Monday, March 21, 2016

Hexagon play..........

In July last year I started pulling a selection of Kaffe and friends fabrics with a purple/greenish gold/rust/brown theme.  I have had them stacked there waiting and waiting for me to cut them.  My plan was to use the 8" hexagon die and the matching equilateral triangle die.  My 2 friends came over yesterday so I decided it would be a good day to start cutting and playing with the pieces on the design wall.  I need to do some research and see how other quilters have arranged the colors and values with this pattern.  I have more cutting to do so it will change many times before I'm done.

I got about half of the 3rd load of African fabrics ironed.  I'll finish those today.  I think I need to do a quilt that will showcase the different prints so it will need large shapes for the large prints and smaller ones for the small and medium size prints.  I think maybe it will be a modular style like this one.

17 comments:

Judith said...

Hexies are a great thing to do in the car on long trips. I've got a big bag of 1" done that I will have to figure out what to do with.

quilt for fun said...

This is beautiful. Does your hexi die measure 8 inches per side, or is that measurement some other way? The hexies don't look that large.

Roxanne said...

I like this combination of shapes because it can be sewn into strips, but you need a big layout space. Great use of these designers too!

Sylvia Anderson said...

Good morning Wanda.....I am not a fan of hexagons, but really like this pattern you have put together. Looking forward to watching you play with the layout. Have a good day.

Gene Black said...

This ls looking great. It makes me want to pull out my Hexagon and triangle dies and play.

Linda Swanekamp said...

Hexes scare me. Can't imagine sewing them together. The best I can do is one block wonders. Yours are gorgeous.

patty a. said...

I really like the star in the lower left. It just stands out so nicely. If you need anymore pieces African Fabrics let me know. I have many that I did not see in your pictures.

Linda said...

Wanda your hexes are gorgeous. I bought the Go from a friend and have a list of Dies & cutters to purchase at the AQS show in Paducah.

Lisa C said...

Two weeks ago I met my husband at my nephew's house in a part of our metroplex that I rarely go to anymore. I was following him home when he made a wrong turn on a highway that led me within a mile of a LQS. I called him and told him I'd see him later and drove quickly to Quilt Country in Lewisville, TX. It's probably been a year or more since I've been there so I was very surprised to walk in and see loads of Kaffe fabrics! I don't think I'd discovered your blog (and Kaffe) fabrics that last time I was there -- plus they had loads of batik fabrics. I immediately wondered how many of the prints you have/don't have! Just for the record, I was "good" and only bought the one piece of backing for a baby quilt that I needed.

Needled Mom said...

That will be a great pattern for those African prints.

Louise said...

I took a class on this hexagon design in Houston. It was taught by a male fabric designer who shall remain unnamed. We cut out many of the hexagons and triangles and played with them on the design walls.

While his fabrics are wonderful, he was an abrasive, bullying, misogynist instructor. By the end of the class, I was so angry that all those hexagons went right into the trash. The memory of that awful class ruined them for me. (He did not speak to me directly; this was all due to observed interactions with other ladies. I think bullies can sense who they can and can't mess with.)

My mother always said, "Smart is good, but NICE counts for a lot." Life is too short to deal with people who aren't nice.

I'm going to release all that anger now, and enjoy watching your beautiful quilt come together as part of my healing process! I love the color range you've chosen. I did sew up a hexagon quilt in Christmas fabrics using these same templates. Much easier to sew together into rows with the triangle shapes than one that's all hexies, but still more fiddly than squares and rectangles.

Vicki W said...

Yummy! You know that I love the palette.

Charlotta said...

That's a lot of loveliness! Beautiful saturated hexies - you cannot go wrong with them no matter what setting you use - I have some Atlanta friends who've worked or are using Kaffe's fabric for hexies and its turning out beautifully.
The African fabrics are also great. I looked back at the example of the pattern you said you might use and was surprised to see an African print with zebras. My experience has been that there might be elephants, antelopes, giraffes, and big cats, but never zebras. I always assumed it was because there are so many zebras, and they are relatively unimportant in the lives of the people.

Lesley Gilbert said...

I love all those fabrics and those yellow 'star' points really make a difference, in my opinion :)

JJM said...

Hexagon's and triangles a perfect union. I know you will design and explosive piece with these. Your fabrics shown have already have set the stage for the second act. I don't even want you to take an intermission on this one. (*._,*) Just love it.

JJM

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful! I have some Kaffe fabrics and I have been thinking of making something similar. My plan was to use white in all the triangles. A safer choice for me since I am not so good with color and pattern as you are!

Mystic Quilter said...

Love your colours and this pattern has lovely secondary stars popping out. I made my blue one from the Kaffe book and really enjoyed the process - now to sort out the quilting!