Many quilters like English paper piecing and the hexagon is one of the most popular shapes.
You can buy already-cut hexagon templates. But if you need only a few or an unusual size, or if you don’t want to wait 2 weeks to receive them (my case), or if you want to save money, you have to make your own templates.
Cutting templates one by one is boring task and it takes ages! I will show you a technique that cut the time needed for this task by 2, 3, or even more. Isn’t that cool??
So let’s cut hexagon templates!
You need:
- your favorite paper for English paper piecing.
- a hexagon printed sheet
- blank pages
- paper cutter
- glue stick
- long (quilt) ruler and cutting mat
- scissors for paper
Your hexagons must be printed like in the photo below. To cut them, you have to cut on the dashed lines; these are straight lines you cut with a ruler and the cutter.
Do not use sheets printed like in the photo below – it’s just a waste of time!
Lets’ start!
Underneath the printed paper, add 2,3 or even 4 blank pages – it depends on how thick your paper is.
Stack the pages. In order to keep the edges aligned, apply glue along the edges of the paper (see the grey areas shown below).
Obviously, do not add glue on the first page and keep the glue away from the printed area.
Here is how my stack of 4 pages look like.
Using the ruler (I used a quilt ruler), cut first vertically on the dashed red lines shown below – through all the pages.
Before moving the ruler to the next cut, make sure your cut goes through all the pages (cut twice if necessary). The cut must extend a little past the printed area.
Then rotate your cutting mat and cut on the green (horizontal) lines, starting from the center. Do not extend the cut past the paper’s edges.
Cut in the order shown below.
Remove the paper outside the printed area.
We have now stacks of 4 rectangles.
Using the sharp point of the cutter, lift up one stack from the cutting mat.
Keeping all the pieces aligned with the top rectangle, cut on the lines to remove the corner triangles.
And here it is: 4 hexagons instead of 1! 48 instead of 12!
I cut 96 in about 10 minutes.
If you want to make your own hexagon templates NOW, click below to download hexagon sheets in different sizes.
Do you need complementary shapes that work with the hexagon?
Download Half-hexagon, diamond and triangle sheets here.
Do you need quilting experiences that motivate and keep you inspired? Click below.
Happy Sewing!
Great tip! Thanks!
Thanks so much for the template ad the handy hints.
You could staple the sheets. See my offer:
http://3patchcrafts.blogspot.com/2012/04/hexagon-template-for-english-paper.html
Well that helps a lot! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing such great tips. I'm still a beginner in patchwork and quilting so I love to visit your blog. I always find something helpful.
Rumi, I also thought to staple the papers; but I found out that the staples are inconvenient for the ruler, if the ruler touches them. The method is great if the ruler is smaller and do not touch the staples.
Thank you 🙂
—–;–@
Birgit
Thank you so much. I recently needed a few and tried to make my own, but it didn't work. Nothing lined up like it should, so I had to buy some. Thanks for this post and the templates.
Thank you SEW very much for the hexagon download! This is very kind of you, and will come in handy for years and years!!
Great tip and template – thank you so much!
wow amazing thank's. i want to try hexagone piecing but never found a template and tuturial to make it thank,s a lot
Thanks Geta for the template link and the cutting tutorial!
thx Geta…lovely post..and a great tute !!
Wow! Great tip! Thanks for the templates!
xo -E
I am curious, I am still working on quilting my hexy quilt and I used the printed sheets like the one you showed that you said was a waste of time. May I ask why?
Is it because it is more labor intensive than your method? btw, I wish I had seen this before I cut out my thousand or so hexy papers using that printed paper! lol
My quilt is a king sized one and I am hand quilting it. I hope I live long enough to finish it!
(I don't plan on dying any time soon!!!)
Thank you. These are terrific!
Wow, am I glad I stumbled upon your blog. I will be subscribing to your newsletter next. I've been looking for good hex templates and found yours today, which happens to be my birthday! So you just gave me a birthday present!! Thank you so much!
Thanks for the great tutorial! I didn't think I would ever do English paper piecing, but my next hand project may have to include it, since you made it very easy for me to start!!
Brilliant idea. Thanks for the tutorial. I may just do a small project to get me started.
Great tip! Thank you!!!!!!!
This helps alot thank you, I will be pinning and putting on flickr for a hexagon bee that I am in.
Thanks you so much!
Thank you for the great tip!
Olá Geta!
Adoro visitar teu blog, pois além de ver coisas lindas, sempre aprendo novidades com voce.
Essa aula de como cortar os hexagonos mais fácil e rápido eu simplesmente adorei!
Muito obrigada por sempre compartilhar conosco seus conhecimentos!
Um grande abraço,
Maria Josefa
*************
Brilliant! I just printed some out to prep so I can start sewing hexies on my weekend car trip!
A great idea. Thank you.
Yasmin
Very clever Geta….thanks for the tutorial.
Thanks for the template. It will make the cutting much quicker. How thick does the paper need to be? I always thought these hexie papers were thicker than regular printer paper but in your photos it doesn't seem to be a thicker paper.
Una buenisima idea, un mètodo ràpido y super eficaz gracias.
Hi Geta,
Thank you for the GREAT tip on the hexie print outs..
I want to do the Twisted Hexigon pattern,,So if I were to use the 1 1/2" Hexagon, I would cut that hexi in half long ways, is that correct? I believe it is but just checking..or I someone else knows please email me LJeterpudd@aol.com,
thanks! Linda J VA USA
thanks so much Geta – what a great way to cut out the templates – I've done them one at a time before so this will be way quicker and easier – thanks again 🙂
Wow this is great tutorial. I'm a beginner in patchwork and quilting so I decided to start with a little project which is based on hexagons. Yesterday I spent more than 10 min cutting 20 hexagons 😀 If I only could find yesterday your blog could be much easier 🙂
Multumesc, Geta!!!
How very clever of you! I can see that you have had tons of practice needing 3400 of them. WOW. I found the link from a friend's blog that is actually making hexies. I aspire to some day, LOL.
Thanks for the tips. I kind of do this but I do it with a big paper cutter, and I use card weight paper. I usually print the hexagons on all the pieces but realized the last time I did that I only needed to print on the top of the two I was cutting. My page has 15 hexagons per page so I manage to cut 30 at a time. It's so easy!
Nice tip and template, thanks for sharing.
gracias por la plantilla
abrazos
Thank you for the tutorial and the Hexagons, it save a lot of time.
Brilliant method! Im one third in on a hexi cover but need to cut more and will def use this method! thanks!!
What an easy way of cutting hexies. Thank you. I love the bowl…so cute
Awsome help to cutting many hexies! Thanks
Susie
You've made my life way easier! Thank you for posting this wonderful tutorial 🙂
Nice tutorial and templates. Thanks very much! My daughter in law visited Romania with a group from our church. WE partnered with a church to help make it bigger and stronger but it was over 14 yrs ago. She brought back some of the most beautiful handwork table cloth I've ever seen. I'm so shocked that the women do not quilt?! I thought ALL women knew about quilting!!?? How did you get interested in quilting and how did you learn?
Blessings
Gmama Jane
That is such a good tut! Thank you very much!
Thanks! I use two sizes, 3/4 and 2, and I will mess around with the printer to get the 3/4 from the 1 inch ones. How kind of you to share this!
An excellent help! I made a lot of paper hexagons in just a few minutes! Thanks Geta!
Thanks for the great printouts. For those that find they don't print exactly the size they are supposed to – try reprinting them and clicking the button on the print box that says keep original size (mine defaults to make fit the page) and it will come out perfect.
This tutorial is absolutely brilliant. I featured it at my frugal sewing site Sewistry– http://sewistry.com/2014/01/tips-for-cutting-hexagon-templates/
Please contact me with any concerns. I just had to share this awesome tip!
What size seam allowance do you use on the hexagons?
Mickie
This is great! Thanks for the tips. I have just recently started doing EPP and am hooked! This helps a lot. 🙂
m
This helps a lot.
thank you
I have just found your blog and this tutorial is great as I have just started EPP this will save me heaps of dollars,Thank you
Will be following from now on
I have just found your blog and this tutorial is great as I have just started EPP this will save me heaps of dollars,Thank you
Will be following from now on
I have just found your blog and this tutorial is great as I have just started EPP this will save me heaps of dollars,Thank you
Will be following from now on
This is amazing. THANKYOU for the free downloadable templates and all the different sizes!!!!! BrAvO!!. thankyou so much. I will be a follower. kimethameliea@gmail.com
Many, many thanks from Germany!!!
I like your post and your templates.
Best regards
Tatjana
Thank you very much for the template. I have always wanted to try Hexies but the thought of cutting up the fabric and the paper was too much. I found that the 1 1/2" Hexie works great with 4"sqs that I have a huge pile of and the 2" Hexie works great with a charm sq. Thanks again.
Yvonne
lovely clear pattern and instructions, very generous! You asked if we have other requests, if you look at your hexie sheet, you will see two rows of two-part hearts. Could you make a printout just for those hearts? Do you have conversation hearts candy there? I can see these with little life memos on them.
Thank you, Sharyn in Kalama
you angel- I was seriously put off starting a hexagon project because of the papers – I have 100 to get me started in 10 minutes flat – like I said – angel!
Thanks for the great information! Would you be able to do something like with with the fabric hexagons? How do you cut those, rotory cutter?
Thank you for the templates and great instructions! I almost bought some because I dreaded all the time it would take to cut that other type out…saw this just in time!
Thank you for the templates and the instructions!
C'est très gentil à vous de partager.
Thank you again for this ingenious way of cutting hexagons!! I have returned to your page, now that I have improved and am ready to cut and sew more than a few! The ball is rolling….
Great idea and thank you , just subscribed and look forward to more ideas! Thank you form Auckland New Zealand
Thanks – you are very smart, sweet and helpful. Thank you for being you.
thanx, sure wish one was 7/8″, am making a quilt with that size, thanx again
Try printing the 1” templates at 87.5%.
7/8=0.875 so printing at that reduced size should give you the 7/8 templates.
Try and measure!
Thank you for downloadable templates and instructions!
I look forward to our joint sewing patchwork club
Greetings from the Czech republic 🙂
I use my Cricut to cut my hexies.
I found using double-stick tape worked nicely to hold the sheets of paper together.
Thank you so much for the instructions on cutting templates AND the free template pdf, I have been so confused and looked everywhere until I finally found you. Very much appreciated.
Thank you for the tutorial and template. I’m new to epp. What type of paper do you recommend?
Absolutely great! I wish you also had templates for jewels (pentagons), diamonds and triangles to go with the hexies.
Hi Geta-
Last night in my jammies I purchased your new Heart Quilt pattern but I could not figure out how to download it. Would you tell me how to do so? Thank you. I can’t wait to try it out!
Hi, Thanks so much for access to the pdf for the printed hexagons.
It has saved me from putting my quilt on hold, never did I think that I would use up the 3000
hexes I had.
I modified the directions slightly.
The sticking of the sheets top and bottom worked a treat.
I cut the hexes into strips, keeping the ends glued together, then cut with scissors into kites, then only needing to straighten up with a snip across the final corner. I cut one set of kites at a time so the strip was held together at the glued end. Guess you could start in the centre with a diagonal cut.
Great fun, I think I am about 1000 short so I will get printing and snipping.
cheers to all
Thanks so much for this trick, Geta. I love it. You always have such wonderful ideas and shortcuts.
Can you tell me what paper you use. It looks thin. I thought we are supposed to use card stock weight. Thanks so much!
Debbie, I have never used card stock. Many times I use the same paper I use with my printer. For a big project, I buy a better quality paper for my printer – a little thicker than the regular paper.