Jackie Wills Textile Artist, Waistcoats and Patchwork: design hexagon quilt

Quick update on Part 4. Creating rosettes.

Part 4 gave some guidance on creating hexagon rosettes. I am backing this up with a couple of photos which demonstrate the loop at the back. This saves breaking thread and starting again.

I hope the photos below speak for themselves:

Arrange hexagons into rosette

Select centre hexagon (1) and one outer hexagon (2) Sew together

Add third hexagon and sew (2 to 3)

Instead of breaking thread, create a loop. Secure with 2 or 3 stitches at each end, and take the needle to join (1) and (3)

Hope the above demonstrates in a clearer fashion.

The design process continues. So many options and variations. The only way to achieve your happy combination is to lay the hexagons out and keep looking at them. The two photos below demonstrate the dilemma. I am not happy with either. Needs lots more thought and rearranging. I also plan to make more leaf rosettes as they tone the overall look down.

Patchwork paper templates can be purchased from www.patchworktemplates.com 10cm hexagons have been used in this work.

Part 6. will continue with the design process.

Rosettes in a line

Rosettes placed at random.

Create a patchwork quilt using large hexagons. Part 2

Designing your quilt.

Next step is to calculate the size of your quilt and how many hexagons you will need. At the moment only a very rough guide is needed. A quick way to do this is to place a thick bit of string or wool at the head of the bed, where you want the top of your quilt to lay and unravel until it reaches the point you want quilt to finish. Do the same for the width of the bed. Lay each piece of string on a carpet in a straight line and secure each end with a pin stabbed into the carpet.

Lay hexagons along the edge of the string. For head to foot of bed I prefer to lay hexagons straight edge to straight edge forming a column. Its unlikely that the hexagons will fit exactly the length of the string. I prefer to have one less than one more.

For width of bed do the same. This time place one side hexagon and one centre hexagon forming a line as in item image below.

Make a note of how many hexagons form the length and width of your quilt. This will enable you to create a skeleton pattern on a grid. Remember this is only a rough guide and you may need to make adjustments around the borders. It is very helpful to know the centre point of your quilt. From the centre you can create a balanced skeleton design. A quick calculation tells me that I will need about 1015 hexagons.

Creating a grid of hexagons can be achieved easily using a computer draw programme. I used Pages on my Mac and Serif on PC. Alternatively download and print a hexagon grid from my website www.patchworktemplates.com > hexagon patterns.

Part 3 will focus more on design and arranging your hexagons.