In our study of Art Concepts for Quilting, we have been considering the element of shape.  Last week, we looked at the use of hexagons in quilt design and I realized that this was a fairly extensive topic.  So this week, we continue our examination of hexagons and the many creative ways they can be used in our quilts.   

I discovered numerous blocks based upon the hexagonal shape.  Let’s take a look at some of them:   

Star of Bethlehem
Six triangles surround an open hexagon.  

 Six Pointed Star
The interior hexagon is divided into six triangles.  

Hexagonal Star
A hexagon is divided into diamonds, and six of the diamonds form a star.  

Star of the East
The interior hexagon is filled with six diamonds and six triangles.  

Mexican Star
The interior hexagon is still filled with six diamonds, but now the star is on point.  The triangles surrounding the hexagon are divided into two triangles and a diamond.   

Sam’s Quilt
The interior hexagon is surrounded by rectangle and kite shapes.   

Wisconsin Star
The star points surrounding an interior hexagon are filled with square, triangle, and chevron shapes. 

 Sylvia’s Choice
The hexagon and the six surrounding triangles are divided by straight lines running from each star tip.  The star is surrounded by a circle shape. 

Savannah Beautiful Star
Only the hexagon is divided and the star points are surrounded by fan shapes. 

Roulette Wheel Star for Nevada
Hexagons are nested throughout this complex block.  A large hexagon is surrounded by a circle; a medium-size hexagon is formed by six triangles and another fits inside it; and the center hexagon is divided into six kite shapes.  Did I miss any?

 Colorado
A large hexagon contains a Star of Bethlehem block with a circle in the middle.  The outer star points are divided to create triangles with diamond tips. 

Sawtooth Star
The interior hexagon is divided into six triangles, but it is barely visible.  All of the large triangles are divided into smaller triangles to create the sawtooth effect. 

Unnamed
A six-pointed star is surrounded by six hexagons.  (Blockbase references Safford and Bishop Pg. 119 for this unnamed block.) 

Columbia
Six hexagons appear to float around six diamond shapes.  Each hexagon is divided into three diamonds to create the illusion of three-dimensional boxes. 

Are you surprised to see so many unique block designs incorporating hexagons?  These blocks look stunning on their own, but how do they work side by side in a quilt layout?  This is where hexagons get really interesting.

Let’s look again at the Star of Bethlehem block and see what happens when four blocks are set side by side in a horizontal layout.

The hexagon and six triangles don’t fit evenly within a square, so the secondary design formed by the four blocks looks awkward.  Compare the horizontal layout to this layout:

Better, right?  What is the difference?  The second quilt is based on a one-patch layout, which allows the blocks to nest against each other and share the common triangles.

What about the Mexican Star block?  Compare the block in the two layouts.

Again, bringing the blocks alongside one another and sharing common triangles creates a more unified design.

There’s more!  Next week, we’ll look at six-triangle hexagon designs and three-diamond hexagon designs.