Ruler-FMQ Quilting a Hexagon Quilt

Our April One Monthly Goal (OMG) was to complete a hexagon baby quilt top.  We were quite successful in piecing the top by mid-month.  Quilting it was not meant to be even though the desire existed.  This quilt top has an equal amount of ruler work and FMQ in the design.  I learned a lot – good and bad – while completing this piece!

Hexagon Backing – Quilt Design

We selected this cute backing fabric from Moda called Bramble because it goes so well with the baby’s theme.  A nice light gray thread was chosen and several bobbins were filled.  The Stonehenge line was used for the quilt top.

The quilting design was something I had in my Pinterest account for ages.  Isn’t it amazing when you check what you’ve PINned and then find the answer you are searching for?!!  This design was from Angela Walters – here’s is her inspiration photo and my attempt to draw it on clear plexiglass.

Hexagon Disaster

This quilting design lends itself well to continuous stitching, of which I am a huge fan.  Happily, I started quilting in the center hexagon and moved to the next one with great success.  I was starting to get my groove on . . . and then the thread breaking game began.  At first, I thought I was moving my hands too quickly . . . or too slowly to match the sewing speed.  Rip, rip.  Then I tried rethreading the machine, a new needle, and lowering the position of the presser foot.  More ripping ensued.  There may have been some growling as well – poor Sue.  As a last resort, I tried my old faithful pale yellow thread which allowed hope to return.

Hexi One block

Hexagon Ruler Lessons

When deciding this project called for ruler work along with FMQ, I discovered that I do not have a straight quilting ruler long enough.  Maybe I can eyeball it?  Seriously.  I considered that for those first two gray-thread blocks.  Umm, no.  Straight-ish just doesn’t cut it for me.  What to do?  What to do?  Amazon!!  No . . . I don’t want to wait TEN days to get a longer ruler.  Hmm.  Maybe our friend, Carol, has one.  This is essential and urgent . . .

Hexi center mark

After a nice refreshing sleep, the answer came to me.  Mark the center and quilt to that mark!  Yes, my ruler is long enough for that.  One mid-point is marked by a seam in the center of the hexagon while the other points are marked using the temporary chalk and a regular ruler.

Often, the sewing machine needle is spaced 1/4″ away from the edge of my ruler presser foot.  In order to hit this seam intersection exactly with the needle, the ruler needs to be offset the same 1/4″.  This nifty tool helps me place the ruler in the correct spot.  In the end, you can see I was one thread off!  I used the ruler for the straight lines in the design and to stitch-in-the-ditch over to the next point for straight lines.

Hexagon FMQ Tips

The blue straight line was stitched first with a ruler and then the wavy petal shape was FMQ back to the starting point.  Next, the two green straight lines were quilted using the ruler followed by the wavy green FMQ line.  Finally, the two red straight lines were quilted and the wavy FMQ line.  You can continuously stitch to the next hexagon and easily move diagonally across the row.

The key to this design is that the wavy/petal is on the SAME side of the straight line.  Either on the right in my drawing or the left as in Angela’s stitching, be consistent.  Ask me how I know . . . it may have involved some ripping when I forgot which side.  Handily enough, I also got confused about which line to rip out so I ripped out the correct wavy petal first.  Truth.

Hexagon Quilting Edge Closeup

Two sides of the quilt had half-hexagon blocks.  Those had to be quilted as if they were a whole block but cut off.  I marked the center of the block on the batting and then aimed toward that mark when quilting the straight line and petal.  I’ve also shared a closeup view of the overall quilting prior to washing the quilt.

Hexagon Ta-Da Finish

Just one more picture to show the darker teal binding along with the quilted backing.

Hexi binding

And at last, a Hexagon baby quilt ta-da!

Hexi finished

Sue and Rosalie will be giving this to their boss later this month.  Maybe they’ll share a photo with me with the new bundle of joy enjoying it?!

 

Join us each Tuesday for our hosted linky party called To-Do Tuesday.  Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link above or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!

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22 Responses

  1. Denise says:

    I love this quilt, beautiful finish.

  2. Thank you for joining in the linky party! I love the way you quilted this and it is a fun way to keep in mind for hexies!

  3. Denise says:

    It looks great. I have found the more seams in a quilt the more thread breakage I have. Your quilt looks wonderful and the new bundle of joy will cherish it.

  4. Janice Snell says:

    What a beautiful job you did, I love it,🤩🤩🤩

  5. Kathryn says:

    Fantastic. Amazing what a good night’s sleep brings!

  6. Cocoa Quilts says:

    You are doing an awesome job with the quilting. Those look great. I like that you shared how you went from hexi to hexi.

  7. Mickie says:

    What a great project and kudos to you for figuring it out! It looks FABULOUS!!!

  8. Oh my gosh, I NEVER would have persevered through all those quilting challenges, but wow, was the result worth it. I really love how the quilting turned out. What a wonderful quilt which I’m sure will be loved and treasured. Have a great weekend, Mary.

  9. quiltinggail says:

    You may have struggled with quilting this hexi quilt, but you were successful in the end!
    Excellent !
    Happy Quilting! 🙂

  10. lenneamw says:

    It turned out great! Nice work!

  11. Oh wow!!! Your Ta-da is great!! that quilting looks so good on this quilt!

  12. Great stroll through your arduous journey to complete this quilt – and a great result from your determination to make all things just right.
    Hip-hip-horray!

  13. Brenda Ackerman says:

    Hello Roseanne, WOWZERS!!! You did an amazing job free motion quilting this lovely design! It is to bad that you had problems at the start, yet you overcame them and created a beautiful quilt! Truly, I wish that shipping costs were not so danged expensive, because I would send you all of my quilt tops that you wanted to practice on and let you create any design you desired!! Keep up the marvelous creativity that you have, continue reaching out just past your comfort zone, plus most importantly (I believe) have a blast learning and creating and you will be a pro ( in my eyes you already are) in no time at all. Have a great day!

  14. Rochelle Summers says:

    Roseanne, such a great job. Your work looks so good, front and back. Like that turquoise binding. I’m sure mother and baby will really love this work of art. Great job and great photos!

  15. chrisknits says:

    Love your loves from yesterday and adore this quilt and your quilting! Thanks for the diagram explanations!!

  16. What a terrific job quilting this! I, too am in need of longer straight edge ruler for either my machine or longarm….one day. Oh, what do you sew on? Thinking of a new machine for Maine, mine is giving me fits! Oh, and I think this works for the Tips on the 22nd!

  17. Dawn says:

    Great job with the quilting Roseanne! I enjoyed reading your tutorial and process for the design. I’m sure that quilt will be loved by the new mom and baby.

  18. That is such a fun design and it looks great on the hexies. I’m sure this quilt will be loved for many years to come!

  19. Your hexagon baby quilt turned out beautifully, Roseanne! Sounds like quilting design was a learning opportunity… Good for you for sticking with it!

  20. Connie says:

    The quilt turned out beautifully! I am very leery of doing my own quilting by machine, so I learned a lot here…thank you!

  21. Vicki in MN says:

    Sorry you had such a hard time with it. But I also know that since you have done so many hexie’s with this design you can now do it in your sleep;) It looks super, ya done good:)

  22. Laura says:

    I am sure others will benefit from your experiences and tutorial for this design, Roseanne! Thank you for sharing! The end result really looks wonderful!
    I think you might be more of a perfectionist than I am. 🙂

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