Australian Homespun – August 2019

PREPARATION AND CUTTING

1

Trace the hexagon and diamond

shapes from the Pattern Sheet

onto template plastic and cut them

out on the lines. These templates

do not include seam allowances.

2

Trace around the hexagon on

the wrong side of each 5in square

of assorted print fabric using a

mechanical pencil. This traced line

will be your hand-stitching line. Take

advantage of the translucency of the

template plastic to centre motifs in

some of the hexagons if you wish to

addanEyeSpyelementtothequilt.

Cuttheshapesout^1 ⁄ 4 in by eye

outside the lines.

3

Repeat Step 2 with the diamond

template and the three tone-on-tone

print fabrics. You will need to trace and

cut 18 turquoise diamonds, 18 yellow

diamonds and nine red diamonds.

4

From the multi-colour striped

fabric,cut:

• Fourstrips, 33 ⁄ 4 in across the width
  of the fabric (border).

5

Fromthepinkspotprintfabric,cut:

• Fourstrips, 21 ⁄ 2 in across the
  width of the fabric (binding).

CENTRE PANEL

6

Lay out the hexagons in six

columns of eight hexagons each.

Rearrange them in the layout until

you have a grouping of colours and

prints that you like.

7

To join the hexagons, start by

matching the top hexagon in a

column with the one immediately

below it, right sides together. Pin

the two layers together.

8

Starting at the right corner, hand

stitch on the line using a small

running stitch, beginning with a

backstitch to secure the seam. You

should only be stitching on the traced

pencil line – do not stitch into the

seam allowance. Check every few

stitches to see that your stitching

is on the line on the underlying

hexagon. Work a backstitch every

few stitches, too, to help keep the

seam secure. Stitch to the end of the

traced line, then backstitch to secure

the stitching. Press the seam away

from the hexagon that will be at the

top of the column.

9

Repeat Step 8 to join all the

hexagons in the fi rst column. Then

Joining hexagons – shown from the front and the back

MARILYN’S

BACKING TIP

I like to use minky fabric on the

back of babies’ or children’s

quilts as it’s nice and soft and

easy to work with. It washes well

and helps to stop the quilt from

sliding around.

Diagram 1

Backing

Homespun 93