TAMARATJO

I purchased the mini pearl bracelet fabric in 8 or 10 colors, and was trying to find the right quilt for the fabric. I found this quilt along below, and fell in love with the pattern. I consider myself an advanced beginner when it comes to piecing. But looking at the directions on how to make this block, I was a little intimidated. I have also never made a quilt out of blocks other than squares, so the hexi thing has me a bit worried to. I do think I would need to practice making some blocks with scrap fabric. I also don't have a triangle ruler, and hesitate to buy one if the pattern is way beyond my skillset. But I am willing to buy a ruler. The pattern recommends the creative grids 60 degree 8 1/2 inch ruler. Would this ruler be useful for other patterns as well?

If it helps, I have made probably 15 or so quilts of various sizes including setting blocks on point. Ohio Star, economy blocks, snowball blocks, sister's choice, churn dash, fireworks, etc. to give you an idea of what I have completed.

Honest advice from quilters who may be better able to judge the complexity of this pattern would be greatly appreciated, as would feedback on the ruler. Thank you so much!

http://freshlypieced.com/2013/03/blo...me-quilt-along

Tartan

If you study the pattern you will see the " flowers" are hexagon shaped. When piecing hexagon shapes, you sew rows of half hexagons together. If you try to sew whole hexagons together and then try to sew them together, you end up having to piece Y seams.

TAMARATJO

I did see that you sew the half hexi's together. Probably not too hard, like learning to sew blocks on point. When you have done it once, it makes more sense. At least that is what I hope!

feline fanatic

You can totally do this quilt. It is assembled with half hexis so basically once you have all your triangle units made, you piece them into strip sets to assemble the top. This quilt a confident beginner can absolutely do and it should boost your confidence to try even more complex things. Get the ruler. I have this ruler and used it to make this quilt: African Queen a spiderweb quilt
I also made this one using the same ruler
Triangle quilt

I think the ruler is versatile enough that if you make this quilt it will be well worth it so any other quilt made with 60 degree triangles will be a bonus and there are a lot of 60 degree triangle quilts out there. Jaybird designs has tons (and as it happens the second topic I posted to is a Jaybird pattern but I figured out how to make the quilt without her pattern)

So use your pretty string of pearls fabric, get yourself a solid white and go for it! You can do it. Just take your time and follow the instructions. Oh and starch your fabric (before cutting). Working with all those bias edges, the starch will make things go much easier for you. Also I would use elmers washable school glue instead of pins for lining up those critical intersections.

Oops, edited to add, I made the spiderweb quilt using the creative grids spiderweb ruler which is a different angle, but I still think you should buy the 60 degree. It would be a good investment because so many hex based quilts use them, like One Block wonder and the hollow blocks that are in one of the OBW books. And like I said so many Jaybird quilts use the 60 degree. Of course she wants you to buy her ruler. I prefer creative grids.

bearisgray

Are you referring to the "Bloom, Bloom, Pow!" quilt?

It looks like the white and pastel are sewn together like a sail and then sewn on to the dark color like the body of a boat to make a triangle.

An equiltateral triangle ruler is nice to have.

TheMerkleFamily

I am sure you'll do just great! I say never shy away from a pattern that speaks to you. I'm just about 1 year quilting myself and jumped into the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt last November - a quilt that seemed intimidating at first but really wasn't. It wasn't difficult, at all, just time consuming and a great learning experience that set me up for the next challenge! I'm a believer in having the right tools to ensure accuracy and, hopefully, save a little time. There will be plenty of opportunity to use the 60 degree ruler again.

You can do it! Practice with scraps until you are confident and then move onto your beautiful fabric and please share pics with us along the way.

Christine

QuiltingVagabond

I also think you can do it - take feline's advice regarding starch and pin your seam intersections where they cross. And be sure to show us your finished top!

Rhonda K

Do it!

Another vote of confidence for your quilting skills. It's how we grow as quilters. Jump right in as we don't know what we don't know. There is always someone here that will help you if you get stuck along the way.

Best wishes for learning new skills!

dunster

I agree with the others. You have the skills. You can do this.

The ruler I like for 60 degree triangles is the Clearview Super60. https://www.amazon.com/Clearview-Tri...85954417&psc=1

But 60 degree rulers are not all marked the same way, so I would look through the pattern before buying one. Some of them have markings that measure distance from tip to base; others measure along the side. Some have blunt tips, others sharp points. The sharp points are more helpful when doing a OBW.

Innov8R

I encourage you to challenge yourself to make this quilt. If you are not challenging yourself, quilting will become uninteresting. Those explosions of color have beckoned to you. Answer the call.