How to Sew Hexagons With a Sewing Machine
Maybe the title of today’s post should be “don’t fear the hexagons in quilting!” because it is a question that we are often asked. And truthfully sewing hexagons (or other y seams) isn’t that difficult it just takes a little bit of practice to get it down. But about two rows into this quilt you will be a master at how to sew hexagons with a sewing machine.
Here is what you will need to make this quilt which is approximately 40″ by 44″:
*56 Hexagons that measure 4.5″ on each side. Some will be cut in half and some will be cut into quarters. I used the fabrics in this fat quarter bundle.
(I used my Accuquilt cutter to cut each of the hexagons. This is the hexagon die that I used (affiliate link).
- Lay out each of your hexagons into rows like the illustration above until you have a pattern that you like. You will need to cut some of the hexagons into half to do the vertical rows, and some into quarters to finish off the horizontal row.
2. Next on each corner of each hexagon, measure 1/4″ in from the top and 1/4″ from each side and place a dot with a water fabric marking pen.
3. Then place two hexagons right sides together and stitch between the two dots on the first side using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Repeat for all hexagons until you have sewn them into long vertical rows.
4. Now it’s time to sew the rows together. You will need the marks you make in step one to sew the second row to the first. Place row #2 on top of row #1 and stitch in a “v” shape from dot to dot as shown in the diagram below.
5. Repeat with each row the same way you sewed rows #1 and #2 until all the rows of the quilt are sewn together. At the end of every other row you will need to put in a half-hexagon or a quarter hexagon to make the rows match like shown below.
6. Once your quilt top is put together you are ready to baste, quilt and bind as desired.
And you can enjoy your quilt! Here is an image to pin to pinterest if you want to remember this tutorial 😉
~elizabeth
Hillary says
Thank you for sharing how you did this. I’ve seen these quilts but couldn’t figure out how they were done. You make it look so easy .