Sashiko with Zig and Zag of Hexies

When I love a fabric collection, I imagine a variety of ways to use the prints in blocks and quilts. Such is the case with Windham's Sashiko fabrics. They are timeless with the blues and white and have captured many of the Japanese patterns in the centuries old flowers and geometrics.

Sashiko Fabrics by Windham

Yes, I get a lot of fabric from various companies, but they really only send sets of fat quarters! I have to get creative to make something bigger than a child's quilt, but I do make it work!

Here is a kimono quilt that looks lovely in these Sashiko prints. The borders are not Windham and I've had those two prints in my stash for at least 20 years. They work and they enabled me to make something a bit larger than just the 4 blocks.

Bamboo Garden Kimono: 43" x 56"

I wanted to play with circles, so I recreated one of my really old patterns (called Spiroglyphics). But instead of placing the circles on a background square, I decided to use hexagons. I interfaced my circles for ease of turning the raw edges. I used interfacing (actually, used dryer sheets!)

Interfaced circles

I'll share that quilt another day, but let's get to the Zig and Zag of Hexies. I cut 3" hexagon papers for English Paper Piecing. They are really big! I could only get two of them from each piece of card stock (8.5" x 11").

Then I pulled from my special stash of Asian inspired fabrics (some are really old!) and had a great time mixing the prints. Then I stitched my 3" hexagons in rows of 4 and rows of 5 hexagons. I added half-hexagons to the sides of the 4-hexagon rows.

I pinned them onto a white background and then machine zig zag stitched them in place. You're looking at the quilt's progress from the top row (next to the scissors) to the 4th row.

Zig and Zag of Sashiko Hexies

After I stitched all the rows, I clipped away the white background fabric from behind the rows of hexagons. Here are some of the lovely prints up close. Don't you just love these kitties with the Yin and Yang symbol? And how I captured that pagoda and cherry blossoms?

Stitched and bordered

Here is my reveal: Four rows with 5 hexagons and three rows with 4 hexagons and half hexagons. This is my Sashiko Hexagons of the East. The border is from a Benartex collection called Dog On It. (Or it could be Catitude, both by Ann Lauer).

Hexagons of the East: 35" x 46"

You can see the several other quilts and table runners I've made with my pattern for about 10 years. I first partnered with Creative Grids ruler to make my first quilt. It's still a great seller! It uses 2" hexagons, with the same spacing. Other than that, it's the same process.

Zig and Zag of Hexies: 29" x 40"

Simple hexagons can showcase lovely prints and I love how they captured my Sashiko and companion Asian print fabrics!