Friday, October 18, 2013

Shabby Hexie Twist - A Baby Quilt Tutorial

**Note - For those of you popping over from The Jolly Jabber, A layer cake in these beautiful prints would have also been a great plan for making the Shabby Hexie Twist quilt, hint hint :)

I am so excited to share my newest finish and tutorial with you.  I got the idea for this quilt when I was having an itch to do some raw edge applique.  I just love the look and feel of all those shabby raw edges crinkled from the dryer.  The idea then morphed into a sliced up, mixed up, raw edge, hexie tutorial  and I call it Shabby Hexie Twist :)


So, let's get right to it.  To make your own Shabby Hexie Twist baby quilt you will need:

   15 Fat Quarters
   3/8 Yard for Binding
   1 1/4 Yard for Backing
 
I was so excited to use my Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle  (which is now available) for this project.  I absolutely love these colors together and the prints are just fantastic.    Thanks again Fat Quarter Shop for having me as part of your Blogger's Choice program.  So fun!!!


For this project, you will also need a Hexagon Ruler.  I choose to use the You Hexie Thing (catchy name) Ruler by June Tailor and the tutorial is based around this ruler.  This is a great ruler for allowing you to cut all different size hexies :)


One note about this ruler.   After cutting my first few Hexie's and making quite a few mistakes on lining the ruler up, I decided I needed a little color grid help. Yup, just black lines are confusing to me, what can I say, I like color :)   I found it vastly helpful to color the adjoining lines like so.  Just a little tidbit that you might find helpful as well ;)


STEP 1 - CUTTING

Okay, so to start, we need to trim our first fat quarter (after it has been pressed of course) into two strips of 9 1/4" each.  Depending on how generously your fat quarter has been cut will determine the orientation :)


The 9 1/4" strips will allow us to cut heaxagons with 5" finished sides.


Place your ruler onto the strip aligning the top and the bottom of the strip with the corresponding mark on your ruler  (the yellow one )  Also align the left hand side of the strip with the mark on the ruler.  Once you are all lined up, place your rotarty cutter in the designated slot and cut in the slot.  Repeat for the other side.  (Where the yellow lines are added.)    Note - Like any slot ruler, be careful to align your blade directly in the slot and not on the plastic of the ruler, it will dull your blade and nick your ruler, found from experience :)

Once you have cut the first two slots, rotate your ruler 90 degrees and once again, align the top and bottom.  You can also align the left hand side where you just cut.  Once all sides are aligned along the yellow line, cut the two remaining sides using the designated slots.


And you have a perfect hexagon.  Yippee!!


Repeat the process cutting another 5" finished side hexagon out of the second 9 1/4" strip.  Set the 2 large hexagons aside.


Now, from the remainder of the strips we will cut the "applique" hexagons.  Using the guide shown above, cut the strips into width's for other sized hexagons.  Mine will make a 3" side hexagon, a 1 1/2" side hexagon, and a 4" side hexagon.


Now, cut your hexagons from the new strips the exact same way as before using the designated grid.  In this example I am using the purple lines.  Once again, having the color grid really helps when you start moving to these middle lines ;)


Repeat for all your strips.  You will have 4 to 5 hexagons cut from your fat quarter.


Now Repeat for all 15 of your fat quarters being sure to get 2 large hexagons from each fat quarter.  Note - After cutting the first fat quarter I wanted to speed the cutting up a bit so I cut the 2 large hexies first and then from the remaining strips and cut rectangles from the strips to cut the applique hexies from.  This allowed me to stack up the rectangles and cut one size all at once.


They cut the exact same way, its just that there is no excess on the sides.  The exact square sizes are as follows:  1 1/2" - 3 1/8" x 3 5/8"       2" - 4" x 4 5/8"     2 1/2" - 4 7/8" x 5 3/4"  
   3" - 5 3/4" x 6 5/8"       3 1/2" - 6 5/8" x 7 5/8"     4" - 7 1/2" x 8 3/4"     4 1/2" - 8 3/8" x 9 3/4"
   5" - 9 1/4" x 10 5/8"    
             

So once you are all done cutting you will have 30 large 5" finished sides hexagons, 2 from each of your 15 fat quarters, and a whole lot of Applique hexagons in varying sizes.


STEP 2 - APPLIQUE

And now we move on to the applique part.  Grab your first large hexie and any applique hexie.  Center the applique onto the large hexie.  You can measure or just eyeball.  I just eyeballed it and little errors on centering will get sucked into the seam allowance so don't stress.  Pin the applique in place to the large hexie.


Now, move over to your sewing machine.  Secure stitch your applique to your large hexie.  To get the shabby fun edges, stitch a 1/4" straight stitch from the edge of your applique.  Pivot 1/4" from the edges and sew all around the applique, back stitching a stitch or two at the beginning and end.


And now your hexies are attached.  You can add another layer or call it good.  Then move onto your next large hexie.


Before you know it you have a pile of appliqued hexies.  Be sure to applique all 30 :)


STEP 3 - SUB-CUTTING

Now it is time for a little slicing.  Align your appliqued hexie on your mat with the points matching on a vertical line. Using your long ruler, cut the hexagon in half from point to point.  Cut all 30 hexagons in half.


Now, take 10 halves (preferably all different) and cut them in half again to make 20 quarters total.  To cut them, align the flat side along a horizontal line centering it with the vertical lines.  Cut .


STEP 4 - QUILT TOP

And now the fun part.  Layout your half and quarter hexagons as shown below.  You will be making 10 rows that start and end with a quarter hexagon and have 5 half hexagons in the row.  Play with the layout until you have the colors and prints all placed in a manor that is pleasing to the eye.   I find it helpful to mark the tops of my rows here so I don't have to worry about mixing up my placement.


And now, we can sew the hexies into rows.  Start with the first row.  Place the first piece in the row (the quarter hexie) onto the second with right sides together and aligning raw edges.  You will have 1/4" tail overhang on each edge.  Pin in place and sew 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press.


Now, place the third piece in the row, onto the now sewn together first and second piece in the same fashion aligning raw edges and ensuring the 1/4" tail overhangs.  Sew 1/4" seam and press.


Continue in this fashion adding piece by piece until you have sewn he entire row together.


Then repeat the process for all 10 rows.   Once again, it is helpful to mark your rows, especially if you decide to start assembly line sewing :)


And now you are almost done, just sewing the rows together is left.  I like to sew the rows together by first making sets of 2.  Place the first row onto the second with right sides together.  Align the raw edges and all of the seams, they will match up perfectly.  Pin the seams.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press.  Repeat for the remaining rows.


Once the rows are sets of 2 simple sew the double rows into a quilt top. Place the first double row onto the second with right sides together, align and pin seams and sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.  Press.


Repeat adding the third, then fourth, and then finally the fifth double row.  And then stand back and smile because your quilt top is done.


STEP 5 - FINISHING

Now just to finish.  Time to baste it, quilt it, and bind it.   And yes, that is a whole lot of work in one little sentence.  If you are new to quilting, you might find these video tutorials on finishing your quilt helpful with this step ;)


And be sure when quilting your top, not to tack down all your raw edges  You don't want to lose all of that shabby goodness.   I quilted my top in an organic straight stitch echoing the hexagon pattern.


And last but not least, wet your quilt down and then throw it in the dryer so you can enjoy all of that shabby raw edge goodness.  Clip any loose threads that might have built up in the dryer session.    And you are done.   


 You now have one adorable 40" x 44" Shabby Hexie Twist Baby Quilt for I am sure, one adorable little wee one.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and if you do make your own Shabby Hexie Baby Quilt I would love to see it.  You can add it to my Flickr group here ;)


Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking this finish up to Sarah's and Amanda's ;)



Pin It!

41 comments:

  1. I really love this and want to make a "me" sized version!

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  2. Your quilt is stunning and thanks for the tute - I'm pinning it straight away! Dropped by from Whoop Whoop :D

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  3. Muy interesante este tutorial. Lo has explicado tan bien que parece fácil seguir las indicaciones, enhorabuena. Y el quilt precioso Besos

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  4. That is one cute quilt, Melissa! Thanks for the tut. And the ruler looks like a great notion that can be used for so many uses.

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  5. What a great quilt. Thanks for sharing the how to!

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  6. Wow- That is gorgeous.Love the color selections (and the birds). Well done.

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  7. Using hexies to do this raw edge applique produces a great little quilt. I did the same thing years ago with circles and the Bullseye pattern. Fun and easy. Love the color palette alot too and the tutorial is well done. Thanks Melissa.

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  8. i love the colors of your bundle, so very pretty, like the quilt too. lol

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  9. Great quilt and tutorial! And there are all those wonderful blues, purples, and greens. :-) This reminds me, is your Sunnyside project still in work?

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  10. That is so pretty! I think I've got a hexagon ruler around here someplace...maybe...

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  11. Gorgeous! The colours are so yummy and I LOVE hexies. They are sexy. ;o)

    Thanks for your tutorial, Melissa. It's going on my sewing list... :o)

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  12. Loving these mix and match hexies :o)

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  13. This is wonderful! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

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  14. This is adorable and looks awesome with your blogger bundle :)

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  15. Beautiful Quilt and one I will be adding to my bucket list

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  16. Terribly adorable! Love it! (And I the ine who thought hexes were ... Uninteresting!) they look great and it's a fabulous design n tutorial!

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  17. What a pretty quilt! Love how you made the hexies so they come out looking so different, and the shabby raw edge, love it!

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  18. Love the quilt, wonderful colors! Always on the lookout for cute baby quilt patterns. Thanks for sharing the tutorial!

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  19. Fabulous hexie quilt! Love the hexie in the center. The colors are luscious too! Thanks for the tutorial.

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  20. Wow! What a fun quilt! I love those colours.

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  21. Agree, the colors are BEAUTIFUL, you did a fantastic job:)

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  22. What a nice tutorial - thanks for taking the time to work this up! And I *love* the quilt. :D

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  23. this quilt is absolutely stunning, and I LOVE the fabrics Melissa! I think the lines would give me trouble too, so marking them with color is a great trick!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  24. Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial with us. Your quilt is gorgeous!! I love purple, green and aqua together.

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  25. Ok, this has moved to the top of my 'to-do' list.....and I have a hex ruler I haven't used....double goodness.

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  26. Beautiful, Melissa! Love the colors in your bundle and love this hexie design! My list is getting so long... :)

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  27. What a fantastic quilt!! And I just received that bundle and love hexies, so it might end up the same as yours!! and I just found this and thought of you since you have the long arm now: http://www.amazon.com/Longarm-Quilting-Template-TopAnchor-Tools/dp/B00AOG153Q/?qid=1358108397&s=arts-crafts&ref=sr_1_1&ie=UTF8&sr
    It looks like a great tool!! Hugs, H in Healdsburg

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  28. Love this tutorial. The raw edge applique are some. I would love to see it once washed and frayed.

    And the colors are just awesome!

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  29. I had not even scrolled down enough to see the whole quilt and i loved it.

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  30. Great tutorial for such a fun quilt, thank you so much. Great tip for colouring the hexie ruler, I know that's something I'll need to do. Fabulous fabric selection, my favourite colours. I'll definitely have to pick up a bundle.

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  31. OMG! Love Love Love this! No "y" seams..yippee!!

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  32. So are you going to add a note on how to use a layer cake with this? I've never used a layer cake yet, so I need some instructions.
    And do you think Jaybird's Hex n'More ruler would work as well as June Taylor's?

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  33. that fat quarter bundle is gorgeous! love the colors and prints together : )

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  34. I love this quilt! I've tried to get the ruler but amazon won't post it to Australia. Does anyone know where I can try? I've tried a couple of sites but no one locally has it. Thanks!

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  35. M, I am finishing up your quilt. When you quilted did you travel to the next seam, or did you tie off and move the fabric and start a new seam? Please help!!! Thanks Jean

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    1. HI Jeanch, I did just travel to the next seam always using the center seam of the hexagon to travel in so that it was hidden in the ditch ;) Hope that helps ;)

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  36. Beautiful. I also love the idea of colouring the ones. Thanks for a great pattern!

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  37. I ment lines. Darn spell check.

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa