But how do they all go together?

I've been happy sewing up my hexagons the last couple of weeks - but now I'm thinking I should have put some thought into the bits I was sewing! I'm not entirely sure how they go together, although it shouldn't be too hard to work out. I have a map, after all.

I am quite sure that I didn't do it the most efficient way though … there are going to be some wobbly seams and fabric wrenching to get through to fit them all together. I am not sure how I'm going to finish it - the age old problem of the hexagon quilt. I don't fancy the thought of a bound hexagon edge; I mean, I like the look of them but not the reality of all those corners in and out. The same goes for a hexagon facing - a very clever finish but might be a bit fiddly. At the moment I'm leaning towards appliqueing it onto a square border, which will give me a much easier top to work with.

Here is a bracelet made by my very clever nine-year old in after-school care! Isn't it pretty?

Hexagons again

I'm happily hexagonning away at the moment. I'm glad I started with something quite small though - I think there are about 400 hexagons in my plan and I've done around 150. Which makes me feel comfortable with it. If I had planned to do a 10 000 hexagon monster I would probably be throwing it all in the bottom of the Cupboard of Doom about now. I'll post a photo of the bottom of the cupboard one day, it's a sad little pile of failures.

Red, then gold, then blue. There'll be one other main fabric in the quilt, plus neutral backgrounds, but I haven't picked it yet. I think probably another warmish gold or maybe brown, or perhaps red. Plenty on the shelves to choose from.

Because I'm not feeling well, I'm spending a lot more time reading about quilts than doing them! I haven't sat at my machine for weeks, although I probably could. Reading blogs is fun, although like everything, if you do too much of it, it starts to all look the same. The very few genuinely creative people stand out a mile.

Trying something new

Here is a hurdle that I haven't wanted to leap over in twenty years quilting ... paper piecing! I have never really liked the end results of hexagon piecing because I associate it with traditional quilts in pastels. But, of course, you can do whatever you want with them!!! And when I saw Bonnie's no fuss method over on quiltville.com, I thought I would give them a go.

Of course I do it the even-bodgier way. I just very roughly cut the hexagon shape (bigger than the template provided, I like a good solid overlap),then fold it over with my fingers and tack into place, then sew it to another one as per Bonnie's excellent instructions. I'm not sure how well they're going to hold together but looking good so far!

Isn't this pretty? This is for the next set of flowers, around a red centre.

The hexagon drafting was quite a hit in the house, both kids wanting graph paper to make pretty patterns with. And I quite liked it too! According to this plan the finished item will only be about three feet across, which isn't good for anything, but I figured it was better to start with something small. So I don't get horrified and give up.