Quilt Notes: Grandma's Flower Garden A New Way to Make a Classic 015 0626
- Diana - Lead Instructor
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
Hello Friends -
This week has been one of those weeks on the flower farm where everything seems to wake up at once — new growth, new color, new life everywhere I look. And whenever the fields start bursting like that, my mind always drifts back to the quilt that hangs in our living room. It’s the quilt that taught me what “making” really means, and today I want to share that story with you… along with a simpler, modern way to make your own flower garden quilt.
Some quilts stay with you forever. Not because they’re perfect, but because they’re stitched into who you are.
For me, that quilt is my Grandma’s Flower Garden — the very first quilt I ever made. I was seven years old, sitting at my grandma’s kitchen table with a pile of tiny hexagons, a needle that felt enormous in my little hands, and a grandmother who believed that nothing was “too hard” for a child who was willing to learn.
She didn’t simplify the process for me. She didn’t hand me big squares or easy seams. She handed me hexagons — the kind that require English Paper Piecing, tiny hand stitches, and a whole lot of patience.
And she said, “You can do this.”
So I did.
It took a couple of years, many after‑school afternoons, and more tiny stitches than I could ever count. She made some of the flowers (there are so many), and she added the beautiful scalloped border you see in the photo. But that quilt — that bright, happy garden of fabric — is the quilt that taught me how to sew a ¼" seam, how to take my time, and how to fall in love with quilting.
It’s the quilt that started everything.
A traditional Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt is made from full hexagons, usually stitched together with English Paper Piecing. It’s beautiful, but it’s slow. Every seam and join is a Y‑seam. Every flower is a tiny engineering project.
It’s a labor of love — and I treasure that.
But I also know that many quilters look at hexagons and think, “I could never make that.”
So at Build A Quilt, we changed that.
🌼 The BAQ Way: Half Hexagons (No Y‑Seams!)
Instead of full hexagons, we created the BAQ Half Hexagon Segment — a shape that lets you build the same classic hexagon look, but in rows or blocks, with no interior seams and no Y‑seams at all.
It’s still the same beautiful geometry. It’s still the same flower‑garden magic. But it’s accessible. It’s doable. It’s joyful.
And you can style your hexagons in three different ways:
1. Two identical half hexagons
Perfect for a clean, classic look.
2. Two different fabrics
One solid + one print, or two prints — great for scrappy flowers.
3. The BAQ Mosaic Half Hexagon
Our exclusive design that adds a tiny‑piece mosaic effect right inside the hexagon. (You get this pattern free with the Half Hexagon set!)
You can mix and match all three styles in the same quilt. You can make flowers, scattered blossoms, or full rows. You can make it traditional or modern — it’s your garden.
🌼 Want to Make Your Own Flower Garden?
I put together a Half Hexagon Pattern Set that includes:
the BAQ Half Hexagon
the full How‑To video
step‑by‑step instructions
tips for layout and assembly
and the Mosaic Half Hexagon pattern for free
It’s just $3, because I want this to be accessible to everyone — especially beginners who look at hexagons and think they’re “too hard.”
There’s also a free download that helps you plan your scattered hexagon flowers, just like the ones in my childhood quilt.
(Links will be added below for easy shopping.)
Every time I look at my original quilt — the one I made at seven — I see more than fabric. I see my grandma’s patience. I see her belief in me. I see the beginning of a lifelong love.
And now, with BAQ, I get to pass that feeling on to you.
Whether you’re making your first quilt or your fiftieth, I hope this little flower garden brings you the same joy it brought me all those years ago.
Quilt Life Beautiful... Diana
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