Constructing a Sprocket

When you have six paddles, you can join them to a hexagon for one whole Sprocket. It's really exciting to have a Sprocket come together in your hands!

One by one, I sew a paddle to each hexagon side. I use the same ladder stitching described in the last post, but whipstitching will work just as well if that is your preference. Occasionally a paddle is just a bit longer than the hexagon side. I just center it and sew it on, it always seems to work out fine for me.

I leave the edges between the paddles free until I've sewn a paddle to each side of the hexagon.

Once all six paddles are attached, I remove the paper hexagon template. Then I am free to fold the Sprocket in half, which makes it possible to join paddles together. Where many points come together I will often take an extra stitch or two into neighboring diamonds, just to make sure there is no gaping at the intersections. Let your instinct guide you on this.

The fuzzy picture above is supposed to show just now nicely those seam allowance "flags" on the diamonds nestle together and just fan around at the back. Nice and flat, nothing to worry about.

And there you have it! A real live Sprocket. Now I'm just gonna do this, oh, 22 more times or so and I'll have enough for a quilt! I'll pop in every now and then to share my progress, and once I get to the point of dealing with the sides I'll show you how I do it. But for now, it's time to piece at our own pace....

For my friends embarking on Sprockets with me, I hope you enjoy the journey! The full list of posts for the quilt along is here.