A Flower Garden tutorial……….

Yesterday’s post brought forth so many questions as to my process for stitching those hexies together. So, here we go with my attempt to explain the steps. First, I must re-state that the hexies were given to me and were very carefully/accurately cut. Impressive!

Step 1: set your stitch length at a low/short setting. Mine is at about 1.5

Step 2: take 1 petal and the center hexie, placing them right sides together, matching edges.  

Step 3: begin stitching 1/4” in from both edges.     When I “eyeball” the start, I’m a tad more than a 1/4” down/in from the upper edge. It’s better to do that than to stitch within that seam allowance…which will give you puckers/pleats in the finish.

Step 3: Stitch, ending at, or before, the next edge 1/4” seam allowance point.    You, now, have 1 petal attached. Ready for the ‘Y’ seam!? 

Step 4: again, the petal/center are placed right sides together, matching raw edges, having the center on top and always stitching towards the previous stitching.    You have this….  

Step 5: match the edges of the 2 adjoining petals (folding the center hexie in half) Stitch 1/4” in from outside edge, down to, but not on to, the previous stitching line.Open the piece flat and wha-la…..   Continue adding petals following the same process. It’s always better to begin/stop stitching giving yourself a titch more of a seam allowance than stitching into the seam allowance area (sorry for the repetition, but a finish that lays flat depends on this!).

The last is the pressing. In order to have an easier time stitching up to those previous seams lines, do not press til the flower is completed!  I press so that the center hexie is raised, so the seam allowances are pressed towards the center and the others pressed counter-clockwise. Whatever direction you choose…..be consistent. Joining the flowers so that the seams “nest” relies on this!!!!

If you have further questions……let me know! Once the stitching rhythm, and “eyeballing”, is repeated the process really does move along quickly……..yes! I did say quickly!!!! So, c’mon along and give these large sized hexies a whirl!!!! There are even packs of precut large hexies!!! The ones I’m using are 4”.  

Now……on to some more “gardening”!!!!