Monday, July 8, 2013

Hexies from Halves Quilt Along - Lesson 1 - Fabric and Supplies


This Hexies by Halves pattern is easy enough for a beginning quilter to sew, but will still be rewarding for more advanced quilters as well.  You need to have a general familiarity with your sewing machine and how it works, but if you have some sewing experience, you should be able to successfully sew this quilt, even if it's your first.



Thanks for your interest in the Hexies by Halves Quilt-Along.


Our quilt-along ran from July 8th through August 30th, 2013.  You can now find the full Hexies by Halves PDF Quilt Pattern in my shop here.


If you'd like to see a sample of the quality of my instructions, I have left Lesson 6 - Binding Your Quilt available for free here.

You can also see a sampling of quilts successfully made by others using the Hexies by Halves here.




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This Way and That with Cat in the Hat Quilt KIT- From Sisters and Quilters

Dr. Seuss Fat Quarter Bundle from Sisters and Quilters

Modern Black and Gold Hexies Baby Quilt from Pieces by Polly



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16 comments:

  1. Ok. I signed up. So I have two weeks to get my sewing space ready! :-)

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  2. Polly!! A hexagon quilt sew along!! I really want to make a hexagon quilt, remember!?!

    Now here is where you see how little I know...what size are your making? It looks like maybe it's crib size? What if I want to make a twin....I have to be difficult! I could still follow the steps but just make it larger....so I'd need more fabric..which I could probably figure out. I'm gonna go rummage through my fabric and see if I have anything I can use...or if I can really make this happen! If I can I'll be all legit and sign up, don't worry...if I can't, I'll be sad and living vicariously through your posts :)

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    1. This is throw size or crib size. Big enough to cover a crib and tuck it in around the sides a bit. It's also big enough for an adult or child to snuggle under it to watch TV, etc. (A saw the adult friend who won one of these at a charity bike-a-thon using hers to keep her warm while sitting in an outdoor chair watching fireworks.) So they can be used for a lot of things.

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  3. What if I want to get rid of lots of small pieces of fabric in my stash. Is it bad to have a bunch of different fabrics? Like maybe more than 9? How much fabric would I need for just one hexagon?

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  4. Dropped by from Quilt Story Tuesday - that's a great post, really informative even for those not joining in with the quilt along :)

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  5. I'm thinking of using some striped fabric. Would you recommend stripes or not? Will it look like it was cut on the bias?

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    1. With stripes it's going to depend on the look you want and how much of a perfectionist you are. If you cut it along with the stripes and it's even a little crooked, you'll be able to notice...but that doesn't mean it will look wrong or bad...if you're not a perfectionist you'll be happy with the results anyway. If you are a perfectionist it might drive you crazy. You can also cut it at a 90 degree angle to the stripes in which case being a little crooked won't be as noticeable, but the stripes may not line up perfectly. Again it depends on the look you want.

      Of the fabric I ordered for my new quilt-along quilt that I'll be doing along with everyone else, one of the fabrics is stripes. (https://www.fabric.com/just-arrived-just-arrived-quilting-fabric-jasmine-jasmine-stripe-purple.aspx?cm_vc=756b1813-cbc1-43b3-84bd-29889bf8fb7b) I've just decided to do the 90 degree option for cutting it and I'm not going to worry about them matching up perfectly.

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  6. Unfortunately I don't have the time to join a quilt along (have you seen my WIP pile?) but found your advice on fabric selection really useful. Thanks.

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  7. I'm sure I shouldn't add this to my list of WIP's but its just so cute, I don't think I can pass it up. I am wondering the same thing as Kathy, can we use up scraps? If so how big would each fabric need to be?

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    1. Hi Logan, Yes, you could use scraps, although they would need to be on the larger side and it's somewhat less efficient (although it would be a great way to use up scraps. For one hexagon, you'd need a scrap that was approx 5x18 inches or 10x10 inches

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  8. I signed up today. I was making sure I could get a couple things off my list before I did and I finished two of the ridiculous amount of things to do today so there is hope, haha. Now to decide what fabrics to use. I notice we have very similar taste in fabrics :)

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  9. You may not have an answer, I know it really depends. .. but how much time each week do you think we should be able to set aside for this? I'm an intermediate, with 3+ years experience.

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    1. Chole, it's hard to say...especially because I rarely get a large block of focused time to work (the kids or something else always seems to interrupt me.) The cutting is really going to be a lot of the work, but we'll be doing that by cutting the fabric into strips, and then you can stack some of those strips as we cut them into the pieces themselves. Once all the pieces are cut, the piecing is really easy. We're just going to be sewing them into strips and then sewing strips together to make the whole quilt. Then of course the quilting can go really fast or take a while depending on how much quilting you do on it. As far as quilt patterns out there, though, I'd say this is definitely on the faster end. Hope that helps!

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  10. Polly, thanks for the inspiration!I'm signed up. I've been collecting black and white fabric and can't wait to use them!

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  11. Oooh, your pile makes me want to dig into my B&W box! Two weeks from the 8th, let's see...if I start unpacking in the sewing room....skip the kitchen... ;)

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