So, here it is! The idea for the 2019 #fussycuttingsewalong group quilt. The colour theme for the group quilt this year is pink embroidery (the brighter the better) and green fussy cutting on the diamonds – khaki, jungle, lime, dark, light, sage, olive, emerald, pear, shamrock, mint…this is the perfect chance to fussy cut the greens in your stash! This block combines fussy cutting, embroidery, hexagons (as a nod to the shape that started the #fussycuttingsewalong) and diamonds (the shape we are currently using on the #fussycuttingsewalong). There is absolutely NO pressure to take part in the group quilt – it is completely optional and it won’t impact your participation in the sewalong in any way. You can make more than 1 block if you have multiple words/ideas.
The block for the 2019 group quilt is made up of 1.5″ 60 degree diamonds and 1.5″ hexagons.
If you don’t have these size templates you can buy them from places like Lina Patchwork and Paper Pieces.
If you have a printer at home, it is super easy to make your own. So, here is a step-by-step guide for the 2019 #fussycuttingsewalong group quilt block! If you already have the correct size templates then just skip ahead to step 8.
What you’ll need:
– 1.5″ hexagons and 1.5″ 60 degree diamonds (or a printer/106gsm card if making your own)
– a pencil
– a ruler
– low volume fabric (this is a cream/white blender fabric which won’t detract from your fussy cutting)
– a green fabric for fussy cutting
– standard sewing tools (scissors, thread, needles)
– pink embroidery thread
Step-by-step:
1. Get a sheet of 160gsm card and print off 1 sheet of the 1.5″ hexagons that are available as a free download from Love Patchwork and Quilting. Make sure you set your printer to print at full size.
2. Once you’ve printed the sheet of 1.5″ hexagons, use your tape measure/ruler to make sure each edge of the hexagon measures 1.5″.
If the edges don’t measure 1.5″ you’ll need to adjust your printer settings to make sure it prints at the correct size. Unfortunately, if it arrives with me and it is the wrong size it won’t fit the group quilt so this is definitely not a step to skip!
3. Set aside 2 x 1.5″ hexagons (these will be used later) and take 4 x 1.5″ hexagons. With the flat edge of the hexagon at the top, use a ruler and place it diagonally so that it is going from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.
4. Use a pencil and mark this diagonal line.
5. Repeat this so that you draw the line from the top right corner to the bottom left corner.
6. This will split your hexagon into 2 diamonds (with sides measuring 1.5″) and 2 triangles. You can draw a line through the 2 triangles to disregard them and then cut along those diagonal lines.
7. Repeat this a further 2 times so that you have a total of 6 diamonds.
8. Now the fussy cutting starts! Stripes, central motifs, pattern matching, sections, different motifs in each diamond, scrappy fussy cutting….the choice is yours! So long as it is mostly green and it has been fussy cut, it is completely up to you how to fussy cut your 6 diamonds! You can do a different motifI chose to fussy cut these Art Gallery Fabrics flowers which are from the Indie Bohème collection by Pat Bravo. I lined the stem of the flower up with the point of each diamond.
9. Now, you’re going to join these diamonds in trios. Take 3 diamonds and join them together using the photo as a guide for placement. You are joining them so that the 3 narrow points sit together. I like to use a tight whip stitch and start/stop my stitching by doubling back on myself before making a knot so that the knot isn’t at the weak part of the joining (I have a YouTube video showing how I cut, baste, and sew 6-point diamonds).
10. Repeat this so that you have two lots of diamond trios and then place these to one side.
11. Now, for the embroidery! I would love it if you could embroider a word which summarises how you feel about the 2019 #fussycuttingsewalong. This could be what the 2019 #fussycuttingsewalong means/has meant to you, how it makes you feel, what it represents for you, what you’ve got out of it, or a general summary for your views on your #fussycuttingsewalong experience! Even if it is a word that you’ve seen someone else use on their block, you can absolutely still use that word because it is personal to you and your stitching/fussy cutting combination. If anything, if there are multiple blocks with the same word on then it just strengthens the meaning of that word.
12. Using a pencil, write this word onto your hexagon. Make sure the hexagon has the point facing upwards – this bit is key otherwise it’ll be difficult to join with your diamonds.
Just a general tip, if you write it too big it may not fit on the hexie but equally so if you write it too small it could be hard to embroider. It is a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears…we need to get it just right!
13. Place this hexagon underneath your low-volume fabric and use your pencil to mark that word onto the fabric directly (this pencil line won’t be seen as you’re going to embroider on top, it is much better for marking low-volume fabrics than frixion pens and blue fabric pens which have a nasty habit of returning!)
I’ve used a fabric from the Art Gallery Fabrics Nature Elements for my low volume fabric.
Also, don’t be like me in that I really should have ironed the fabric first as it will be much easier to mark your word on ironed fabric!
14. Place this fabric into an embroidery hoop (if you’d rather not then that is okay too, find what works for you).
15. Using a PINK embroidery thread (the bolder the pink, the better!) to embroider your word onto your low-volume fabric. I’ve used backstitch but you can use any embroidery stitch that you’d like. You can totally add additional decorative embroidery too! If you’re unsure about how to backstitch, there is a really great photo tutorial on backstitch here as well as lots of other embroidery stitches on that website.
16. Once you’ve finished embroidering your word, you can take the fabric out of the hoop (if you used one) and use the hexagon template to place on top of your embroidery (point upwards) and cut around with 3/8″ seam allowance.
17. Then, baste this hexie using your preferred basting method.
18. For your second hexagon you are going to repeat this embroidery except this time, embroider the country you live in (I wanted to visually show how international we are as a community). You don’t have to embroider the whole country so, for example, if you live in Canada you might choose to just embroider ‘Can’. You can be as specific (down to the city – just no postcodes or house numbers for confidentiality reasons) or as creative (embroidering a flag or motif that represents where you live) as you like.
20. Now comes the joining part (and use the visuals as a guide to help with placement etc).
Take a diamond trio and, with the long flat edge of your trio to the left, join your embroidered word (with the hexagon point facing up) to your diamond trio by sewing the left/bottom left of your hexie to the top right of your diamond trio.
Take your 2nd diamond trio and, with the long flat edge of your trio to the right, join your embroidered country hexie (with the point facing up) by sewing the right/top right of your hexie to bottom left of your diamond trio.
21. The final step! You’re now going to join your two halves together. Using the photo as a visual, join your 2 halves together with your embroidered word at the top of your block, the embroidered country at the bottom of your block and the long edges of your diamond trio on either side of the block. Again, please make sure your threads/knots are secure so that they can withstand being posted/handled!
22. If you’re happy for it to be in the 2019 #fussycuttingsewalong group quilt then drop me a direct message on Instagram for my postal address and you’re all done! Ideally, please could they arrive before the end of January 2020 at the very latest. I will let you know when your block arrives and share update photos of the quilt coming together. If you’re sending it to me from abroad then please could you mark the block as a ‘gift’ on customs with a value of less than £10 otherwise I get stung by customs. Please do know that I value your time and effort and that I know your time and effort is worth a lot more than £10.
So excited to see how this quilt progresses!