Hexie Blooms Quilt – A Cotton Nook Shop Sample
When the Cotton Nook fabric collection arrived at the shop, I knew I wanted to find a quilt pattern that would let the prints shine. Some fabric collections work beautifully cut into tiny pieces, but these prints deserved a little more room.
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I already had the Hexie Blooms quilt pattern by Cotton and Joy in the shop, and its larger pieces seemed like a great fit. It also gave me an excuse to make something a little different from my usual piecing.
And I’m really happy with how this one turned out.
Choosing the Fabrics for My Hexie Blooms Quilt
For the throw-size quilt, I used nine fat quarters from the Cotton Nook collection along with Riley White Confetti Cotton for the background.
My original plan was to make each bloom from a single fabric—one print for all of the petals in each flower.
Once I started laying everything out, though, I changed my mind.
Instead, I mixed the fabrics so that each bloom has petals from several different prints.
It gives the quilt a scrappier look and spreads the colors throughout the entire quilt.
I liked that layout much better than keeping each flower to a single print.
Sometimes you just have to get the fabric out on the table before you know what you really want to do!
The finished throw measures approximately 58″ × 65″.
Sewing With Half Hexagons
Hexie Blooms is a little different from a traditional patchwork quilt because the main pieces are half hexagons.
I used the Hex N More ruler by Jaybird Quilts to cut my 4½”-wide half hexies. The printed Hexie Blooms pattern also includes a template, so you don’t necessarily need the specialty ruler, but I found the ruler very helpful for cutting all of those repeated pieces.
I’d probably consider this more of an intermediate quilt simply because half-hexagon construction may be unfamiliar if you’ve mostly worked with squares and rectangles.
You’re cutting pieces on an angle, which means you’re working with bias edges. Sewing the half hexies together also looks a little strange at first. When you place two pieces right sides together, those angled edges don’t line up neatly on top of one another the way two squares would.
Once you understand how the pieces need to line up, though, the construction becomes very repetitive.
And most importantly: there are no Y-seams!
Oversized Blocks Make Piecing Easier
One of my favorite things about the Hexie Blooms pattern is the way the quilt is constructed.
Rather than sewing row after row of half hexagons across the entire quilt, the blooms are assembled into individual blocks with sashing between them.
Even better, the blocks are made slightly oversized.
After you’ve pieced a block, you trim it down to its final size. I really liked this method because it gives you a little breathing room while you’re piecing those angled shapes instead of requiring every point and edge to land perfectly as you sew.
Once I finished cutting all of the pieces, the quilt actually came together pretty quickly.
It’s definitely a pattern I would make again.
Quilting the Hexie Blooms Quilt
For the quilting, I used the Box Tie pantograph from Longarm League.
Its geometric design was a nice complement to all of the angles in the half hexagons without competing with the fabrics.
I didn’t quilt this one particularly densely because I wanted the finished quilt to stay soft and cozy. That worked exactly the way I’d hoped.
I used Linen Glide thread, which blends nicely with the Riley White Confetti Cotton background while still adding plenty of texture when you see the quilt up close.
A Little Pink on the Back
For the backing, I chose Dainty Daisy in Frosting by Riley Bke Designs, a pink basic covered with tiny white daisies.
I loved it so much with the Cotton Nook fabrics that I used the same Dainty Daisy for the binding.
The pink gives the back of the quilt a completely different look while still coordinating beautifully with the front.
My Finished Hexie Blooms Quilt
This quilt started as a shop sample—I knew when the Cotton Nook collection arrived that I wanted to make Hexie Blooms kits from it.
But it’s also one of those samples that reminds me why I enjoy making the quilts before putting together a kit.
You get to see how the fabrics actually behave in the pattern. You discover little things about the construction that aren’t obvious from looking at the pattern cover. And sometimes, like with my mixed-up blooms, you change the plan completely once the fabric is spread out in front of you.
If you’ve never made a half-hexagon quilt before, Hexie Blooms is a fun way to try something a little different without diving into Y-seams. Once you get comfortable cutting and lining up those angled pieces, the repetitive construction makes it a surprisingly quick quilt to put together.
Hexie Blooms quilt kits featuring Cotton Nook are available in the Treeline Quilting shop. The kit includes the fabrics for the quilt top and binding along with the printed Hexie Blooms pattern. Backing fabric is not included.
And if you’re making your own version, don’t be afraid to move those fabrics around before you start sewing. My original layout didn’t survive very long—and I’m glad it didn’t.
