New Year's Stitching - My Fussy Cutting Sew Along Quilt Top!!

This summer, I showed you my design for this hexagonal center medallion quilt that would absorb the 52 hexie flowers I have been making as part of the #fussycuttingsewalong on Instagram.

That pair of pheasants in the center is one my favorite blocks from the weekly sewalong.

I have been admiring and collecting photos of hexagonal medallion quilts for several years. The growing stack of blocks inspired me to design my own medallion layout as their final resting place.

 I also realized that the stack of  twenty-some Morris Hexathon blocks from 2016 were the same size and could be blended in with the current blocks.

Yea!!!  Bigger quilt faster and one less UFO!!

I used the Set-In Piecing Simplified technique (downloadable PDF teaching guide available HERE in my Etsy Shop) to piece all the blocks and during the fall, this medallion center was my "sew-off" while I chain-pieced through the weekly blocks.

I broke it down into several units that could be "mass produced" and then added each to the central motif.

The setting fabric I selected builds a soft frame around the entire piece. 

I made it a bit larger than needed so I could trim to make it fit -- none of my "math" ideas were going to work so took the easy way!!

In the end, I trimmed 1/2" off each side for a perfect fit.  

Because I made sure that the outside edges of the medallion were straight of grain on all sides, there wasn't any stretching!!

Last week, I pieced the final hexie flower and finished piecing some "half flowers" for the ends of some of the rows.

For the past two days, I have been shut up in my studio setting everything together and it looks terrific!!  Since I've been adding white background diamonds to each hexie flower as I made them, it was easy to prepare them for setting with the simple addition of an equilateral (60 degree) triangle!

I used Marti Michell's Set G*** to cut all my hexagons for a finished 3" block.

That meant, cutting with the equilateral triangle ruler would yield the correct size setting triangles

I needed a few half-triangles (easy to cut with Marti's tool) and with two layers of fabric, wrong sides together, cutting "rights" and "lefts" was effortless.  Marti's tool features point trimming as you can see below and taking the time to make those trims set me up for easy and perfect matching! 

Most of the blocks have been on the design wall for weeks -- there has been lots of moving around and shifting to achieve a "spontaneous" balance.  The Morris Hexathon blocks didn't work (to my eye) just mixed in randomly so they are divided into diagonal rows in each corner.  There were also a few six-pointed stars from teaching demos that are positioned evenly around the central medallion.  All the hexie flower blocks were allowed to stay where I first plopped them unless there two very similar ones together - such as same color, same fussy cutting style, etc. 

 

All the hexagon blocks, except for those at the ends of the rows, were prepared by adding triangles. 

Each triangle has one straight of grain edge and I always keep that edge horizontal across a quilt.

If my block piecing is accurate, the triangle will match the corners of the hexagon block perfectly!!

Ready to piece a row!!

It goes fast as there are only straight seams from this point forward!!

Here's a trick I discovered a couple years ago to match angled seams when working with diamonds.

If you have consistent seam depth, when you layer the two units right sides together, match the end of the previous seam to the corner of the diamond.  

Here, I'm sliding the corner of the diamond (top layer) over to match the end of the seam on the lower layer.

 It's faster and much less frustrating than searching for the perfect spot with "pin poking". The intersection of the diagonal seams will be accurate 95% of the time -- no matter the actual depth of your seam allowance and I don't pin!!

Try it next time you do this!

To maintain straight seams only construction throughout the quilt top, I pieced the center of the quilt in sections rather than long rows.  Two of these large triangle units set on opposite sides of the center medallion were the key!

Once those were added to the center medallion, I made the left and right units by working in short rows.  

This is the result of two pleasant afternoons in the studio!!

I have left it in 3 sections at this point while I think about my quilting approach.

Do I machine quilt or hand quilt or some of both?

If I machine quilt, will I work in sections which is easier for me to manage and I'll do a better job. 

So for a few days, I'll enjoy this view from my machine while I fiddle with some neglected UFO.

The questions will answer themselves and I'd like to make this piece one of my 2019 finishes!!

If you have a question about my approach to setting this quilt together, please leave a comment below and I'll answer it in the comments so everyone learns from it, too!

So here's to a productive start to 2019!!

Another year, more fun!!

Mary

***EDIT April 2025

Marti Michel closed her business in late in 2024 and while some shops may still have a stock of her templates, you can also find them on Ebay and Etsy.  

The Maker's Tote -- Part One

On my last road trip across central Ohio, I left a few hours early with the thought I'd take some shopping or birding breaks.  The first stop was at Sew To Speak in Worthington, Ohio -- a newish shop filled with modern fabrics, yarn, and cheerful people.  I left with a few pieces of fabric and the Maker's Tote pattern from Anna Graham at Noodlehead

Then at the beginning of July, a group of gals on Instagram announced the Maker's Tote would be their project of the month and it seemed like a call to me to work on one, too -- not just own the pattern.

Once the decision to make something is made, the next job is to pull fabric and a piece of handwoven fabric from Ghana that my anthropologist sister brought me years ago was laying on top of a pile.

It's a sturdy somewhat coarse fabric and will be perfect for the outer fabric.

But do I have anything that will work with it or do I need to shop?

Not to worry -- look at all those teals and golds?

There are a couple new pieces but the majority is from that deep stash I own!!

With so many prints to chose amongst, I decided to piece a small scale tumbling block to show off the "set-in piecing simplified" technique which I teach -- should be an awesome conversation piece!

I worked with 1" finished 60 degree diamonds using G48 from Marti Michell's Set G*** (it's also in her Grandmother's Flower Garden template set).  My value inspiration is that narrow band second from the lower left corner of the package.

The day I decided to begin was beautiful outside and I wanted to be sitting in the back yard watching the bird feeders.

Solution?  Move the cutting to the patio table!

Can you see the small rotary mat on top of a larger one?

That makes all the cutting and trimming easier since I can twist the little mat in any direction!

That evening, I began to piece the tumbling blocks and decided to keep track of how long it took me. 

You do know I chain piece through these?

That's what my DVD and workshops are all about! 

Piecing tumbling blocks is the best way to learn the process and this stack of 30 blocks took just over 30 minutes.  Now it might take you longer in the beginning but with practice, it's an awesome technique. 

All pressed and ready to layout! 

I'm making a section large enough for the front pocket of the tote.

I'll fill in the sides with extra diamonds. 

I have found it's easier to assemble sections rather than rows -- much less cumbersome and easier to maintain the chain-piecing process.  In the picture below, I've divided all the tumbling block units into groups of three and two for the first step. 

Even though I need to start and stop at "dots" to keep the ends of the seams open, I'm still able to chain-piece. 

I call this the "Y" unit -- the alternate units are upside-down "Y" units. 

All the "Y" units are assembled and laid back out -- working from the layout is the secret to keeping on track in my experience.  There are a few single units across the bottom. 

Now I begin to set the "Y" units together -- the upper pair is already pieced and the lower pair is next. 

It's coming together! 

More progress -- two halves with a few single units to be set into place. 

I worked back and forth between the two halves adding the single tumbling blocks and extra pieces needed along the outside edges to complete my pocket. 

Everything is added and it's time to piece the center seam -- there will be nine individual 1" long seams and so I will throw in pieces from another project as "leaders and enders" at this point to keep the chain going!   I pieced the last of the 4-patches for Long Time Gone as I assembled this piece.

Now it's time to press! 

I have found that waiting to press until the entire piece is assembled makes it easier to keep adjacent seams out of the way of the y-seam I'm stitching.  Once they are pressed, you need to be constantly alert about moving the seams to one side or another. 

The pattern calls for interfacing this pocket and I fused that to the back side of the patchwork for extra reinforcement.  Then I laid the lining right side down on the patchwork and stitched them together leaving a 3" opening along the top edge. 

And it's beautiful!!

Next step is to decide how to position it on the Ghanaian fabric, cut all the pieces for the tote and settle into the studio for a long session!

Maybe two long sessions -- there are zippers!?!

Hope the week is off to a good start for you!

Mary

***EDIT April 2025

Marti Michel closed her business in late in 2024 and while some shops may still have a stock of her templates, you can also find them on Ebay and Etsy.  

Morris Hexathon Blocks -- #20 and #21

With only 5 more blocks to go for Barbara Brackman's Morris Hexathon, I'm only one block behind.  This weekend, I pieced #20, Walthamstow named after the village where William Morris grew up.

It's an easy block to machine piece but none of my templates were the right sizes, so I fiddled my way through the cutting process which is why the outer triangles look too big in the photo below.  It would probably have been easier to make templates!!  If you do this block, watch the cutting of the triangles -- you don't want some to be reversed.  Cut a single layer and keep both fabrics right sides up!!

The other block I finished is #21, Queen Square named for his early home and workshop in London.

I was able to use Templates G48 and G49 to cut all the pieces needed.

It's so helpful to trim the tips of the 60 degree corners of the triangles for #20!  Use Marti Michell's Deluxe Corner Trimmer if you don't have any of her 60 degree templates.

The trim takes all the guess work out of matching the triangle to the center hexagon. 

The first seam on this block should be a partial seam -- stopping about half way along the seam. 

The remaining seams can then be stitched completely from raw edge to raw edge. 

Once all the triangles are stitched in place, the first seam can be finished. 

And here is my finished block (after trimming)! 

There are probably several ways to break down block #21 for construction.  It's always a good idea to lay out the units before you begin to stitch!

Since I was using 3 different pinks and wanted the pairs of diamonds to be touching, I had to lay out each step and be sure I was stitching the right arrangements together.  Had I stitched the pieces together the way I laid them out above, it would have been wrong. 

Once the four piece units were assembled, I constructed three units as below -- it was much like piecing a tumbling block unit if you use the Set-In Piecing Simplified technique. 

Haven't learned this amazing technique for y-seams yet?

You can order my DVD HERE for only $15.95 which includes shipping!

As in any six-pointed hexagonal block, pressing each unit identically gives the best results. 

This is the result of going too fast and not checking before I stitched . . . .

 "you know what to do, Mary"!

 

 Don't press once the three units are together as the final diamonds will be easier to insert. 

And here's the final result!  Pretty block!  I fussy cut the six center diamonds with lovely results from a small busy all-over floral thanks to all the inspiration I get on Instagram watching the Aussie EPP stitchers I follow create awesome blocks! 

It's a quilty week here in Northeast Ohio. 

 

The National Parks 100th Anniversary Quilt touring exhibit continues on display through October 5, 2016 at Lake Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland, Ohio.  I haven't been yet, but friends who have are enjoying it!

 

The Streetsboro Quilt Guild's 31st Annual Show will be this weekend -- Friday, September 30 and October 1 -- click HERE for complete information!

 

Also on Friday and Saturday, the Tree City Quilters of Wooster, Ohio is hosting their biennial guild show and you can get updates about it on their Facebook page HERE.  I'll be at this show helping Denise from Mercantile On Main (Coshocton, Ohio) in her booth -- actually, we'll just be laughing a lot -- so stop by and say hello!

 

Mary