Designing with Hexagons

Using A Quilt Design for Pin-Loom Weaving

Posted on October 4, 2025October 4, 2025 by texasgabi

Pin-loom weaving means creating small pieces of self-contained fabric in certain shapes. Traditionally, squares were the most common shape, by now accompanied by rectangles, triangles, hexagons, diamonds, and a few other shapes. Those little pieces of woven fabric are perfect for modular projects that combine shapes, and the quilt world provides a vast ocean of inspiration for just that.

In this blog post I’d like to walk you through the process of creating a traditional star quilt design, inspired by this year’s International Quilt Festival logo.

The traditional eight-point star design (Lone Star) can be easily broken down into squares and triangles. For those shapes, pin looms are available in many sizes and a variety of weaving methods.

The chart shows the color distribution “wrong side”, so it’s ready for you to use.

For demonstration purposes I decided to make a table topper, using a 2″ square loom and cotton yarn (I used the TURTLE Square 2″ F-fine sett loom and Catona by Scheepjes, a fingering weight cotton yarn).

You can weave both, squares (video instructions for square weaving) and triangles (video instructions for triangle weaving) on this loom. Some people prefer the convenience of a matching triangle pin loom.

If you are weaving along this blog, here is a list of pieces that you will need to weave. Once the pieces come off the loom, they are ready for assembly. You can use the yarn tails for sewing.

Catona Color	Color	# of Squares	# of Triangles	Yardage
130	natural	12	32	87
253	turquoise	0	8	14
388	rust	12	24	73
401	teal	36	8	111

When assembling pin-loom projects, I usually look for how I can join the pieces into rows first, then join the rows. This keeps the project manageable, allows for frequent checks to make sure that there are no mistakes, and it nicely shows the progress while you work. Use the chart above to assemble the table topper.

To assemble the Lone Star design, start by “thinking in squares”: Join triangles first into squares. Then it’s easy to connect the squares into rows, and lastly connect the rows.

Weave in the ends and clip to about 1/3″ to avoid that the tails travel to the right side of the fabric. You don’t need to weave in the ends if you plan to add backing.

Block as desired. A 20-minute soak in cold water with a no-rinse detergent will do.

While I chose a small loom for the demo project, you can work the same design on any loom size and still follow the same process. Make sure to adjust your yarn requirements to the loom that you are working with. I’m working on a blanket right now and will show it here on the blog when it’s done!

A Tale of Two Blankets

Posted on September 18, 2025September 20, 2025 by texasgabi

Many years ago, my daughter was taking weaving lessons with a professional weaver and teacher, Charlotte Allison, in Fredericksburg, Texas. I was on taxi duty and spent a considerable amount of time waiting in Charlotte’s lovely home. One item captured my attention every time we visited: It was a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt, decoratively hanging over a quilt rod at the wall in Charlotte’s living room. “I wish I could weave something like that” kept going through my mind.

Charlotte’s quilt is a classic heirloom. She recalls the maker, her Great-grandmother Mary Mollie Lima St. Peter (1875-1946) from Arkansas. Charlotte remembers “Though I was very young (perhaps 4 or 5), I remember being at her farm one time and playing with old dolls under a tree. She hand-quilted out of scraps.”

The original quilt is made of printed flour sacks as was common during the time of the Great Depression.

It was this quilt that inspired me to develop my hexagon pin looms and the continuous-strand weaving method for hexagons.

Busy years went by and the thought of one day weaving Charlotte’s quilt never left me.

It took several attemps to find the “right” yarn for such a project. Last year, while preparing for Handwoven’s first Weave Together retreat, I met Susan Bateman from Yarn Barn of Kansas. In preparation for the retreat I sampled some of her yarns on my pin looms. Susan had just launched her own 4/2 cotton yarn line, Ad Astra, and long story short, I decided that this cotton would be the perfect match for my Grandmother’s Flower Garden blanket.

One design challenge was to simulate the many colors of the original print fabric, and Susan’s new cotton line was not only available in a vast array of colors, but the weight would also allow me to blend colors and get close to each original flower’s appeal.

Single-stranded, Ad Astra weaves up beautifully on the XF-extra fine sett looms. Holding two strands together and woven on the R-regular sett looms allows for color-blending and matching colors closely to the original quilt.

For my blanket, I used the TinyTURTLE™ looms in XF-extra fine sett (single-stranded Ad Astra) and TinyTURTLE in R-regular (double-stranded Ad Astra). However, you may choose your own yarns and use any sett that is suitable for your yarns to tell your family story in a Flower Garden blanket.

I had started weaving my flower garden quilt when Little Looms’ call for submissions with the theme “family ties” posted. Charlotte’s family quilt was the inspiration for my submission, but the relationship between our families had grown over the years from a teacher/student relationship between Charlotte and my daughter to precious “chosen family” ties with deep cares for each other.

The Flower Garden blanket will always have a special place in my heart. I feel humble and grateful to see it featured in Little Looms Winter 2025. We carry the print copy in our Etsy store.

I hope that the tale of two blankets may inspire you to craft your own!

TinyTURTLE XF Suncatcher

Posted on May 6, 2024June 20, 2025 by texasgabi

We introduced the new TinyTURTLE™ XF-extra fine sett at the inaugural Weave Together retreat, and it became quickly popular as a “weaver’s assistant” to get a first feel for how a finer weaving yarn may weave up.

Now this loom is available in our Etsy store.

I keep sampling yarns on this fun little loom and there are too many to list them all. Today I want to highlight just one: Size 10 crochet thread. “I have so much leftover crochet thread … can I weave it?” is an occasional question. Even in the past we showed ways to put crochet thread to good use like in this needle case, but the TinyTURTLE XF now expands the possibilities.

Used single-strandedly, crochet thread creates an even, light fabric. If you double the yarn, it creates a denser fabric. Combining those two is a great starting point for “filet weave”. To introduce the idea, I designed a suncatcher that uses single- and double-stranded hexagons to depict a flower. You can use multi-colored leftovers, like I did, or make it all in one color, the light-and-shadow effect will be the same.

I used single-stranded yellow crochet thread for the flower center, single-stranded variegated thread for the background, and combined the variegated with a solid blue, woven double-stranded, for the flower petals.

For the suncatcher as shown you will need:

TinyTURTLE XF-extra fine sett
61 yards of size 10 crochet thread (about 3.2 yds/hexagon).
About 20 yards of size 10 crochet thread to crochet the fabric to the hoop.
One 10″ crafting metal hoop.

To make the suncatcher, weave:

1 hexagon single-stranded, for the center of the flower.
6 hexagons double-stranded, for the flower petals.
12 hexagons single-stranded, for the background.

Use whip stitch and follow the chart to assemble the suncatcher fabric: Sew hexagons into rows first, then attach rows to rows. Weave in all ends. Block your project (soak in non-rinse cold water for about 20 minutes, roll in towel, dry flat).

I recorded a video to help you with mounting the fabric to the metal hoop. Here is the righthanded version, you can find the lefthanded version on our YouTube channel.

If you like the suncatcher idea, you can also make your own designs. The metal hoops are available in many sizes (make sure the diameter is divisible by 2″) and you can add/subtract rounds of TinyTURTLE hexagons to fit other sizes.

Easy Polka Dots with Hexagons

Posted on September 17, 2023June 20, 2025 by texasgabi

Designing with hexagons can be tricky, but it is also full of amazing surprises: This blog is about how easy it is to achieve Polka dot effects with hexagons!

Let’s start with looking at a small block of six hexagons (top left of the following graph). They are arranged in two rows, three hexagons each row. The first row has the sequence of “background, background, dot”. If you feel like dancing, you could say “skip, skip, dot”. The second row starts with a dot and has two background hexagons that follow.

Because of hexagon geometry, the dots between the rows are offset just right to make a classical Polka dot pattern.

Now you just need to repeat those “steps” within each row, and repeat those two rows, to any size you like. There you have your polka dot pattern!

To demonstrate, I made a Polka Dot Cowl in autumn colors … and did I mention that cowls are perfect medium size pin-loom projects, perfect for trying out crafting ideas … and perfect for gift giving?

The Autumn Cowl was woven on the TinyTURTLE™ Loom F-Fine sett with a yarn that is unfortunately discontinued (WEBS Camp Color Fingering, colors Audiophile and Somewhere Over the Rainbow). You can substitute any sock/fingering weight yarn or use the TinyTURTLTE™ Loom R-Regular sett with worsted weight yarns.

If you like the background plaid effect of the sample cowl, look for a yarn with “micro stripes”. Here are two examples:

Tempe Yarn’s Desert Garden is dyed with TURTLE looms in mind.

The variegated yarn on the left is Dusty Miller, on the right is Lupine. A suggestion for the dots is Desert Shades in Merlot (the “real” colors are actually more vibrant than in this photo).

Call the store for assistance at 480-557-9166 while they are updating their online shop.

In my stash I had these yarns from the Chaos Fiber Co.

The Micro-Stripe color is Birthday Party, combined with “dots” of Tonal Minis in Turquise Pop, Hot Pink, Hot Orange, and Lemon Drop. Use one or all!

The cowl measures about 21.5″ in the round and is about 9″ tall. You can easily change the size by adding/subtracting rows and repeats. The modeled cowl for example has one extra repeat, which brings it to 27″ in the round.

Here is the chart for making the cowl:

For your own Polka dot projects, and no matter which hexagons you’re using, here is a Hexagon Polka Dot Design chart for you. Print it in landscape layout for best results. If you need a larger chart, print and tape together as many copies as you need.

HexagonPolkaDotDesignChart-V10 Download

I hope that you enjoy this little lesson in “Designing with Hexagons”. There’s more to explore in these articles on the Handwoven/Little Looms website.

Lastly, if you are curious (like I was) about the origins of Polka dots, here is an article that I enjoyed reading about the history of polka dot patterns.

I want to thank Gale Zucker, www.gzucker.com, on Instagram @galezucker, for her amazing ability to bring out the best of a hand-crafted item in photography, and to Josephine Ankrah, Instagram @sweetjsphn, for perfectly modeling the Polka Dot Cowl.

The TURTLEs are looking forward to seeing your Polka dot projects!

Hexie Love Blanket

Posted on February 14, 2023June 20, 2025 by texasgabi

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! My gift to all of you is this pattern for a heart-shaped heart blanket that I call “Hexie Love Blanket”. And it’s not just for Valentine’s! Make it to welcome a new baby, as a wedding shower gift, or a “Thank you, Mom” blanket for Mother’s Day. The centers of the flowers offer a great space to embroider a name, a date, or a little message!

A reason why I designed this blanket is that I want to show how using hexagons in different directions can effect shapes: Depending on how you turn the hexagons, you’ll get a “slim” or a “wide” heart. I wrote about this in the article “Designing with Hexagons: Basic Concepts” … and now you have a project to try it out!

Yarn: I used Hobby Lobby “I Love this Yarn” in colors 466 Drizzle Me This (2 balls) and 950 Pink Neon (1 ball). Of course you can use any colors of your choice … the design would also be great in patchwork colors or colors of the 1960ties or 70ties!

You will need about 500 yds of the background/border color and 250 yds for the hearts and flowers.

Loom: The blanket weaves up quickly on the Original TURTLE Loom™ in R-regular sett for worsted weight yarns. The finished blanket will measure about 42″ wide and 39″ tip-to-top. If you want to make a larger blanket, you could use the same pattern with the TexaTURTLE™ in R-regular sett.

Ready to Weave?

Weave:
(55) white hexagons
(38) red hexagons
(4) white half hexagons (Half A, click here for instructions)
(2) red half hexagons (Half A)

Use the chart to assemble the blanket. I recommend that you turn the chart and begin at the right side. Sew the hexagons into rows first, then rows to rows. A simple whip stitch will be fine. You can see how I sew hexagons together in the Elf Basket video on YouTube.

Sew in any remaining ends and clip to about 1/4″ (the ends will settle during blocking, after which you can do a final clip if needed).

You can add the half hexagons right away, or insert them into their spaces when the rest of the blanket is assembled, as shown here:

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 20230213_210628_resized_1.jpg

Optionally, add a nice touch with a crocheted border. I used the same yarn and a crochet hook G-6/4mm.

The first round is single crochet (sc) stitches. Start anywhere, joining the yarn with a slip stitch. The next picture shows how many stitches to work … along the sides where the yarn makes complete turns, work one stitch in each turn. Along the sides where the yarn makes wavy turns, work 2 sc, skip the next yarn turn, work 3 sc, skip the next yarn turn, work 2 sc. Work 2 sc into each corner, work sc2tog into each bend.

At the end of the row, join with a slip stitch into the first sc.

For the second round, work scallops as follows: Skip 2, then work 5 double crochet (dc) into the next stitch. Skip 2, work 1 sc into the next stitch. Repeat all around the blanket (adjust with sc at the end if there’s not enough space for another scallop).