Materials:
6 Fat Quarters
1 Fat Eighth or medium-sized scraps (these won't be seen)
1 1/2 yards for backing
1 1/2 yards of batting
1/2 yard or FQ for binding (or use leftovers from the project - your choice!)
4 yards of strong ribbon for the drawstring
At your cutting mat:
Main Mat:
Trim fat quarters to 12.5"x22". If your FQ's are a little short like mine were, (up to 1"), that's ok, you'll just have to be careful when cutting the diagonals so that the angles work for the triangles so you still have a nice hexagon shape at the end. More on this in a moment.
Take 3 of your large 12.5"x22" rectangles and cut them diagonally from lower left to upper right.
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| Cut 3 FQ's from lower left to upper right. My quilting ruler is too short, so I had to make a franken-ruler! |
If your rectangle is short, it might help to mark a spot on your cutting board where 22" WOULD BE, so instead of 2 triangles, you'll have 1 short triangle and one triangle with a missing point (see the picture below). I recommend using the gridlines on your cutting mat to help you, or creating a paper template. Then trim the triangle with the missing point along the dashed line so that you have a triangle with a nice point, but still have the correct angles. I found this was easier than trying to figure out the math (which, I swear, I can do it, I'm just lazy!). Then you can trim all the rest of your triangles down to 21" to match your shorter triangles.
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| If your fabric is a little short of 22", cut along the diagonal line first, then make a second cut along the dotted line. If you simply cut from corner to corner of the short fabric, your angles will be off and your hexagon will be wonky. |
Take the other 3 rectangles and cut them diagonally in the OPPOSITE direction, from lower right to upper left. If you have any short rectangles, do the same thing as before. These 12 large triangles will make your hexagon.
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| Cut the other 3 FQs from lower right to upper left |
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| Lay out your triangles into a hexagon pattern |
Take 2 of the leftover 22" strips of fabric. The original tutorial that I used said to confirm that these are 7"x22" - I'm not sure what monster FQ's she was using, but I THINK she meant 5.5"x22", based on a standard 18"x22" FQ. Regardless, subcut these each of these 2 strips into 6 3.5"x5.5". Take your Fat Eigth or scrap, and cut into 12 3.5"x5.5" rectangles for the interior of the cord strips.
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| 12 rectangles from 2 of the FQ leftovers, and a stack of rectangles from some scrap muslin I had on hand |
You have multiple options for for binding, I'll describe 4 of them here. I chose the most complicated one, but you could opt for something much simpler like Option 1.
Option 1. The easiest is to take the 1/4 yard of fabric and cut 2.5" strips for a standard straight strip binding. 4 strips WOF is more than enough. From a FQ, you'll have 7 2.5"x22" strips, which is still plenty.
Option 2. You could take the remaining 5.5"x22" strips and subcut them to 2.5"x22". Sew them together end-to-end for a semi-scrappy straight strip binding that matches your mat.
Option 3: You could sew the remaining 5.5"x22" strips together along the long edges to create a 20"x22" rectangle, press seams open, then subcut 2.5" across the fabric. Sew these together end to end to create a more scrappy straight strip binding.
Option 4: Similar to Option 3, you could sew remaining 5.5"x22" strips together along the long edge to create a 20"x22" rectangle, and press seams open. Then instead of cutting across the strips, cut along a 45" angle to create a scrappy bias-strip binding. There is a good tutorial for bias cut binding here (up to step 7 for quilts), the only difference is I cut 2.5" instead of 2". Technically, you could also do this with your 1/4 yard of fabric in Option 1. https://radianthomestudio.com/make-bias-binding-fat-quarter/
WARNING: this last method is very tight - as in you might be a LITTLE BIT short for your binding, because after you cut your bias pieces, you'll have a leftober 1.5"-2" bias-cut strip that you can't really use. Personally, I had JUST ENOUGH, as in I had about 2" overlap at the end. If you do end up short, this is easily remedied by adding in a 2.5" strip cut from scraps one of the corners that you cut off the backing fabric, and since it's already scrappy, no one will be the wiser!
Why bias binding for a quilt when it's so much extra work? Well, for one, it's hugely more forgiving if you're machine binding because it has more "give" than straight strip binding. Second, it's actually stronger than straight strip binding. Most of the wear and tear on a quilt is on the outer fold of the binding - with straight strip binding, there is one or two threads running along the length of that fold, whereas with bias binding, every thread runs diagonally across the fold. If you're binding something that's going to hang on a wall, straight strip is fine, but if you're binding something that might get some heavy use (like a play mat!) bias binding might be worth the extra effort.
Ok! Moving onto the sewing machine:
Arrange your 12 triangles into a hexagon pattern than you like. Start by sewing along the long straight edge to create 6 pie-shaped triangles. The original tutorial that I was using recommended pressing the seams open, but I think it's better to press the seams all in the same direction similar to a pinwheel block. So I pressed all my seams to the right. Plus, I try to avoid pressing seams open whenever I can!!
Next, sew the pie-shaped triangles together to create the hexagon. Press all the seams to the right. You may need to clip some threads near the center, but with some coaxing, pulling, and twisting make the center of the points lay down in a little flower shape like in the picture. Once you do, press that as well to reduce the bulk at the center.
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| I sewed my pie-units from the outer edge into the center, and then stopped stitching at the intersection with the next pie piece to reduce thread clipping later. |
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| If you press all the seams in the same direction, with a little pulling and tugging, you can get the points to lay down in a little flower in the center! |
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| Voila! Beautiful matching points in the center of the hexagon |
Make your quilt sandwich with your backing fabric and the batting. If you're like me, and you have a bunch of 1-yard cuts, you can create a slightly scrappy backing as well. I sewed 1/4 yard of solid onto either side of my 1-yard print. Spray baste or pin your quilt sandwich together, and then trim the corners. Quilt however you'd like, I did some straight line quilting to mimic the angles of my hexagon piecing. Once you've finished quilting, trim off the excess batting and backing.
To create the channels for the drawstring, take 1 of the 3.5" x 5.5" rectangles on print fabric and 1 of the rectangles of scrap fabric, place them right sides together and sew along both short ends. Repeat 12 times. Turn them right side out, press the seams, and then fold in half the long way and press again. Pin the channels to the back of the playmat, matching the raw edge of the channel to the raw edge of the mat, 3.5" from the corners. Machine baste 1/8" around the entire mat.
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| The 12 channels, after they've been sewn and pressed |
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| Place channels on the back of the mat, matching raw edges, 3.5" from the corners. There will be 2 channels along each of the 6 sides of the mat. |
Bind the play mat the same way you'd normally bind a quilt. Some like to hand sew the binding, I personally prefer machine binding. Your choice!
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| Close-up of the machine binding on the quilt |
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| Finished front of the mat |
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| Finished back of the mat |
Great tutorial, probably something I could make as a gift to one of our nephews and nieces.
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad that more of us, living in UAE, are taking to blogging and posting tutorials and how to’s.