Wednesday, March 13, 2013

WIP Wed: Honeycomb / Hexagon Machine Quilting Tutorial


I'm about a third done quilting my Organic Chemistry Quilt.  I decided to do a simple grid all over the quilt, but also wanted to use hexagons on it.  After looking all over the Internet for ideas, and pretty much coming up with nothing, I decided to create my own.

One great thing about this quilting design is that just about anyone can do it with a walking foot.  All I did is to use the same cereal box template that I used to make the appliqued chemical hexagons, and used a plastic pot scrubber (my makeshift "Hera marker") to trace the outline of the next shape to stitch on.

Hopefully this give you an idea of how I am quilting it.  I tried to use chalk marker at first, but the white is almost impossible to see on such a light background, and the few I did in a peach colored chalk didn't easily "erase" with water or a lint roller.  I've had colored tailor chalk stain previous quilts, so immediately stopped using it.  This "Hera marker" leaves a crease that lasts just long enough to guide my stitches over!

It'll take a while to do this, but I find that I really really like this design.  I bet it'd be super easy on a long arm machine too.

Of course now that the design is taking shape, I may not be able to resist free motion quilting inside some of those "empty" hexagons ;-).

12 comments:

  1. Great marking idea!! And a perfect quilting choice - thanks for sharing your techinque!

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  2. Top marks for those molecules, Becky!

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  3. That is a hilariously awesome quilt. I love the hexagon quilting, too. It will be so worth it when you are done.

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  4. Hexagon quilting fits great! Love it!

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  5. Wow, great idea. You have chosen the perfect quilting design for this quilt and I do think you should free motion a little too. Can't wait to see the grand finish...

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  6. Awesome tutorial! Can't wait to see the whole quilt!

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  7. I love the practicality and pragmatism of your quilting designing! The hexagons look really good.

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  8. Nifty idea, both the quilt pattern and the way you mark it.

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  9. Fabulous quilt! Great idea and so original! I'm not sure it would be that much easier on a longarm machine though. Aside from having a larger visible work space (which is great) it would be just as much a challenge to keep the stitch lines straight. You would have to mark the quilt and use a straight edge to guide the machine for sure. You're doing great on your home machine.

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  10. oh my - that looks like SO much work Becky!!! I ditto what Alia wrote.

    I love your chemistry quilts. ; )

    oh where oh where the heck is spring!?

    Monika K.
    Saskatoon

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  11. This is SO clever! It's perfect for your quilt of course!

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