Hexagon bonus block # 3

Uses Collection # 3 and finishes 3" to the side.

This one is called "Madison's Patch". I found the pattern in "The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America", and was fascinated, both with the hexagon shape, and the name.

In quilty circles, first lady Dolly Madison is quite well known, because she has her own star. What is less well known is, that her husband, president Madison, has a patchwork star too.

I am not aware of any other couple - presidential or otherwise - that have each their own quilt-block, so to celebrate the Madisons, here's the simplest of the two stars.

You can use any of the collections that holds both 60-degree diamonds and equilateral triangles; from 0.5" (where the star will finish with 1" sides), over the 1" size in collection 1, to collection 3, where you find the 0.75, the 1.50 and the 2.25" sizes.

I have chosen the 1.5" size from Collection 3, and it might be more economical to print for more than one of these blocks, since the minimum size that most printers can do, is quite a bit larger than what you need to print the measly few bits you need for this block. My printer's minimum size is 3.5 x 5", so I printed in excess for this block.

More versions of this block can be found here.

One block
Fabric 1 (background)
5.5 x 6.25" (6 diamonds)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
3.5 x 6" (3 diamonds)
4.5 x 5.5" (6 triangles)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
3.5 x 6" (3 diamonds)

Two blocks
Fabric 1 (background)
7.5 x 8" (12 diamonds)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
3.5 x 7.75" (4 diamonds)
4.25 x 7" (8 triangles)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
4 diamonds

On p. 122 of Collection 3, pick the colour that works best with your fabrics.
Iron freezer-paper to the right side of each of the 3 fabrics, and print your 3 different colours of diamonds.
On p. 144 of Collection 3, pick the colour that works best with your triangle fabric. Iron freezer-paper to the right side of the fabric, and print.





You can hand-piece this block, without breaking the thread at all !
First follow the green arrows, then the red arrows.
Remember : no sewing into seam-allowances. Stop and pivot at the cross-hairs on every corner.












And as an added bonus : here is Elly's way of doing this hexagon, entirely by machine.

Start by making the centre diamond, and two units each of diamond-triangle, and diamond-triangle-diamond.


Add the diamond-triangle unit to two opposite sides of the centre diamond.

Add the diamond-triangle-diamond unit to the remaining two sides.

Finished !