Posts Tagged ‘hexagons’

A full-on hissy fit and other random thoughts

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

A while back I wrote about some quilts that were in trouble with me for a post called “Quilts in the Doghouse.” I just finished piecing another top, a recent UFO (which means I started it in the past year or so), and near the end of the process, I had what you might call a full-on hissy fit.

First I want to say that Hexie Framed is a great design and a well-written pattern from Emily Dennis of Quilty Love. None of this story is the pattern’s or the designer’s fault. This is all on me.

New Old Work, Part 2

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

Another recent finish is my Bitty Blocks row quilt. I started this years ago when I was working as an editor for Quiltmaker. We had this idea to create 3″ and 4″ blocks and post them for free on our website. There was no such thing as a marketing team so we had to market ourselves, and this was one of the ways we did it.

The thing about Bitty Blocks is that they’re addictive. You make a few, and then you make a few more, and you’re having so much fun that pretty soon you have 50 little 4″ stars or 70 tiny houses at 3″ x 3″, and then what?

One Hundred Small Quilts #6

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

For the past several years, I’ve signed up for the Teal Mini Swap. It’s a fundraiser hosted by my friend Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Quilt Designs to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Today’s little quilt was made by Lorrie Langdon from Greenville, Mississippi. Lorrie was my swap partner, so the quilt came to be mine. I just love it!

The hexagon sides are 2-1/2″, and it’s about 4-1/2″ from point to point. The quilt is 18″ x 18″. She used a nice variety of teals, navy blues and light fabrics.

The thing to notice is how much the fabrics differ. When the piecing is repetitive, the fabric needs to do the work of holding a viewer’s interest. There are small geometrics, larger graphic prints, florals and solids. They all harmonize beautifully.

Lorrie also used value to her advantage. There are very dark hexagons and very light hexagons, and quite a few in between. She’s letting the fabric do the work, and it’s working.

The quilting adds another level of interest to this piece. Lorrie took her cues from the patchwork, but she changed direction enough to keep things lively. The lines of quilting are about 1/4″ apart, which takes a while even on a small project.

The quilting is an element that helps bring the bigger picture together.

These shapes look complex, but they don’t have to be. Above I’ve drawn lines around each unit so you can see how it can be pieced. A 60º triangle is added to two opposite sides of a hexagon to make the unit. Then the units are joined into rows, and the rows are sewn together. You can create diagonal rows, above.

Or you can create horizontal rows as I outlined here. Pretty nifty.

Lori added a 1/2″ white border and a solid teal binding to finish things off. This is a very successful little quilt!

One Hundred Small Quilts is a trunk show available to quilt groups. I bring about 120 small quilts that I’ve made and collected over more than 30 years. We go through them in about an hour, and there is so much to see! I’d love to share them with your group. Get in touch today and Let’s Talk Quilts! 

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