Sunday, October 11, 2015

Quilt As You Go Hexagon Tutorial

This week a quilting friend showed me a fun little hexagon table topper that she made using a quilt as you go technique. She used some specialty rulers to make hers and I was intrigued to see if I could make some of these little hexagons without the special templates. So yesterday I pulled out some scraps and made this little tabletopper/candlemat.

Because I was just experimenting with the idea I just grabbed some old fabric but I think I may have to try this again in other fabrics and sizes, the possibilities seem endless and the best thing is that it is a great way to use up scraps of batting as well as fabric and when you put it together it is quilted and bound! As I was making it I thought it might be fun to share the technique in a little tutorial. I am sure this is not a new technique but it was new to me and it is really simple once you get the hang of it.

For each hexagon you need to cut three pieces. One batting, one inner hexagon and one outer hexagon which is also the backing of that hexagon.

The hardest part for me was to determine the sizes of the hexagons as I did not have the special templates. I decided that if I made the outer hexagon 1" bigger all around the smaller hexagon this would be about right and would work with the Hexagon ruler I had. This is the Hexagon ruler by EZ but I believe there are several similar rulers available. I decided to make my inner hexagon using the 2 1/2" marking on the ruler as seen here. You will need a hexagon of batting and one of fabric at this size. These may be cut from scraps or 2 1/2" strips.

The larger hexagon is cut at the 4 1/2 marking. Do not cut squares first as they will not be large enough but a 5" charm square would work or you could cut a 4 1/2 strip of fabric and get several from the strip.

The three pieces need to be layered with the large hexagon wrong side up and the batting and small hexagon in the center. The small hexagon should be right side up and it is important that these be centered. I just eyeballed it but you can check to make sure it is 1" on all sides if you have difficulty keeping it accurate.

Starting on one side fold the outside edge in to meet the batting.

Then fold it over the edge like a binding and pin.

Go to the next side and do the same making sure to match the miter at the corner. Because I am left handed it seemed easiest to do this clock wise but when stitching I realized that it would have been better to do this counter clockwise so I will try that next time.

Go all the way around pinning each edge. Now it was impossible for me to photograph this little tricky bit so I am going to try to explain. If you look at the photo you will see that all of the miters go in the same direction. If you just go around the hexagon you will find that your last miter is folded in the opposite direction which I suppose is fine but it bugged me. To fix that when I was folding the last side I unpinned the firt side and unfolded it so that is could refold them correctly. Really this is much easier that it sounds and hopefully makes sense when you try it. Anyway here is how it should look at the end ready to stitch. It looks weird and distorted but that is just from the pinning.

Because I was trying this out using these rather shabby chic fabrics I thought it might be fun to use a decorative stitch to sew these but certainly a straight stitch would be fine. Lots of opportunity to be creative here.

Once I had made several I laid them out ready to stitch together.

I forgot to take a photo but I stitched them into vertical rows first and then stitched the vertical rows together using a zigzag stitch.

And here is the back.

Quick easy and fun!

 

 

36 comments:

sunny said...

How pretty! Thanks for the tute.

Karen said...

What a fun little project.

susis quilts said...

oh, that sounds very addictive,thanks,susi

Julierose said...

such a great tutorial--love how it looks underneath your adorable flower teapot--hugs and thanks, Julierose

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

Now this looks like fun! I love the tutorial. Thank you for sharing. I may play with this too. Hexies are so much fun!

Carla said...

It's so pretty!

Gale, Ky quilter said...

Beautiful! I will have to try this. Thanks.

Supergoof said...

I Love it!!
Thank you!
:o)

Kyle said...

That turned out super cute and looks like it went together fairly quickly. Thanks for sharing.

Flickenstichlerin said...

Looks lovely, thank you for the tutorial.
Greetings,
Sylvia

Alcea Rosea 31 said...

Very pretty, is it all sewn by hand, or was the zig-zag by machine?

Rosa said...

So beautiful and thanks for the tutorial!

Natitxu said...

Thanks for the tutorial.
Hugs

Claudine said...

Merci pour le tuto ravissant

Mimi said...

Love this idea. It could be done by hand as a travel project. Thank you!

Mimi said...

Love this idea. It could be done by hand as a travel project. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Well I sure will try this out it looks great .Thank you

Unknown said...

Love this idea!

Unknown said...

really is cute and looks fairly simple. thanks for the tute

Kay said...

I had always wondered how you did these, thanks for sharing. x

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Annie InnesApril 26, 2018 at 2:46 AM
Only just came across this. Love the idea. I haven't done hexagons since I first started sewing about 50 years ago. I'm going to get a template now. You could also make a Christmassy one and I think I might also try one using the same backing fabric so that each hexagon looks framed in the same fabric. Can't wait to try it ... just finding the time!!!

Lala Harden said...

Thank you so much for the tutorial, Heather!! I asked someone on Instagram how she did it and she just said to Google it. That's when I found your tutorial. So helpful!! Tons of thanks!

Pooh said...

Thanks so very much for the tutorial. I’m just starting to learn to quilt, so this seems like a good place for me to begin. The piece you did wast really perfect. Thanks again

kimmieb said...

I love handwork and started an experiment with hexies very similar to this for an heirloom baby quilt for my granddaughter. I used the accuquilt go hexagon template. The large for the backing and the medium for batting and the front fabric. It’s a quilt as you go project for me. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

This brings back memories...as a kid in NJ back in the 60s my friends and I would make these little quilts...we made them and made them...wondering what we would do with them....we were to young then to make a quilt so guess Barbie had some real nice "rugs"....I need to start something like this again, but this time MAKE A QUILT....Thanks for the memories

Vicki McKeown said...

This a a lovely example. I have used these quilt as you go hexagons for years, making single, double and queen quilts, kids quilts, lap quilts, table topper, mug mats and now a group of friends and I are making heritage hexies using lace, doilies, beads, buttons, embroidery and anything else we can find. Thank you for sharing.

Carmen said...

Think you ,Can this be done with the running stitch method. I just see by hand and love the quilt S you go concept.

Unknown said...

Now this Hexie pattern makes sense. Paper be gone!! One a day. A feeling of completion after each one. Find time to finally bring Hexies alltogether. Thank You. Dorothy

Peg said...

OMG! This is MY kind of hex project!!! I have tons of these cut out to take on road trips but this would be soooo much prettier when done. I'm changing my project up to adapt to your creative genius! Thank you for sharing!!

Peg said...

OMG! This is MY kind of hex project!!! I have tons of these cut out to take on road trips but this would be soooo much prettier when done. I'm changing my project up to adapt to your creative genius! Thank you for sharing!!

Conniecrafter said...

I love hexies and this looks so sweet with the framing

Unknown said...


I just love this. Thanks so much. I have been quilting for 49 years on a loop and it is now time for me to step back and just do quilting on my lap. This is the perfect answer for me. I love hexagons and have a beautiful quilt make from one inch hexagons.

Kris said...

Love the designs and colors, I love how the pattern ideas are put together. You are amazing. Hope to have this kind of talent. concrete contractors in new orleans I’m definitely going to have to start following some of these blogs, Thanks for sharing. I will visit once more.

marketer said...


Hey,
I’m impressed by your blog. Absolutely amazing work.

Linda Owens said...

I was looking for a center table mat. This is wonderful! Can’t wait to get started!