Twisted Hexagon Week, Day One and Fussy Cutting

I made one more Twisted Hexagon quilt this week using some leftovers from my Technique Tuesday collection of Festive Chickadees. I couldn't resist. Here's that one little block I shared last week. I'm putting the borders on the quilt today and will share that tomorrow.

Twisted Hexagon Chickadees. 10" high block block

I have probably made well over a dozen quilts and placemats and coasters using this very simple pattern. Sometimes I let my rotary cutter do the cutting. Other times, I fussy cut the center hexagon motif. Do you remember some of these steps?

Here are some of the parts, beginning with the center hexagon. To "fussy cut" means to center a motif within a patch shape. I like to use freezer paper for this as it's easy to trace and see through and I can iron it onto the fabric for ease of cutting out the shape.

These motifs are from my 12 block Twisted Hexagon quilt using some motifs from a Kaffe Fasset print.

Fussy cutting by using a freezer paper template. These will finish to a 12" high block

From my post last year: Once I determined the size (height) of the whole hexagon, I cut one out of freezer paper and then created a "window" by leaving 1/2"  of the freezer paper to see through.

Capturing the center motif

And my favorite cardinal! I'll be sharing the beautiful Twisted Hexagon banner with you a little later in the week.

Fussy Cutting the cardinal. This is the center of a whopping 15" block!

And auditioning some half-hexagons to surround that awesome cardinal!

This hexagon will be combined with 6 half hexagons.

One hexagon and 6 half-hexagons for a 12" high block

You do NOT need specialty templates that only cut one or two sizes. I use my multi-sized 60 degree ruler to cut both the whole and half hexagons IN ANY SIZE. Those horizontal lines on your ruler (and I am convinced most of you have one in your sewing room) are magic!

Isolating the lovely motif for a 14" height block

Tomorrow I will show you the next steps of how to join the half-hexagons with the center whole hexagon, all without a y-seam. Here's a hint: we use a partial seam!

And I'll show you a few more of my Twisted Hexagon creations. You can check out my patterns in my Etsy shop in the meantime.