Last week I had finished putting together 15 flowers for my new Low Volume Quilt. Since then I have put together 9 more flowers for a total of 24 flowers such as the one below. They are created with a variety of values and patterns.

It has taken me a great deal more time than I expected to sort my basted hexagons to find six identical hexagons for a flower. There are 19 different fabrics swimming around in that big bowl of basted hexagons.

I stumbled upon a way to make the task of matching up my hexagons a bit easier. At first I was reaching into the bowl searching for 6 hexagons of exactly the same value and pattern. Then I realized that some of the patterns are repeated in two or more values. It turns out that the patterns are easier for me to identify than the values, so I have taken to sorting by pattern.  Below you will see three piles of hexagons where it is easy to see that the patterns are the same, but the values differ. Once I have a pile with the same pattern, it is easier to go back and resort by value, so that is what I am doing now.

Learn from my mistake people. If you ever have a nice jellyroll of low volume fabrics that you think you are going to want to make into flowers, by all means keep the fabrics separated when you baste them and resist the urge to throw them into a big bowl.

I am wishing now that I had put these piles into sandwich bags. I cut those squares nearly a year ago. The coolness of the big bowl of hexagons is far outweighed by the hassle of trying to match them up later.

Once I get my hexagons sorted into sets of six I have been sewing them together in preparation for joining.

I am linking up with Jessica’s Monday Morning Star Count. I am so happy it is back on a weekly basis. I love to see what others are doing and to share with them. Please stop by Jessica’s page to follow the links and see how people are progressing on their EPP.