keep track of things for me (though I've asked).

Harvest Pumpkins. Block Size: 8" Quilt Size: 25" x 34"

All rotary cut and stitched. This appears in my 2012 Calendar of Quilts (at Craftsy), but I pulled it out so we could celebrate Fall together. It's still in there with the other 12 quilts, of course. That Calendar of Quilts is quite a bargain for $10 with 13 quilts - 92 pdf pages!

Harvest Pumpkins appeared in Quilt Magazine 12+ years ago

I hope you can make this in time to celebrate Fall. Perfect for kids, for a table runner with 3 blocks or even one block for a mug rug. So, enjoy Harvest Pumpkins - from me to you!

CORRECTION on the Merry Merry Quilt

Due to the eagle eye of Sharon M. who sewed the Christmas Star block last night at 10 pm, she found the error in the cutting diagram. I had the wrong numbers for the C Patch rectangle.

Thank you, Sharon! Sorry no one ever saw it in the editing department long ago.

Here is the corrected diagram. Now get sewing!

Christmas in September - FREE Pattern

I have been designing blocks and quilts for my Quilter's Block a Day Calendar since 2006. I compiled one of my favorite Christmas projects into a pdf and I think I need to get that to you NOW so that you can work on it before December, right? This is my Merry Merry Quilt from that first calendar.

Piecing, applique and foundation paper piecing. This project assumes you know how to do these techniques, but my own approach to applique is raw edge. The quilt is 48" x 48". The blocks in the quilt center are 10" square and the angels finish to 5". All templates are full size. Full size foundation. All yardages are listed.

The Merry Merry Quilt

 This is my folk-art tree:

Folk Art Tree

 And some holly:

Holly Block

 We have to have a reindeer, right? Or Santa won't be able to get around!

Reindeer

 And my Winter Stars Block:

Winter Stars

And we have to have an angel!

Paper Pieced Angel

You can download this Merry Merry Quilt by clicking the link. I will move it on over to my Craftsy site in the next week or so, but for now, it's on my web site. That means you don't have to fill out a form, etc.

I do hope you enjoy this. And if you make any or all of the blocks, I'd love to see them. It's just about time for me to show more of YOUR quilts from the pictures you've sent.

2016 Adinkra Block of the Month: Sankofa

Already September! Wow and Wow!

The Adinkra block for this month is Sankofa. This, I think, is my favorite block. Not sure why, but maybe because it is a sweet looking animal. Sankofa means "Return and get it." Learn from the past.

Sankofa: Learn from the past

I made mine from a dark green batik and appliqued it to a white printed background square in this quilt.

And here is the blue and brown Adinkra quilt (which I still own, though I'm planning on gifting it to someone soon). I used a lovely blue print for the Sankofa and a cream/beige background.

Blue and Brown Adinkra Quilt using Ethnic Echoes fabrics from Blank Quilting

2016 Calendar Girls: September Block is Union Squares

Union Squares Quilt: 50" x 50"

Already September! How can that be? My project this month is the September 29 block called Union Squares. I combined it with four alternating Puss in the Corner blocks for a nice sized lap quilt or wall quilt.

All cutting directions and fabric requirements are in the 3 page Union Squares Quilt pdf. There is a coloring page for you to audition your colors. But remember, you have to own a copy of the calendar for this to make sense.

For those still sitting on the fence and not sure if they want to jump in and participate, you can still find this perpetual calendar at your local quilt shop and of course, online (Amazon).

Here is what the calendar looks like:

If you missed any of the previous projects, you can find them on the 2016 Calendar Girls page.