Happy Treadler

Hi everybody. Coming out of lurkdom to ask a question. I've recently jumped on the band wagon and started planning my first Grandmother's Garden/Mosaic quilt. Found & bought a retired Creative Memories 1 1/2" hexagon punch, started punching a tons of blocks, and I'm gettin' ready to move forward!

I found a really cool quilt that I used in the design of mine here: http://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...quilt+patterns It's the third one in from the top row. Love the stars with the original "bee hive" feel of the alternating blocks. I'd like to use a splash of color within the stars & in the traditional flower blocks, and alternate the design just a bit.

I have been looking everywhere both here on the list as well as Google and cannot find how to figure out how much fabric I will need for this quilt. I was hoping to possibly use coordinated fat quarters, but have no clue with how many I'd need. I'm looking at working up to a full/queen size. In my search results, so many of you are making absolutely GORGEOUS GMG quilts. I am green with envy and I'm dying to get myself organized.

Anybody have any suggestions you can offer? I'd SEW much appreciate any advice.

Trina in crisp & sunny PA

MTS

Really quick back of the envelope calculation
(which does not include agonizing over maximizing every square centimeter of potential wasted fabric)

Cutting 2" squares out of a FQ
Assume usable FQ is 16"x20"

That's 80 squares from each FQ.

Figure out how many hexagons you need of each color for the star (and the layout you want to create within the star) and how many stars you'll need for a queen size.

The star in the pic you mentioned (very, very cool, btw) is 14 hexies across at its widest.

Is the 1.5" FINISHED measurement side to side or point to point?

If it's side to side (as placed in the picture), then each star would be around 21" across.

Note: the quilt in the pic is 48x48, so those hexies are much smaller than 1.5".

# hexies per color x # stars / 80 = # fat quarters per color

Don't forget to add in fabric for the border hexagons as well.

Happy Treadler

OK, your "really quick back of envelope" lesson has blown me away. ha ha. I am so envious of you quilters who, in my opinion, are math geniuses. I will probably be cutting my squares for each hexi at 2" each. Because of my simple math mind, I will probably be sitting & counting each block, then multiplying it by 2". I'd guess I could do the same for my background blocks, too.

On the same topic but different, my plan is to just piece each of the cream color background blocks and not applique them as I've read some do. I'm guessing this will work. For some reason I just LOVE all kinds of handwork, but not applique. I don't understand why.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer my question. I really appreciate it!

MTS

Blown you away like you don't understand it?

If you tell me which part you don't get, I'll try to explain again.

So you're making the exact same design pattern and using the same number of colors as the pic?

MTS

Quick look at the star (along with the realization I might actually need glasses):

STARS
Light =6
Med =18
DarkA = 48
Background = 12+36 =48

HEXAGONS
Background = 1+12+25=38
Medium = 19
DarkB = 6 (looks like a different fabric than the one in the star)

So all you need to do is figure out the approx finished dimension of a star and hex to know how many you want on your quilt,
and then multiply that by the numbers above (I'd recheck my count of the hexies)
and divide it by 80
(and then, if you want, multiply that by 4 if you want to use yardage).

FWIW, IMHO, making the additional hexies for the background isn't really that much more work since you're making the stars anyway.
And it will, in the end, look way cooler if the entire quilt is hexies (except for a border if you want) rather than appliqueing it on a background.

Happy Treadler

OK, when I say blown away (which you did again, btw), I mean in awe of how your brain works as compared to mine. ha ha.

For some reason the board isn't allowing me to download a scanned picture of what I designed (printed out blank blocks & colored in). It's very close to the original but just "flipped" around so the top point in the stars are turned (one point isn't pointing up). I was figuring I'd do each star outline like my model (medium brown) to match my bedroom (of course, who knows what color it will be in like 10 years when I get this thing done!). I have a 20-pack fat quarters by Thimbleberries with nice, soft colors, and I was planning on using a warm cream background. Maybe I should start looking at the colors as light, medium, and dark (just as you suggested, thank you very much!).

If we were back in the 1800s I would just be gathering scraps and using what I have instead of over-analyzing the thing.