Hexagons Part 3

Finally finished first hexagon quilt

Finally finished my first hexagon quilt!  

I have avoided hexagons, even though I love the look, because so many were hand pieced.  To sew by machine requires the dreaded Y seam.  After viewing many blogs and tutorials on how to machine sew them, I took the plunge.  My favorite tutorial was Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.  http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2017/02/tutorial-sewing-hexagon-quilt-by-machine.html     I enjoy following her blog.  There is just something about her fabric/color choices and piecing that I love.  I keep staring and trying to figure out what it is exactly that I love about her work.  I love the fact that she uses very simple straight line quilting on almost all of her work.  I also prefer to let the piecing be the star and am encouraged by her example.

I used large hexagons for a more modern look (and easier to sew).  Following Rita's tutorial, the top sewed together easily in one afternoon.   That was surprising.

It took over an hour to decide on a font for baby's name.  I used the darkest of the prints, but the contrast was not great enough.  It was raw edge applique, so I used a dark gray and stitched around each letter 3 times.  Then I discovered I had a gold permanent pen and outlined inside each letter with gold to coordinate with the writing on the phrase fabrics.  Kinda pleased with how it turned out. 

My DSM (dear sweet man) is a great quilting husband.  He will happily discuss color/pattern/quilting with me.  He will crawl around on the floor helping me to baste a quilt sandwich.  He doesn't mind if I spend all day in my pajamas sewing.  His suggestion was to stitch in the ditch around each hexagon.  He does go for the simple.  But I decided to use a random wave pattern lengthwise over the whole thing to emphasize the mermaid/water theme.  Gotta say I like how that turned out also. 

So, if you have been afraid to tackle a hexagon quilt, I encourage you to give it a try.  I also have the half hexy ruler from Missouri Star Quilt Company that I am anxious to try out.  Hexagons with no y seams.