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Monday, 29 January 2018

Mediterranean Hexagons become Tropical Hexagons

Yes, I finished my Mediterranean Hexagons quilt on Friday, just two days before the 2018 class with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably!




This is the quilt I started in the previous class with Kaffe and Brandon, exactly two years ago.
You can read all about that class in this blog post here.


I'm really happy with the bright colours I chose for this quilt.  I was planning to use black with purple spots in the triangles, but Brandon suggested going lighter and I'm so pleased I did.  The black and white prints allow the hexagons to be the star of the show.


I used wool batting in this quilt, and have hand quilted it all myself.  It did seem to take forever because I quilted three hexagons inside each of the 99 hexagons in the quilt.  Gulp!


I quilted it during the US Open AND the Australian Open. 

For the inner hexagon outlines I used acrylic hexagon templates and my hera marker to mark the lines to quilt along (which you can just see in the photo below). On the outside of the hexagon I just eyeballed it, and the same with the grey triangles.  Life is too short to mark every line (or so I try to tell myself).


I used Aurifil 12wt thread in a range of complementary colours.  I worked out how much thread I needed to quilt each sized hexagon and wrote it down in a book.  This saved me a lot of thread because I hate ending up with short ends which are too good to throw away, but not long enough for a complete round.


I made my quilt the size in the book (Quilts in Morocco).  The hexagons are 3.75' each side, and we all used acrylic templates in the class to fussy cut the fabrics.  You can fin them here on this page at www.paperpieces.com.


I used a tone on tone wide back for the backing, and a black and white stripe for the binding.


I took it along to the class yesterday, and both Kaffe and Brandon admired it.

The pattern is Mediterranean Hexagons from Quilts in Morocco by Kaffe Fassett, but I've renamed my quilt to Tropical Hexagons.  Rather than being the cooling blue colours of the Mediterranean, my quilt is hot colours which remind me of the tropics - think Fiji and Hawaii, and the beautiful flowers of frangipani, hibiscus and bougainvillea.

My finished quilt is 80' x 84'.
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19 comments:

  1. Julie29 January 2018 at 14:45

    Just beautiful - and definitely tropical. Great idea writing down thread requirements too.

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  2. Granny Maud's Girl29 January 2018 at 15:06

    Yay! It is lovely and finished just in the nick of time!
    I like the idea of noting thread lengths needed. I hate wasting useable thread lengths too, so I end up with a tangle of bits I save for later. :)

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  3. Melody A.29 January 2018 at 18:17

    It is GORGEOUS!!! Congratulations! well done! Happy Sewing from Iowa

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  4. Jenny29 January 2018 at 21:55

    Wow! Those colours just sing, you must be so pleased with this, Wendy.

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  5. Cathy30 January 2018 at 00:43

    I've watched your progress on this one, so impressed. It looks so good and must be so gratifying to have it completed. You did a great job. I'll be following along as you work on your diamond quilt too.

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  6. Linda30 January 2018 at 02:24

    Absolutely stunning! Love the colours you chose, obviously enhanced by Brandon's input. Super hand quilting. Kaffe and Brandon must have been thrilled to see a finished quilt. I bet more are languishing in cupboards than are actually finished. Hope you were supporting my tennis hero, Roger Federer.

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  7. Terry30 January 2018 at 02:43

    I love reading your posts and seeing all your gorgeous creations come to life. They are always colourful and cheery. They make me smile - thank you

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  8. Elizabeth Rivera30 January 2018 at 02:50

    This is beautiful and for me confusing. How do you put it together when there is so many angles. I hope you have a session on how to build it.

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  9. Created by Kathi30 January 2018 at 04:35

    Loving your Tropical finish Wendy... so glad you finished in time to show it off too!!! Happy relaxing a bit now before you find your next muse to focus on :D Kathi

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  10. Her Indoors30 January 2018 at 05:33

    That's stunning, Wendy

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  11. Kiwiquilter30 January 2018 at 08:35

    Gorgeous quilt, very gorgeous.

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  12. Michele Hill30 January 2018 at 11:13

    Your quilt is gorgeous Wendy..nothing like a deadline to get things finished!! x

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  13. Pania31 January 2018 at 06:50

    Just beautiful. I'm sitting on a plane on my way to Nelson for kaffe and brendons workshop so even more excited now.
    Your posts are inspiring. Make me finish projects that deserve to be completed.

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  14. mangozz3 February 2018 at 12:27

    It's gorgeous! I love the way you quilted it too - just enough!

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  15. cityquilter grace3 February 2018 at 12:35

    omigosh...that is stunning!

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  16. Lodi4 February 2018 at 14:36

    Lovely! I admire your beautiful work!

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  17. Gemini Jen NZ4 February 2018 at 21:19

    Marvellous work! Such patience to hand quilt it - well done!

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  18. Schulz Family5 February 2018 at 19:19

    I just love it, and the class you have just done.

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  19. Rosemarie8 February 2018 at 18:31

    I love all your quilts--we like all the same bright colors but you put them together so much better than I ever could.

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Thank you for visiting my blog. I do read all your lovely comments and always reply to questions, either by direct email or by leaving a comment on the blog post if you are a no reply blogger. Sometimes there are just too many kind comments to reply to everyone. I hope you understand.