Have you ever wanted to mix and match different sized blocks, but didn’t know how to make them all fit together? I’ve had several people ask recently about combining different blocks from several of my patterns to create a totally unique quilt. That wouldn't be any problem at all, if they were all the same size, but what if they are different sizes?
Here's the watermelon block from my Fresh Fruit pattern; it finishes as an 8” hexagon (8½” unfinished). All the fruit blocks in the Fresh Fruit pattern finish at 8”, but what if you wanted to combine them with the ice cream cone or candy blocks from my Two Scoops pattern? Those blocks finish as 12” (12½” unfinished) hexagons.
Let me show you an easy way to make them all the same size! Take 1½” wide white strips and cut sections long enough for two sides at a time. Sew them on, press them out, then use the outside angle of the ruler (both mini and original size rulers will work for this) to trim off the little tail ends.
Once you’ve cut off all the tail ends, you're ready for the next two sides. Do this to all six sides of the hexagon block and you’ll have a 10½” hexagon. If you did this with 2½” wide strips, you’d have a 12½” block in the end.
I wanted a few border rounds, because I was going for a 16½” hexagon to make a pillow top. So my next color was this light pink, and I cut 1½” strips for that. I repeated the same process, adding strips to two sides at a time, then pressing and trimming before adding the next sides.
This round brought it up to 12½” across from flat side to flat side.
Next was the darker pink round, also made with 1½” strips. This brought it up to 14½” across.
I decided to add a pop of lighter green with these 1” strips, followed by 1½” strips of darker green. Now, the hexagon measures 17½” across from flat side to flat side. A little bigger than I had planned, but enough for any shrinkage while quilting and trimming.
I added corners to fill it out to make it pillow top size, and I’m ready to quilt!
Here it is all finished!
I thought I'd give you a chart of the different hexagon blocks in my patterns. These smaller blocks can all be brought up to the size of the bigger blocks by adding one round of 2½” strips or two rounds of 1½” strips. The possibilities really are endless!
Okay, and before I let you go. We promised to announce the details for the Fresh Fruit Sampler quilt-a-long after the 1st of the year, so here it is!
I will be filming a new block tutorial each week starting, Tuesday, Feb 22nd. These tutorials will be loaded into the private FaceBook group for those who bought the pattern and want to partake in this virtual class style quilt-a-long! (If you can't find the Facebook group or you're having trouble with the link, type "fresh fruit sampler quilt along" in the Facebook search bar.)
There is no cost to view the tutorials, but you do need to have purchased the pattern. Here's a link to the my original video introducing Fresh Fruit.
I’ll do a new tutorial each week for six weeks. You’ll get all my tips in video form for each block, plus the sashing and finishing process. What better way to ride out the last weeks of Winter than making a cheerful quilt in time for Spring/Summer?!
Happy Sunday everyone,
Krista
Follow all my quilty adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Visit my Youtube channel for free tutorials and tips. If you like my patterns, you can buy them on Etsy, and here on the website.