Hey everyone! Today we're making a calm wall hanging, and I'll show you how a soft cream hexie print can fill a whole piece with pattern, no fussy piecing required.
Here we go.
Meet the fabric
This is the Banyan Cream Hexies Neutral Cotton 44"/45" Fabric Per Yard from Northcott. It's by Banyan Batiks Studio, in the Hexies - New Colors group.
It's cotton, and the width is 44"/45". The color here is cream, listed as a neutral, and that matters. A good neutral lets the pattern do the talking without shouting.
The collection is built around intricate hexagon-inspired motifs. The description calls out geometric precision blended with the organic beauty of handcrafted fabric. That's a fancy way of saying it looks ordered up close, and soft from across the room. Just like that.
Hexies also offers a modern twist on traditional batik. In this cream colorway, that twist goes quiet and warm — perfect for a hallway or sewing room.
The project: a calm hexie wall hanging
We're making a wall hanging that finishes at 24" by 32". That's a friendly size. Big enough to see the hexies clearly. Small enough to quilt on a domestic machine without wrestling it.
Why does this fabric suit it? A wall hanging lives or dies on its main panel. This print already has the geometry, so you don't need to cut it into tiny pieces to make it interesting. You let one generous cut be the star, add a simple border, and quilt the hexagons so they pop.
Materials
- 1 yard of Banyan Cream Hexies Neutral, 44"/45" wide — you'll cut the center panel and have fabric left for binding
- 1/4 yard of a coordinating solid or tonal for the inner border, if you want one
- Cotton batting, cut about 28" by 36"
- Backing fabric, cut about 28" by 36"
- Thread that blends with the cream for quilting, plus a slightly darker thread if you want the hexies outlined
- Rotary cutter, ruler, mat, pins or clips, and an iron
- A small dowel, cafe rod, or hanging sleeve fabric for the back
Brief steps
One. Cut your center panel at 20" by 28". Center a nice run of hexies in the middle. Take your time lining it up. Look at it from a few steps back before you cut.
Two. Add a border all around at 2 1/2" wide. That brings you to 24" by 32" finished, before quilting. Press the seams away from the center panel so the top lies flat.
Three. Layer the backing right side down, then the batting, then the top right side up. Smooth from the center out. Pin, clip, or spray baste, whichever you trust most.
Four. Quilt it. My pick is simple echo quilting around a few of the hexagons, then a light meander in the border. You can also stitch in the ditch around the border seam to lock everything in first. Use a size 80/12 needle and a 2.5 mm stitch length, about 10 stitches per inch. Go steady. Slow down or the needle snaps if you try to pivot too sharp on a point.
Five. Trim everything square. Cut binding strips at 2 1/2" wide from your leftover Hexies fabric. You'll need about 124" of binding for this size, so four strips cut across the 44" width will cover it with room to join. Bind with a 1/4" seam allowance.
Six. Add a hanging sleeve on the back, about 4" deep, or add two small corner pockets for a dowel. Press it one last time, and hang it up.
Full honesty. My first echo lines wobbled a little around the points. From two feet away, nobody could tell. It doesn't have to be perfect, folks. You're your own worst critic. Take your time. It's not a race. If I can do this, y'all can do it.
Practical tips
Press before you cut, and press after every seam. A batik-style print with a lot of geometry will show a wavy seam right away, and five minutes with the iron fixes most of it.
Don't quilt every hexie. Pick every second or third one. The rest will puff a little, and that contrast is really really pretty.
Check your border twice. Even 1/4" off square will hang crooked. Square it up before binding, not after.
Save your scraps. This cream neutral plays well with almost everything, and a leftover strip makes a sweet label for the back.
Alrighty. Thanks so much for sewing along with me today. I hope this one finds a warm spot on your wall. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop the Banyan Cream Hexies Neutral Cotton 44"/45" Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
