Morris Hexathon 17: Folly

Morris Hexathon 17: Folly by Bettina Havig

Morris Hexathon 17: Folly by Becky Brown

Becky did not add any seams although it looks like she did. She fussy cut those triangles so a little red shows.

I named this week's hexie for a famous English folly,

the Broadway Tower in the Cotswolds.

An English folly is a fanciful building constructed for no purpose other than pleasure. This one on a high point in the Cotswolds is a pseudo-Saxon castle built about 1799 by the Earl of Coventry for his wife.

There are three hexagonal floors, each a single room

with an impressive view.

The floor plan, a hexagon with towers

The view ranges across 12 or maybe 13 counties.

Crom Price, a long-term friend of the Morris family leased this tower for several years, providing hospitality in the summer.

The staircase

Morris's daughters enjoyed visiting and sleeping in the quirky rooms. May recalled:

"It was the most inconvenient and the most delightful place ever seen...At the bottom of the steep hill lay the silver-grey village and beyond was the blue land---miles and miles of lovely distance."

Morris Hexathon 17: Folly by Ilyse Moore

The pattern is BlockBase #272.8, published as Pinwheel by the Laura Wheeler/Alice Brooks syndicated newspaper columns of the 1930s.

It looks like there is a bend in the line at the edge of the pinwheel in BlockBase.

 I've redrawn that line as straight here.

The pattern company plopped an appliqued circle in the center in case you don't like how your  intersection of twelve seams worked out. Use a quarter coin for a template.

Pattern for an 8" Hexagon

(4" sides)

To Print:

• Create a word file or a new empty JPG file that is 8-1/2" x 11". 
• Click on the image above. 
• Right click on it and save it to your file. 
• Print that file out 8-1/2" x 11". The hexagon should measure 4" on the sides.
• Adjust the printed page size if necessary.
• Add seams when you cut the fabric.

Morris Hexathon 17: Folly by Ilyse Moore

Clockwise---counterclockwise: it doesn't matter which way it rotates.

One More Inspiration

Hexagon Sampler by Chris Jurd in the book Inspired By Vintage Quilts