Hexagon Floral Wreath Electric Quilt 8 Tutorial

Hexagon Floral Wreath

6/17/2023

Last month the challenge for my Tech Know Quilter Masters members was to create their own Jacobean quilt block. This allowed them to spend time practicing with their Electric Quilt 8 applique tools. At the bottom of this post, you can check out some of their designs.

I wanted to carry that concept into the tutorial for today -- but knew I didn't want to get super complicated. So as I was perusing some of the applique motifs in the Electric Quilt library, I came across the category "Flowers with Stems". This category includes some fantastic motifs and I began wondering about turning them into hexagonal wreaths. That was the concept I ended up exploring for this blog post.

Hexagon Floral Wreath Electric Quilt 8 Tutorial

For fabrics, I used the latest free download from Do You EQ. Vertex was designed by QT fabrics. It has 84 fun fabrics to give your quilt a very scrappy look.

Link to Free Vertex Download from Do You EQ

One of the categories in the EQ library are Motifs. These are essentially applique blocks that don't have a background. While you can use them without modification in a quilt, you also have the ability to modify the blocks in the Block Worktable. I ended up picking three different motifs to play with. I covered using the Cornflower motif in the video -- but will also share my designs with the other two as well.

Cornflower Motif from the EQ8 Library

Lily Motif from the EQ8 Library

Mexican Rose from the EQ8 Library

Hexagon Applique Motif

Before playing with my motif from the EQ8 library, I decided to create a background -- and chose to do this as an applique motif as well.

One of the standard shapes in the applique toolkit is a hexagon.

When creating your hexagon, make sure to use the Ctrl (if you are a PC user) or Command (if you are a MAC user) when drawing or resizing. That will ensure all the sides of the hexagon are exactly the same size. It will also keep the hexagon straight.

With Ctrl or Command, resize your hexagon to slightly under 2-1/4".

Make sure to turn on Snap Aligned Segments and clone the hexagon and place six copies around the center hexagon. I think you will love how they snap to the center hexagon.

Use the draw tool to draw a triangle for the space between two of the hexagons. Clone and position in all of the open spaces between the hexagons.

Hexagon Motif Block with Faux Binding created as an Applique Motif using EQ8

I chose to create a faux border, by tracing the outline of my hexagon and triangle shape. Once drawn, send to back.

Floral Applique Wreath

Use wreathmaker to create the floral six sided wreaths. If the wreath doesn't look quite right, select undo and make any adjustments. Electric Quilt will remember the settings for your last wreath -- so it is easy to do minor tweaks. Make sure to size your wreath so it fit within the hexagon block.

The most time consuming part of the entire process is coloring the block.

Coneflower Wreath created using Wreathmaker in EQ8

Creating a Custom Set Quilt

On the quilt worktable, create a new Custom Set Quilt. I set the size at 21" x 21" and the motifs at 20" x 20". I went a bit larger on the worktable size as my faux binding went slightly outside the block outline. This way you could still see the entire binding.

Both the hexagon motif and the cornflower wreath were set and centered on Layer 2.

I finished up with a little recoloring and added the project to the Project Sketchbook to save.

Coneflower Hexagon Quilt Created by Kari Schell using EQ8

Watch the full tutorial.

Here is my final quilt.

I mentioned that I played with a couple of extra motifs. Here are my quilts. (Note that this was not included in the video. But playing with these motifs is a bit addicting.)

Mexican Rose Wreath Quilt

Lily Wreath Quilt

I am curious which motif you chose to work with from the EQ8 library -- or did you create one of your own? I would love to see your quilt. Please feel free to share in the Learning EQ Facebook group post I have set up.

Learning EQ Facebook Group - Hexagon Floral Wreath Post

Introduction to Applique Class

Applique is often viewed as the hardest elements to master in Electric Quilt. During this series, I will break down the tools into bite size pieces to make this very doable -- no matter your current skill level in EQ. Although we won’t cover any complex blocks during the class, the skills will allow you to break a more complex pattern into smaller elements and successfully draft any applique block. Even the Jacobean applique blocks shown below.

Not currently a member -- send me a note if you are interested in joining Tech Know Quilters -- and let me know if you would like to start with this class.

Current members, let me know if you would like this class as an add-on to your current class for the month. We will send you a an add-on coupon for your discounted price. If you prefer we can make this your July class.

Take a look at the agenda along with the blocks and quilts from the class. Click on the picture for a close-up.

Email Kari

Tech Know Quilters Jacobean Applique Masters Challenge

Tech Know Quilters members are eligible for the Masters program after completing 12 months of Tech Know Quilter classes. During April they were challenged to create their own Jacobean style quilt block. Each week they were challenged to add a new element to their block -- this allowed them to keep the project manageable.

Masters members receive fewer lessons each month, with more time to devote to their own projects and challenges.

If you have completed 12 or more months of Tech Know Quilters and are interested in joining Masters, send me a note. I will send you more information on the program.

I am in love with their designs.

Ann Cornett Horlsey EQ Design

Ann's Inspiration Piece

Maureen Feron Pinwill EQ8 Design

Maureen's Inspiration

Maureen Pinwill EQ8 Quilt

Lynne Maramieri EQ8 Design

Kari Schell EQ8 Design

Curryanne Hostetler EQ8 Design

Curryanne's Inspiration

Curryanne Hostetler Quilt

Roxanna Khoury EQ8 Design

Roxanna's Inspiration

Edith Craig EQ8 Design

Edith's Inspiration

Margo Reppert EQ8 Design

Margo's Inspiration

Nanne Panne EQ8 Design

Julie Pedersen EQ8 Design

Katherine Martin EQ8 Design

Katherine's Inspiration

Fran Heisey EQ8 Design (check out her added embroidery)

Fran's Inspiration - Winterthur pocketbook

Patricia Hansen EQ8 Design

Barbara Ross EQ8 Design

Rhonda Goss EQ8 Design

Happy quilting.

Kari

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