Windham Wednesdays with Sashiko (again!)

Next to a hexagon, I love circles the best! They have so many possibilities for quilt design. And I've combined the hexagon and circle for some new blocks using the Sashiko Collection (Windham Fabrics). I blogged about this fabric last year. 

Sashiko Fabrics by Windham

Here is some REAL hand stitched sashiko by yours truly. I've been working on this, off and on, for about 15 years.

Hand stitching some sashiko

More sashiko

Now for my circles. I used a cottage cheese lid (the same size as a CD) for the circle. I interfaced it (with a used dryer sheet!)

Easy interfaced circles

Then I turned them right side out and centered them on a 6-1/2" high fabric hexagon. I machine zigzag stitched them using monofilament thread. Invisible. Beautiful. No handwork!

Sashiko circle and hexagon block

Now it's time to clip away both the interfacing and the background fabric (to reduce bulk).

I made 16 blocks (and need one more). Here is my idea: It's a slight variation on my Big Block Hexagons workshop/pattern. I will be filling in the sides with a full hexagon, which will be trimmed to be even with quilt, once I get the rows sewn. The row seams are sewn in a straight line - diagonally! Then the rows are sewn in straight seams horizontally. No y-seams, of course!

Blocks on my design board

I finally stitched them together and didn't pay attention to the placement of those side fabrics. Wish I had moved them so there's a dark and light on each side. Oh, well . . .

Sashiko Circles and Hexagons Quilt: 42" x 43"

That border print is REALLY old. It was just waiting for just the right fabrics to wrap itself around. I hope to quilt it this Summer. I can use this in one of my hexagon workshops.

I have a small pile of these Sashiko fabrics left. Not sure what I'll make, but the prints and colors are timeless and they will tell me what to do.