OBW Progress--I Think I'm In A Pickle--used flat point ruler
 

I got all my hexagons sewn and arranged on my design wall. I am pretty happy with the patterns that emerged and was farily successsful in cascading them down the quilt in a diagonal fashion like I was imagining. Overall, I like the results but the fabric probably isn't ideal for this type of quilt as it has too many small details instead of large multi-shaded shapes.

I realized about half way in that I think I may have bought a ruler that is not ideal. It is flat at the top point so when you sew the 3 pieces together to form half of the hexagon, you have a flat edge (see the photo). Now, how do I match up the rows and make sure the center of my hexagons are lined up and sewn so they meet in the center?? I have the book and looked at online tutorials and I think you use the dog-ears of the points to line up the triangles properly but I don't have any dog-ears at the center point. What should I do?

Sorry, ran out of image room.

Here is the original fabric. I have been planning on using the matching coral fabric for the border but I'm not sure now that I see the fabric next to the quilt. I may need to go with something that is closer to the medium red from the flowers. I'll have to see if that fabric line has something like that.

Oh Golly, if anyone got on here and had never heard of quilting. And they heard of people needing dog ears, stitching in the ditch, ha, wouldn't that be a hoot?

I would like to see a calming border, but I really like to look of the blocks...it reminds me of a vintage hanky quilt. Maybe use green and cream colored borders or the coral color and cream.

What I would do is pin and glue-baste the seams before sewing. Place on ironing board, stick a pin straight down through the intersections on each piece, add a small dot of Elmer's washable white school glue in the seam allowance, press with iron to dry the glue, remove pin. This has been the most accurate way I have found to match seams and, with no pins in the way, it's easy to sew.

Love the coral color!!!
Yes, the dog ears do make it easier to match, but you should be OK. Put pin from the back of the block thru the intersection where the 3 triangles intersect. Should be about a quarter inch from the flat part. Now take the same pin and stick it into the seam intersection of the matching hex, with right sides together and secure the 2 pieces with more pins or glue. I would do this on a practice hex and then use a long stitch length to baste them together and verify everything will fit.

Is there a way to fill in the "open" triangle area on the sides? I was thinking of filling it in with whatever I use as border fabric maybe. What type of triangle template would I need and is it hard to do?

Half of a hex would work. Beautiful, just beautiful!!!

For the top and the bottom, I am just going to remove the top/bottom half of the hex. The sides create a different angled 2 sided opening.

beautiful quilt it will be --one day i will be brave and make a OBW

marci baker likes to trim off her points. here is a video of her doing tumbling blocks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWpSETMbws4

It looks gorgeous to me! Half a hex should work.

This is gorgeous....I have never done one of these...it is on my bucket list. Great job.

what a spectacular quilt!!!!! Sorry, I don't have any input on your question, but I LOVE YOUR QUILT!!!

I left them as is, then once quilted, I squared the quilt up, and sliced them off!!
I think that's what most people do.
I did contemplate leaving it as is, and then binding it to leave a zig-zag outer edge.
Then I feared it becoming a binding nightmare.
Besides, I decided I wanted the lace edge ... and of course, that would not have worked! :)

And yes, 1/2 a hex as fillers for those top and border indents.
Use the two 1/2s at opposite ends of the quilt, not side-by-side.

You've got a lovely OBW ... I really like the colours.
While you are thinking it is not ideal to have so much open space ... I like it!
It gives the eye a place to rest amidst all the swirls and kaleidos
Plus it lets the eye "see" the kaleidos, instead of it becoming one big mumble-jumble! :D

Once you get it all together, you'll have a better sense whether you want the reverse print as the border.
What about using the it as the backing?

Another thing ... your print is similar to mine, in that it is a large print, so would be harder to work it into a border and be able to show the design properly. Thus why, I did not do a traditional border! :)

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. QuiltE, I've seen a few that are finished with the sawtooth sides and my first thought as well was that could be a nightmare to bind and I don't have enough experience to deal with that much trouble just yet.

I've made a few adjustments to my layout. I'm going to leave it up for at least a few days so that I can keep taking a peak and make sure it looks good. I started it using a general rule of thumb that the blocks should have a swirling motion that starts with the color/flowers on the outside edges of the block and then progress down the quilt swirling inward until the flowers were at the center of the block. That works for some of the blocks but there were a few in the left center that just didn't look right doing it that way so I reversed them and put the blocks that have the flowers in the center and then progress down the quilt with the flowers swirling out of the center. I may reverse a few others using that method as well.

Take your time ... I found this the most frustrating part of the whole process ... meaning that I wanted it to be "right" and was contiually 2nd guessing myself on it.

Looks like we'll have to challenge each other ... to another OBW and leave that sawtooth edge!!! :)

Your quilt is beautiful! You did a great job!
Can you give us the name and manufacturer of the fabric you used? It's very pretty.

QuiltE, I already have another fabric on my guest bed that is calling to me. It will be challenging because it is 108" wide fabric and I was unable to buy a full 6 repeats going LOF, but it does have 6 repeats going WOF. So, I will have to cut it a bit different but I am pretty sure I can arrived at the same place with 6 stacked matched sets of fabric. This one is a creamy aqua background with large roses and other flowers in varying shades of pink (probably 5 to 6 different shades which I think will make the blocks really interesting) with green leaves all in a large bouquet formation. This will result in a fair number of blocks mostly aqua and a fair number of blocks all pink then a mix of blocks with pink and green and pink and aqua. I can't wait to get at it!!

Oh no !!! I don't need another challenge YET ......... I am SO far behind on so many quilty things, it's ridiculous!!
Your fabric sounds beautiful ... I have a feeling you will be racing from this one into the next.
And honestly, I don't think the sawtooth binding will be that hard ... just tedious and one to do with caution and great attention.

Haha! !;)

I have never done one of these quilts so I cannot help with your technical requests...but I had to get on and say how pretty your quilt is!!

Alison

First, the quilt is on its way to awsome! the dog ear thing is not a problem. I would simply push a pin straight though the seam where the two fabrics intersect. Leave that pin in place and secure pins on both sides of the seam to hold them in place. then remove the pin that held the seam points together.


Others on the QB probably have better instructions then I do.


love the fabric you used for this beauty!
peace

Like some others, I've never made one of these so I can't help, but I love, love love your quilt!

OMG!! That's BEAUTIFUL!!! I love those fabrics. I think the coral one would work with a light binding. Gorgeous!

This is going to be absolutely gorgeous so do not second guess yourself

I think your OBW is going to be beautiful! And you've already gotten tons of good advice about matching up the center points. When I did my recent OBW, I had some points and some without points, but just matched the centers and all went just fine.

I wanted to answer the person that asked about the fabric. It is from the Moda Oasis line a year or two back. I made a quilt from this line using a brick pattern last year that turned out really nice and still have lots of left overs. The large piece of cream and 2 large pieces of the coral print I just purchased last week. A few places still have some of this line available. I'll probably end up with 4 or 5 quilts from this Oasis fabric but really like the colors so that is fine.

Love the fabric, it looks great to me. The Y seam may have to be used when sewing pieces together.
Although I have never made a OBW because of the way the blocks are sewn together, good luck. :)

Barny, that would a hoot!!! Maybe you should start a thread on quilting jargon.

That is beautiful, I love the OBW, yours came out great

Love your fabrics. You did a great job choosing.

The way that I do these is to NOT sew the hexes all together; instead, I make half hexes (sew 3 segments), lay them out and sew into rows.

Use triangles from the left over fabric to fill in on the sides. You do not need another set of 6 identical - use what you have and try to match the colour shading of the hexagons they touch. You will find that the bits cut off from the ends of your strips might do well because you do not need a complete triangle to fill in these edges. Try fitting them in and see how this might workfor you. I have done many and this is what I have always used.

Looks lovely - I too would use glue if the points are shifting whilst sewing them. Good luck can't wait to see the finish project.

I think it's beautiful!!! Can't wait to see it again all finished.

There are NO y-seams when doing a OBW

Your blocks look like mine did when I made my OBW, except I trimmed all my dog ears off. All my seams were pressed open and I sewed mine in strips so there were no set-in seams. I just lined up my center seams when putting the rows together. You do need to lay the whole quilt out so when you put your rows of three together you keep the halves of the block together. I used black as an inner border (it was in my material) and then used the material I used in the center for the outer border. Actually, they don't need borders, but then you need to run a seam around the outside to keep the blocks from coming apart when it is being quilted. Turned out great! Yours will be lovely!!!