How to Make Patchwork Hexagon Rosettes
English Paper Pieced Traditional Hexagonal Flowers
Sep 21, 2009
This little rosette is formed by cutting out one piece of fabric for the centre in a different colour from the outer row, and six pieces in the colour for the outer row. It is used in many different ways to form patterns in quilts made of hexagonal pieces and is very popular in both traditional style and modern art quilts using hexagons.
How to Join the First Two Pieces
Take the centre colour and one of the pieces for the outer row, having followed the usual preparations for making English paper pieced patchwork, and place the two patches right sides together. It's a good idea to place them so that the threads sticking out of the first side which was basted are in the same orientation, as this will allow the grain of the fabric to lie in the same direction in all pieces.
Join these two pieces, but do not finish off the end of the thread at the end of this seam.
Adding In the Third Patchwork Piece
Lay this piece against the first two and ensure that the orientation of all three is the same, again using the threads sticking out of the first side basted as a guide.
Place this piece on top of the first piece of the same colour, keeping the orientation correct, and continue the seam. At the end of this seam, finish the end.
Joining In the Remaining PatchesThe next seam is the unfinished one where the second outer row patch and the centre patch lie against one another. Sew this seam as before, and add in the next outer row patch in exactly the same way.
Continue round the rosette until all the pieces are sewn together.
Adding a Third Row of Patches for Grandmother's Flower Garden Blocks
If the traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden block is desired, all that is needed is to add a third round of twelve patches in exactly the same way. These can either all be the same colour, or they can alternate colours to form an additional pattern.
Continue making patchwork blocks until enough have been made to start joining them together. The single row rosettes shown can be placed directly against one another to form a solid carpet of little flowers. Grandmother's Flowers and rosettes can also be laid out with a lattice path between them. This is usually in one colour and can use up quite a lot of fabric, but it is well worth the effort as it gives cohesion to the finished patchwork.
Individual rosettes and flowers can be appliqued onto another fabric and either left unquilted or quilted as desired, and a traditional Ocean Wave border with single rows of hexagons following the edges of the Flowers is a very effective finish which dresses up a bed beautifully.
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