Gypsy Dreamer Quilts
Hexified Quilt Gallery
Hexified Panel Quilts came about as an experimental accident after Liz had made a traditional One Block Wonder using Maxine Rosenthal's technique of using six repeats of a fabric print cut into strips that are then cut into sets of six equilateral triangles. These sets are sewn together into kaleidoscopic hexie units that are then color-flowed together to create an abstract design.
Eager for a new challenge and looking for inspiration, Liz joined the One Block Wonder Forum Facebook group in late 2015. Posts were made in the group indicating some quilters were using panels to make One Block Wonder quilts. Often extra original uncut fabric is used for borders to show what the hexie fabric looked like before being cut. Using a panel creates a different challenge since cutting it into strips to add to the border would defeat the purpose. While discussing possibilities at Quilters' Paradise, her local quilt shop in Baldwin City, KS, Liz and shop owner Sharon looked at a couple of panels. As an experiment, Liz purchased 7 panels of Hoffman's digital print Wanderlust: Paris in Spring. Cutting narrower strips than Rosenthal's original 3 3/4" instructions, Liz cut strips at 3 1/4" to make the hexie units smaller, with more concentrated color. An additional reason for the narrower strips is the cuts yield a larger number of hexies to use in the color-flow. Initially, the panel was lost within the colorflow, so a 1/4" flange frame was added to the panel to give it definition.
The OBW Forum group administrators selected several fabrics released in 2015 by major fabric companies to use as challenges for group members around the world. Anyone anywhere around the world who found one of the challenge fabrics could purchase it, make an OBW, and post their quilt to the forum photos. Purely by accident, Liz found the Pandora poppy yardage while on a shop hop with friends. She purchased 7 repeats and started the process again with wonderful results that became her Poppy Explosion.
In mid-2016, Liz was contacted by Linda Bardes and Maxine Rosenthal, who were collecting quilts to be included in a fourth OBW book, One Block Wonders of the World (2017, C&T Publishing). The many OBW quilts made by quilters from around the world included two of Liz's quilts. Again in 2019 Liz was contacted by Maxine Rosenthal, this time with a request for five quilts to be included in yet another OBW book, One Block Wonder Panel Quilts (2020, C&T Publishing).
Following the publication of her Poppy Explosion in One Block Wonders of the World, in late 2017 Liz was contacted by Timeless Treasures Fabrics and asked to make two hexified panel quilts as samples to be featured on social media to promote two of their lines, and a third that to hang at the 2018 International Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon. Photos have been shared on Facebook and Instagram linking to her blog posts that can be read at these links showing In The Garden made with their Reverie line, Tuscan Poppies, and Dancing in the Moonlight made with their Fly by Night line, all designed by Chong-a Hwang. Liz made a sample with Chong-a Hwang's Meow Za line that was displayed at the 2019 International Quilt Market in Houston. Her last sample was turned into a video tutorial for making a One Block Wonder quilt using the Whirlwind panel with hummingbirds. The home videos were uploaded and sent to Timeless Treasures where they were edited into a ~22 minute One Block Wonder/Hexified Panel Quilt tutorial that is available on YouTube.
With the results turning out so differently with each Hexified Panel Quilt, the quest for new panels continues. Since that first experimental hexified panel, Liz and her husband, Leslie Jerome, have now made over 80 quilts using this technique! Their preferred strip width is now 2 3/4" to get good color concentration and a large number of hexies to design with. Their quilts range from 80"x80" down to Liz's latest 10"x15" mini to be used as a class sample for a one-day workshop. The collection of 60 degree triangle quilts includes several One Block Wonder color-flows using hexagons, octagons, and added cubes; one Stack-and-Whack; and numerous variations of hexified panel quilts. Many sets of panels are currently waiting in their studio to be turned into quilts as they work to keep the trunk show fresh with new quilts and ideas that continue to stretch the bounds of the original One Block Wonder technique. Liz has presented her "Adventures with 60 Degree Triangle Quilts" trunk show for dozens of guilds across Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as 1- and 2-day workshops as far away as California and Mississippi. She has also presented and taught via Zoom to guilds in California, Arizona, and Vermont. If you are interested in booking a trunk show or workshop, feel free to contact us!