Mini Ninnie Hexie Star

I finished a little piece this weekend! The blocks are from this Hexed Stars pattern. I pulled the Philip Jacobs Delphinium print for the border first, thinking it looked a little Fall-like, then found the batiks for the stars and background. It went together so quickly!

The triangles that make up the hexies are 1.5" tall, and the overall piece is about 12" wide.

I quilted it with this gorgeous metallic thread from Superior. (40 wt. #025 Variegated Gold) I only broke the thread once, which I think is good for a metallic. I used a Superior topstitch needle #90/14. Love their needles and thread!

This little piece will be auctioned off at the Ninigret Quilt show on October 16. Proceeds of the silent auction will be donated to the W.A.R.M. Shelter and the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center.

I was planning to make another one for myself to keep, but it will have to wait. You know how I was on a roll? Well, I'm paying for all that sewing now. I have tendonitis in my left hand and can't sew for 7-10 days while I recover. : [

I'm linking up with Sew Darn Crafty for Autumn Theme Week!

Ninnie Plan B

Muuuuch better! I like it so much better than the first one. This will be donated to the Ninigret Quilter's silent auction.


The border fabric is a Philip Jacobs' Delphinium. I pulled some batiks and Viola! The whole piece will be about 12" across (7" sides). I don't think I'll include a hanging sleeve/contraption. (How do you hang a hexagon?) It is the perfect size for a candle mat/table topper.

When I went trolling Flickr for inspiration, I found this little quilt by DeeRoo G in the Doll Quilt Swap group. I drafted a paper piece pattern for the half- hexie which is 1.5" tall. The quilt is pieced in rows, so no set in seams! It went together super fast. The points aren't perfect, but they are close enough for jazz. Now to quilt it. Then I'm making another one to keep!

Update: The original pattern is called Hexed Star. Of course, mine is much smaller.

Nonna's Garden

Nonna's Garden is finished!
All 547 bits of hexie goodness.


My Italian grandmothers both had wonderful gardens and I will never forget which flowers each of them planted. Grandma Downstairs (who lived in the flat below us) tended to phlox, daisies, dahlias and an arch of red roses above a statue of the Blessed Mother. The Other Grandma had lilacs, lilies of the valley and clematis on her front porch trellis. Imagine being welcomed to her little house by 2 curtains of purple! They were both handy with a needle or crochet hook, so I think they would be pleased with this tribute to them.

I enjoyed the entire process, from drafting a plan and choosing fabrics to hand piecing at baseball games to machine quilting.

I'm still a little upset that some of the red dye ran, but I'm trying to let it go.

There is a modern Kaffe print on the back and a stone print as the binding, as a nod to the stone walls of New England.

One more gratuitous shot!

Nonna's Garden by the Numbers:
(547) 1/2" hexagons
12" each side
24" widest point to point

WIP Wednesday

I'm seeing RED this week!

Finished: For the Love of Solids Swap shipped Thursday to Michelle. Yay! She likes it! Click over to this post to see details of what I sent and received!


Almost Finished: Nonna's Garden. I quilted it yesterday, buried all the threads and rinsed out the blue pen.


Grrr. Several colors ran during the night. Of course the red was the worst. I laid it on a towel to dry and it looked fine before I went to bed. This morning, this...


After a couple of rinses with Oxy clean and a color catcher, it's better, but not perfect. Should I still submit this for judging, knowing I'll get points deducted for the bleeding? Any suggestions for getting the rest of the bleeding dye rinsed out?


In Progress: All the units are done for the RED Interlocking Windmills. I love how this is coming together. It will have a pieced blue border and will be donated to QOV (if the red doesn't run all over!).


Others:
1. 4X5 Swap Blocks are done- need to be pressed, trimmed to size and shipped.
2. Meadowsweet Dresden needs to be rinsed to remove quilting pencil marks. Please, God, don't let any of those dyes run!
3. Labels need to be made for the Hexie Runner and Zig Zag Friends before our guild show.
4. I might skip the Block Lotto this month, but I was on a roll!
5. Wedding Ring Star- no progress this week.

No linky box this week. Lee will be back next week.

WIP Wednesday

Wednesday seems to sneak up on me each week! We did make it to the beach last Wednesday and hope to get there again today.

Ongoing:
For the Love of Solids Swap- We got our partner assignments and I went straight to work! I've been wanting to try some English Paper Piecing with different shapes. Here we have hexies, diamonds and petal shapes. I need a hand piecing project for our family vacation (I'll tell you all about it when we get home). They are tiny pieces, so there are lots of them! The drawing is my mock-up of a table runner that finishes about 9" X 22". I'm trying to decide if I should add more colors. Some greens? A contrasting color?

4X5 Modern Quilt Bee- I picked up some fabric last week that will work for a couple of people in our bee. These blocks will be paper-pieced but we are all out of printer paper! I'll need to swing by Staples later today.


Nonna's Garden- I'm bordering the whole thing with a ring of darker green.


Kaleidoscope Quilt Along- This needs to be done(!) by Aug 5th to be eligible for prizes. I pulled some larger pieces of purple from the stash to piece the backing.


Do you really want to see the list of what I didn't work on this week? OK...
Wedding Ring Star- maybe tomorrow?
Red & White Swap- waiting to get my packet from Karen
Polka Dot Swap- blocks are piled up, waiting
Girl Scout Quilt- girls are too busy
Block Lotto (actually pieced the August blocks, but can't show you until next week)
Rockin' Robin- Ain't gonna happen

Then there's all the stuff I haven't touched all summer. I won't list them today.

This Week:
Finishes- 0
New starts- 1
In progress- 20+

Off you go now!

In the Garden

I'm still having fun with the hexies! I'm starting to piece the setting diamonds for the corners.

I'm having fun playing with the new camera, too!

Is it bad that the best blooms in my garden are weeds? These morning glories are wild!

I'm linking to Sew Modern Monday. Off you go to see all the other goodies!

WIP Wednesday

I'm making progress on my Mini Grandmother's Flower Garden. I'm trying to think of a name for this piece. Maybe Nonna's Garden, even though we didn't call either Italian grandmother Nonna.


OK, so maybe I'm a little obsessed. Whenever I sit down, I pick up a hexie. I don't enjoy seeing big piles of basted hexes, so I'm working in stages. I made all the flowers, then started adding the cream row, then the green row, one flower at a time. Baste enough cream (18) for one flower, add them on, then baste enough green, add them on. Attach that flower to the rest. (I did the red in the wrong order, so that's why I have two flowers with cream rows waiting for green.)

Here's my plan for filling in the corners. Buds! There will be a total of 547 (1/2") hexagons! I originally planned to fill in the whole corner with cream, but I didn't have enough fabric. I had just enough for Plan B, with 1/4" leftover!

This was supposed to be a baseball game project, which it is, but I can't get enough! I'm stitching for hours in front of the TV, too. Pete's team won their first playoff game, so he's got a few games left. (not sure why he's swinging at that pitch) Julia's ankle is healing, but she's not ready to play yet.

There has been no progress on any other WIPs this week, so if you want to see my list from last week, click here.

Now, off you go to see more WIPs!

Hexies at the Diamond

I basted 40 little hexies at the baseball diamond today during Pete's game. I will be adding a row of cream around each flower, then a row of green in between the flowers. Very traditional!

Pouch in Progress

Yup. It's bag week! Today, I'm working on a piece for the Pretty Little Pouch swap. I can't get enough of these Meadowsweet scraps, but they won't last forever. I'm going to try adding a small zippered pocket on the front left and then the main, bigger pocket will be zippered, too.


The little hexie flower will be on the front and the partial Dresden will end up on the back. I'm still moving other fabrics around and trying to figure out how to set the zippers. I think the fabric is perfect for Spring. I hope my partner likes it!

Hexie Love

I've jumped on the hexie bandwagon!

Did I need a new project? Of course not!
Am I loving it? YES!!

It will be my summer take along project.
Here it is in action at Pete's baseball game.
(That's him standing at home plate, ready to catch the next inning.)

I'm using the same pile of modern fabrics that are in the Bento blocks. Hey, they were out!
I wasn't sure if I wanted linen or white cotton in between the flowers.
The linen was closer! Ha, ha.

A must have these days in my hand sewing kit:
Reading glasses!

I'm dragging Janet with me to the Etsy Party at Craftland tonight!
I need to print some business cards and be sure to wear one of my pins.
Will we see you there?