Cut seven hexagons out of paper. Pin to fabric and cut a generous 1/4" seam allowance around the paper. This works very well using freezer paper for the patterns, and ironing the shiny side to the wrong side of the fabric. You will need seven hexagons for each flower.

Turn the edges under and baste in place. Iron with a dry iron. continue until all seven templates are basted.
Sew the pieces together using small even stitches. Use matching thread. Using thread that matches the patch pieces makes the stitching harder to see.
A finished flower. Flowers may be sewn together to make an entire quilt, or sewn to a background to make a block. Take the papers out when all sides of a piece are sewn to another piece. Here is a link to some hexagons to print out to get you started.

Finishing the edge of the quilt:
There are a few ways to finish the edge of an irregularly shaped quilt. One way is to make a wide border and appliqué the top to it to square it off. Another way to square off the quilt is to attach hexagons and half hexagons until the quilt is square. This is illustrated below. Another way is to attach binding directly to the quilt the way it is.

hexagonedge.gif (3211 bytes)

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