Twice In Half
I’ve thought about making a hexagon quilt for years now. I even bought the Hex-n-More ruler two years ago to get started, but then couldn’t come up with the right project at the right time. However, the arrival of our friends’ twin babies and a stack of fat quarters from Birch Fabric’s Bear Camp (plus a few other fabrics thrown in) gave me the perfect excuse to make two hexie quilts—although I settled on half hexies to take into account faster piecing (the babies came quite early!) and cutting layout efficiency.
These 42″ x 54″ quilts use the 8″ half hexie size of the Hex-n-More ruler and were simple to piece row by row. I did a rough layout in Illustrator to try to spread the colors around somewhat evenly (also between the two quilts), although the final products are a little less random than planned—I didn’t do a good job of spreading around the prints, just the colors.
![“Twice in Half #2” (detail), Rachael Arnold, April 2017, 42”x54”.](http://raevenfea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/twice-in-half-5-1024x683.jpg)
I mixed in a glittery gray, magenta shot cotton, and lavender Cotton+Steel polka cats into one quilt, then used the warmer red and orange Bear Camp prints paired with a solid orange (Cloud9?) in the other to make distinct, but similar, quilts for the brother and sister pair. A cluster of three solid hexies was the perfect background for machine embroidering their initials on the quilt. I originally planned to do a three-letter monogram, but couldn’t figure out how to place letters for proper readability in the cluster, so went with just first and last initial in the center.
![“Twice in Half #1” (detail), Rachael Arnold, April 2017, 42”x54”.](http://raevenfea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/twice-in-half-2-1024x683.jpg)
The quilts are both backed with a gray cuddle fabric, and quilted by echoing the hexie outlines. I used coordinating, but not precisely matching thread for the quilting, as it was already on my shelf in the right quantity. The magenta version was a nightmare—I tried three different threads and a variety of needles and still ended up with skipped stitches that I can’t figure out (other projects have gone fine in the mean time). I had to rip out so many lines of stitching. I ended up leaving in a few lines of magenta that had fewer skipped stitches (and sewed a line of pink next to them), because I was at my wits’ end with ripping. Warm & Plush batting is in between (a higher-loft version of Warm & Natural), to make for very cuddly quilts.
![“Twice in Half" (back), Rachael Arnold, April 2017, 42”x54”.](http://raevenfea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/twice-in-half-7-1024x683.jpg)
This is the first time I’ve ever used Birch Fabrics’ fabric. They’re an organic cotton provider, but none of my local shops carry them. I grabbed the bundle from Massdrop (mixed feelings) late last year, knowing that I had a few baby quilts to make in the coming year. Overall, they’re a decent substrate to work with, but fair warning: they have very large (sometimes >1.5″!) selvages.
![“Twice in Half #1” (detail), Rachael Arnold, April 2017, 42”x54”.](http://raevenfea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/twice-in-half-3-1024x683.jpg)
They’re both finished off with a new label style I made. I dropped the QR code, and left room to one side to add a personal note. I took photos prior to writing in a quick note for each baby.
![“Twice in Half #2” (detail), Rachael Arnold, April 2017, 42”x54”.](http://raevenfea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/twice-in-half-6-1024x683.jpg)
I finished these up in April, but just recently had the chance to deliver them. Stay tuned for one more recent finish coming up shortly.