Tuesday 13 March 2012

Attack of the rogue hexagons


I've been thinking about making a hexagon quilt for quite some time. I have lots of lovely childhood memories of my mum making them. Last time we visited my parents, my daughter slept under one of those quilts. That might have been the last straw that made me start this quilt with no idea of who it was going to be for.

 It didn't take long for my son to claim this 'honeycomb' quilt for himself. I think perhaps I saw this coming and deliberately avoided any overtly girly prints. It was all going rather swimmingly and I was enjoying picking it up, adding a few hexagons, (after wrestling them off the cat).


When suddenly the rogue hexagons hit. I'm not sure where they came from and it took me a little while to realise, but a number appeared that were about 5mm bigger than the rest. I rather stupidly kept adding them in, presuming it was just a blip but after a while they were just too big to tweak into place. Perhaps because a lot of this quilt has been made in the evenings when the light isn't great and I am a bit tired I kept sewing for longer than I should. When I finally realised that I had added about 6 of these rogue hexagons and they were spoiling the party, I had some very frustrating unpicking to do.


So, naughty hexagons gone, and only good, uniform, well behaved ones left, progress has been better. 

I started off with about 5 colours, planning a nice random pattern. But I realised pretty quickly that you need rather a lot of different patterns to be random, and even then it's hard to avoid 2 dark colours together or too many dots in the same place. So I have ended up with 11 different fabrics in all and as I have cleverly chosen a few that are running low, I really hope I don't run out.

You can find the fabrics I have used here, they include some absolute favourites of mine, and I'll be revisiting a variation of this colour scheme for my triangle quilt.

And if proof were needed that I am becoming overly sentimental as I get older, I have set my daughter to work unpicking the hexagon templates and taking them out. I loved doing this as a child, it's so satisfying turning it from a crinkly, rigid paper quilt to a lovely soft fabric one. I think she enjoys it, but sometimes I think she may be humouring me, bless her.


PS I have just noticed that these colours match my blog colour scheme!

17 comments:

  1. That is going to be a beautiful quilt. How long do you think it will take to make?
    Judith.

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    1. Thanks Judith! it's very hard to say, at the rate of one or two hexagons a night - quite some time! But I would like to get it finished in a month or 2, I don't plan to make it very big, probably cot sized, so that should help!

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  2. The fact that they match your blog was the first thing that struck me - I thought you'd done it on purpose! You've chosen some gorgeous fabrics, it's going to be beautiful - lucky boy! x

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    1. not at all, I think I must have been subconsciously plotting these colours for a lot longer than I realised!

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  3. I hand piece hexagons when i'm on holiday so I don't go into sewing withdrawal but I never do anything with them. I think I go too small but your hexies look a more sensible size. Another idea I like is floating blocks of hexagons in solid neutral space which makes a quilt top go a lot quicker. Yours would look great against a grey background.

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  4. Oooh its lovely! The fact that you then say "these are the fabrics" with a link to your shop is very dangerous to me tho....lol

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  5. So pretty! One of my goals for this year is to make something with hexagons - I've never done paper piecing before, but love handwork so I really should get something going. Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. It's very straight forward, as long as you keep the hexagons accurate and avoid any rogues!!

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  6. Looks utterly gorgeous!! Some of my favs in there too :)
    How lovely to have a helper, although I have to say that's one of my favourite jobs and I'd be loath to let anyone else do it!!

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    1. Don't get me wrong, I will sneak some unpicking in for myself :)

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  7. Very pretty Kate! I love your taste in colours. I've never done one of these - it looks like such hard work!

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    1. Thanks Annie, it's a different kind of project, one you can justifiably stretch over months and pick up when it suits you - quite therapeutic!

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  8. What size hexies are you using? they look rather huge compared to my 1" ones =D

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    1. they are 3" wide, phew any smaller and it would never be finished!!

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  9. Lovely, and great size hexies too (apart from the rogues) x

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  10. Thats lovely. I started a hexagon blanket in January last year and its not as big as yours. I either sew lots or leave it alone for months.

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  11. That's beautiful Kate - I love your choice of fabrics. If you run out I have a couple of those you can buy back from me ;-)

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