LAYOUT FOR ROWS of RHOMBI

Here is our next step now that we have added triangles to all of our Hexagons and in doing so, we have developed RHOMBI!

We are going to lay them out at an angle so that we can sew them together making rows. Notice how the white points of each triangle will match up. 

HOWEVER, we are going to stagger our rows so that first row will have 5 rhombi in it and the next row will "stagger" (offset from the first row) and so it will have only 4 rhombi. We will end up with rows of 5,4,5,4,5, (etc. if you make your quilt larger; less rows if you make it smaller). Clear as mud?

Here is the plan:

 

 

Now NEVERMIND that all of the edges or ends of our rows are cock-eyed and wonky, LOL; we are not done yet and all is well that ends well don't 'ya know? Stick with me...we will get there!

Here is the layout on a King size bed, (remember the layout as shown above).

Can you see it?

SLIGHT CORRECTION

I had to make two more Hexagons as my measurements were off a bit. 

That's what happens when you're just "wingin' it", LOL !

NOW FOR THE NEXT STEP:

We are going to use our background fabric (mine was white, remember?) and cut a strip 8 3/4 inches wide, WOF. 

From this strip we are going to cut equilateral triangles (again using our 60 degree ruler).

We will need TWO of these for each hexagon that we have made and then we will sew them

to OPPOSITE sides of each hexagon and we will now have a RHOMBUS (that IS a real word, I checked it out, LOL!!)

Press seams open and you have your rhombus.

The next step will be to assemble all the RHOMBI (yep, that's the plural form, LOL) .

28 large Hexies finished; YAY !

All 28 of the large Hexies now finished....stay tuned for the next step, comin' up shortly!

ONLY 6 MORE HEXIES TO SEW UP

I am doing the HAPPY DANCE tonight! I have 22 of the 28 Hexagons completed and only

6 more to sew up. Then I will start adding the background connecting triangles...YIPPEE, I can't wait to lay them out. 

 

 

 

Large Hexagon quilt instructions (tutorial? lol)...

Large Hexagon Quilt Instructions

So many have asked me if I have a pattern for this quilt I am making and truth is I don't.

That being said, I decided to use this (dormant!) blog to post quilting information since

that is my love and passion for about a year now. Yes, I am pretty new to quilting but learning as I go and loving every moment of it (except when I have to be intimate with Mr. Ripper!) and I know

him well but at least it's not too often that we meet for a SERIOUS interlude...small meetings are not so bad, LOL!

So here goes my (feeble) attempt at showing how to make this quilt pattern if any of you care to

take a stab at it; it is REALLY very easy, if it were not so, I would not be writing this, haha!

Ok, first, I selected white as my background color to work with (you'll see that more clearly a bit later) and started by cutting strips at WOF (width of fabric) at 1 1/2" (you will need 2 of these for each large hexagon you are making). Now I selected 3 different but coordinating fabrics (I am stash busting so I matched up the best I could to use up what fabrics I have). I cut two strips at 2 1/2" again at WOF.  I now made a decision which one I wanted to be ALWAYS on the outside rim of the Hexie (my favorite of the 3, I guess you could say) and layed that strip on the table, placed a white strip on the stack and then the 2nd 2 1/2" fabric(I'll call the other two "2nd" and "3rd" to keep it clear (I pray!) on the white. Now lay the next white strip, followed by the 3rd color 2 1/2" strip. We are going to sew them together in that specific order. In this case, the green floral is my color # 1, pink is #2 while blue floral represents #3.

First Picture: 

The strips are all WOF so the top of this picture is the fold and the bottom is the selvedge edge (which I trim off).

Now, we are going to sew the strips using scant 1/4 inch seams and it is very important here to note that the strips need to be "staggered" approximately 1" below each other when sewing (you'll see why when cutting the triangles).

Picture 2:

NOTE: I press all seams open and my reason is that when matching seams and points later, it is a lot less bulk.

Now we are going to cut EQUILATERAL triangles using our 60 degree ruler to do so. Here is the part that will be so important in matching up pieces later. Laying your 60  degree "line" of your ruler across the top of the strip (my OUTER color; my FIRST choice, mine is the green, strip #1) and now cut.

Picture 3:

Picture 4:

Now we are going to turn our ruler so that the opposite direction of the 60 degree line is being used across the TOP of our fabric and being sure to match the "point" at the bottom. Now we are going to cut. As you can see, we have our first equilateral triangle.

Picture 5 & 6:

Now watch as we again move our ruler to the other direction (again) laying the 60 degree line

on the BOTTOM edge and match the "point" at the top edge. This will  produce our second triangle and notice that we have alternated our color that will be the "outside' of our Hexagon. 

Wait! There's more! LOL

Picture 7:

Continue alternating the ruler and cutting triangles and you will have 6 (three of each color slice)...

 NOTE: I sometimes have one or two more depending on the original width of my fabric...some strips are going to be longer than others; not a problem. IF I have more hexies, I throw them in my stash for another project...a pillow cover maybe?? ( in this project, I cut 7; one for the stash!) We are using only 6.

We now have all 6 ready to join...moving right along...

Picture 8: 

Lay them out alternating the outside colors;

Picure 9:

Now to pin them as follows: two seams in each half of the Hex:

Pictures 10 & 11:

Now to press open the first seam (absolutely necessary to be able to match the second seam at the point! 

Picture 12:

Repeat for the second seam to complete the "half" of the hex.

Picture 13:

Now do the same for the three pieces of the second half of our Hexagon:

(BE sure to press everything really well....very important)

Both halves made:

Picture 14:

Now I bet you are already ahead of me, lol. We are ready to match up all the seams and sew both halves together! Here's a little picture of how I do it; you may have a better way of your own, lol.

Picture 15 & 16:

We are ready to sew the two halves now, YAY!

Picture 17:

Hexagon done!!

NOTE: I have shown the strips for the next hexagon and notice the green floral is still fabric #1, HOWEVER, I have placed the blue floral in the position of fabric #2, and the pink fabric is now in the #3 position. This is so my blocks are different. I have two hexagons made from each of the 3 color strips but I have alternated the fabrics #2 and #3 to make them look different. Here is a picture of another set of Hexies (finished) to show it.

Picture 18:

Thank you for viewing my blog and I hope this helps anyone who wants to try this quilt!
Have a wonderful, FABRIFIC day!!

Judy  AKA (royllsister)