Behind the Seams: my tiniest hexie dollhouse miniature quilt yet!

One of the joys of making miniatures, no matter how long you've been doing it, there are always new ideas and techniques to try out.
 
Here's a 'behind the seams' peek of the making of my tiniest hexie quilt ever!

 

Pushing the limits

 

Hexies have always been my first patchwork love. They're so versatile, and easy to pick up and put down, and that's why my first dollhouse quilt was made of hexies, and so were my first mini quilt kits too!

 

Half inch and quarter inch hexies have been my go-to patches for years when it comes to 1:12 dollhouse miniature quilts. But I've always been curious if I could go smaller.

 

It's not the sewing together of the patches that's intimidating. I've sewn quarter inch squares so while it's slow, I know it's possible. It was more creating sewable patches in the first place. I use a technique called English Paper Piecing that relies on a paper template to create each tiny patch. If I can't make the templates work, it doesn't matter how tiny your stitching is!

 

So I started to experiment with ever tinier templates, and finally settled on 1/6" (4mm) hexies. That number refers to the side measurement (not across the whole patch) - so each hexagon side is 1/6" (4mm).

 

 

The making of the 1/6" hexie dollhouse miniature quilt

 

 

Techniques and stats

The 1/6" hexie quilt is entirely handsewn using the English Paper Piecing technique. I have a couple of kits and tutorials that go into more detail on that.

This dollhouse miniature quilt fits a 1:12 scale single bed. You could also use it as a topper on a double bed, so long as you don't mind no drape over the edges.

 

• There are about 330 patches in this quilt.
• I went for a scrappy look so I could concentrate on the technique rather than the design. I find scrappy quilts very relaxing as you're only ever looking one patch ahead, and you don't have to worry about having the exact right amount of a particular kind of fabric.
• I lost track of time. It took about as much time to temporarily baste each patch as it did to sew them together! I estimate well over 25 hours went into this quilt.

This quilt is looking for its forever dollhouse. You can find it here.

 

And once my fingers recovered...

I've made another dollhouse quilt using 1/6" hexies, and this one is large enough to fit a 1:12 double bed. You can find the Grandmother's Flower Garden dollhouse quilt here.

 

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Have fun mini friends!

 

Anne-Marie