Christmas Hexie Stocking Sew Along: Week 4

It's Week 4 of the Hexagon Stocking Sew Along and it's time to get quilting! By now you should have a beautiful hexie panel - all hand pieced - go you! This week we are going to quilt your front panel and, if you would like, your back panel as well. This is where you can bust out your machine if you are more comfortable- or if you're on a deadline ;)

If you haven’t done so yet, remove all the papers from your hexie panel. Once all the paper is removed press all the inner seam allowances back into place from the backside. On the outer edges, press the seam allowance open flat.

Layer this panel on your piece of quilt batting (rough cut down to just over your panel size) and baste using your preferred method. With a small project I like to use basting pins.  *You won’t be trimming your panel with the template until the quilting is complete*. 

The choice is yours on how to quilt - you could go minimally or matchstick. Hand quilt or machine quilt. I’m planning to machine quilt and possibly add some hand quilting accents. 

I’ve drawn up some quilting inspiration for you if you aren’t sure what you would like to do!

Some dense straight line quilting can bring texture and structure to your panel.   

With hexagons, if you are hand quilting, you can echo inside each hexagon - I like to use a chunky sashiko or size 8 pearl cotton for hand quilting - if I’m putting in the work I want it to show!

Avoid hand quilting directly in the ditch between hexagons as this is the weakest point of the patchwork and instead come in ⅛-¼” from the seam. 

Quilting the back panel is optional, but if you’d like to, take care of that this week as well. You won’t need to layer it with a backing, we will be taking care of the lining next week. You can quilt the entire fat quarter or cut VERY generously using the stocking template as a guide so you’ll have plenty of room for later trimming. Next week we will cut our stockings from the quilted panels, cut the lining and assemble!