Hexies from the Archives

The theme this week for Tuesday Archives at Val's Quilting Studio is Hexagons. (Theme number 2 is Houses, but I don't have any house quilts.) Digging through my archives, I've uncovered more hexie projects than I remembered!

Nonna's Garden from 2011 is my favorite. You can read more about her here.

This hexie runner was a major turning point for me, which is one of the reasons it is still displayed in my blog banner. The modern prints and natural linen is so 2010 and I still love it so!

 

I dug out my mother's unfinished GFG blocks from the 1990's and finished the quilt for her birthday three years ago.

I really love this foundation paper-pieced table topper that I donated to a silent auction. I still need to make one for myself.

I do have this hexagon table topper that I made in 2007.

I made some rose stars for a swap in 2012.

This was the cutest pouch I've ever made and I gave it away. Some swaps are so difficult to part with!

My current hexie WIP. These fussy cut rings look like gears to me. I might applique them to a background, leaving lots of negative space.

Phew! That was a lot of hexagons! Head on over to Val's to see more.

WIP Wednesday

 I didn't get a lot of quilting done this week, as I was cleaning for company.

Tangerine and Teal was finished last Wednesday. Read more about it here.

I finally cut out the pieces for the wedding ring arcs. The new Judy Neimeyer pattern has instructions for strip piecing the arcs. I tried  it, but didn't enjoy it. I'd rather piece with rectangles. It took about 2 hours to cut out 1280 rectangles- enough for 160 arcs! I think I'll try working on 20 at a time.

 

I'm not sure what will become of these fussy cut hexies. I think they look like gears.

 

In a never-ending attempt to get organized, my husband helped me hang some decorative shelves in our bedroom. I thought I wanted a ladder in this corner, but I can put a lot more quilts on these shelves. 

 

I had to snap a pic of the dining room table cleared off. It lasted only 3 days and things are piling up already.

 

Have a fun Wednesday!

(Linkup is on vacation today.)

EPP Demo

 This week, I was happy to present a demonstration of English Paper Piecing to my quilt guild.  There were 6 presenters, so groups of quilters moved round-robin style through the stations.  That meant I had to do my demo 6 times!  There was a lot of starting and stopping and half-sewn seams and thread tails hanging! 

I brought several examples of different shapes that can be made with this method.  Of course, I brought the Rose Stars.

When I taught EPP to a small group in January, we talked about this interesting pattern with hexagons, squares and triangles.  I later discovered it is called Ferris Wheel and you can download a free design sheet at Paper Pieces.  The sample is made with 1" pieces.  (The raggedy owl pincushion is for scale.)

An additional note about that January group...  Nancy, the overachiever, has made 500 hexagons in one month!  Have I mentioned recently that hexies are addictive?

Megan at Canoe Ride Creations posted last week about using leftover HSTs for hexagons.  Brilliant!  I just happened to have a little baggie full of leftovers from a Weed whacker class sample.  I have enough to make 3 more hexie flowers.

The star flowers using a jewel shape and hexagon were going to be my FTLOS swap piece, but I completely changed gears and did some foundation paper piecing instead.   I've been dying to do some embroidery on a hexie.  This pearl cotton heart is a pretty lame attempt.  I need to find my copy of Doodle Stitching to make something cuter.   Julia had it last, so it may have been sucked into the black hole!

I prepared a handout with my favorite EPP links.  Enoy!

Technique:

Sew Many Ways Tutorial 
Quiltville Hexagon Tutorial - Take a look at Bonnie's hexagon medallion!

All People Quilt

CD Designs - Instructions, free patterns, grids to color

Paper Shapes:

Paper Pieces (the company) - lots of shapes and sizes, Free Pattern Sheets, Free Design Sheets for coloring in and Cutting Guides to calculate yardage.

Incompetech - Graph paper generator allows you to create triangles, diamonds or hexagons to your size specifications.  Print on card stock or freezer paper and cut out.

Possum Blossom Patchwork - Helen pointed me to this Australian shop that carries die cut Rose Star packs and lots more!

Photos & Inspiration:

Flickr EPP Group

My Pinterest EPP Board

Rose Stars

 Sorry I haven't been around much lately.  I'm off to a slow start, but I really need to kick into high gear soon!

I've been playing with the Rose Star block this week for a couple of reasons.  I will be demonstrating English Paper Piecing at a guild meeting on Wednesday, and I thought it might work as a bee block.

 Did you already recognize my colors here?  (pink, yellow & orange)

The test block was based on a 2" hexagon, but it is just a bit too big to fit into a 12" square.  12.25" from point to point.  Really?!  I might remove the dark pink triangles from my block to make it fit.

Take 2: 1.75" hexagons.  

The pretty blue block will be for Christine in the 4x5 bee.  She asked for some Denyse Schmidt prints that she can't get in the UK.  I will probably hand applique the star to the white background.

I print and cut my own paper pieces on card stock. Visit Karen's tutorial for basting instructions.  Since these were bigger pieces, I needed to take a few basting stitches through the paper.  I have been using incompetech to create accurate hexagons in various sizes. 

I think the backs look so cool!  You can see that I haven't removed any paper yet.

 

To see more Rose Stars, visit Self Sewn for Clare's linky party.  She also has a tutorial and a flickr group dedicated to this sweet block.  Thank you, Clare!

In family news...

Julia recently performed in her school's production of Anything Goes.  Here she is making the pre-show announcements in the cutest costume.  She was one of Reno Sweeny's Angels, Purity.  She has a gorgeous singing voice!

That's Pete on drums with the high school Jazz Band.  We are so proud of him for being chosen for the All-State Jazz Band!

It's time for more stitching!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Nonna's Garden

My entry for the Festival this Fall is my favorite quilt of the year: Nonna's Garden.


The whole quilt is only 12" on a side, or 24" widest point to point.

The 547 English paper pieced hexagons are 1/2" per side.

I was really proud of it even before it earned my first blue ribbon! A first place for Best Piecing at my local guild show, Ninigret Quilters.

Thanks so much to Amy for hosting this Festival for those of us who can't make it to Houston!

Friday Finish!

My mother's birthday gift is done, 24 hours early! If you've been following along, you already know that she started the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks about 20 years ago. Only the quilting angels know for sure how long those poor blocks sat untouched in her UFO pile, then mine.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out! I was worried about the maroon fabric running in the wash, but the quilt and the color catchers came out clean.


I didn't do a ton of quilting because it was a tight deadline and I wanted the quilt to stay soft. Mom liked the way I quilted the flowers in Nonna's Garden, so I did that again here. The quilt finished at 50" X 77"- a long lap quilt for a tiny lady!

I had to wait for Pete to get home from school to hold it up for photos. Too much shadow in the first shot.

The second is better, but the railing is in the way. Oh well, that's as good as it's gonna get.

Does every quilt need a name? How about Nonna's Garden 2? Nonna's Garden Maxi?

WIP Wednesday

Welcome to my weekly status update, hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced. Since I added the WIP page up top, I don't list all the "on hold" WIPs here. It was taking up too much space! We'll just look at what is really being worked on.

Mom's Birthday Quilt: I haven't made as much progress as I had hoped on this one. This Grandmother's Flower Garden is her 20-year old WIP that I'm finishing as a surprise. Will it be done by Saturday? Yes!!


4x5 Modern Quilt Bee: As I was getting ready to put away the portable design wall, I realized that I never showed you all the wonderful blocks I received. I figured I'd better show them to you before the next round starts. I love the colors, except the border on my own block is a little too dark. I'm thinking about playing for one more round so I'll have 12 blocks. But if I'm still having fun, I might do the full year for 24 blocks!

Jessica

Adrianne

Charise

Amelia

Rachel

Mine

Teeny Weeny Paper Piecing Bee: Sadly, this bee has come to a close. I'm waiting for one last block, then I can figure out to do with these cute 6" blocks.

I'm off to volunteer at church today, and hopefully get a little quilting in this afternoon. Pete starts Driver's Ed today! Eek!

Now, off you go...

Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to our two giveaway winners!

#1 is Helen, also known as Archie the Wonder Dog.

Helen will receive the green fabrics and a Christmas tree paper pieced lapel pin.

#28 is Erin, who blogs at Desiring Domesticity.


Erin will receive the pink fabrics and a Christmas tree pin.

Thank you to all of my new followers for joining me on this quilting journey. I hope I can maintain some interesting content to keep you coming back.

There's not much to show today. The applique is done on my mother's UFO/birthday gift and a small border was added. I ironed the backing last night, so it can be pieced and hopefully the quilt will be layered and basted today.

Julia made a skirt to go with her Halloween costume. She bought the carnival mask in Venice when we were there in August, so she wanted pieces to go with it. I found the butterfly wings at Target. She wanted a sparkly skirt that she could wear after Halloween, too, so she made one for under $10! It's a really cool brocade, but it spread silver glitter all over the house from the cut edges. She did a great job dealing with a tricky fabric, and even stitched her first zipper.

While Julia was sewing, Pete was studying. You have no idea how happy this sight makes me! He made the decision to do well in school this year (Thank you, God!), and his grades have improved dramatically. Funny how that works.

Have a great week!