The latest swap of Inklingo shapes was of 1″ hexagons. There were 12 participants trading sets of 7 hexagons, some in each of 10 fabrics and some in each of 20 fabrics. It was a centralized swap which I hostessed — so I got first look at the fabrics as they came in and have got my full set together with the exception of one swapper’s packet.

This is my set — and I was one of the swappers who chose to swap in 20 different fabrics. There are some wonderful fabrics in this gorgeous grouping.

Because we swapped in sets of 7, rather than 6, one could take 1 of each set and save it to go towards a charm quilt of hexagons or to use as flower centres with one of the sets of 6. This is the stack of single hexagons from the swap.

Good thing I love hexagons! I think there is a fairly good-sized quilt to be had out of this swap alone, and it’s not the first of the Inklingo swaps that involved hexagons. I’m not sure yet but am thinking of separating the hexagon sets by colour and may make a garden of flowers that’s graduated in colour. Or perhaps stitching together sets in a row and make a striped hexagon quilt.

It was a lot of fun to see all the different fabrics the participants used. Amazingly enough, there were no duplications between swappers that I noticed.

Smudge isn’t the least bit interested in hexagons — much more interested in having a snooze.

Two little hexagon diamonds for the Insanity quilt — made with half-inch hexagons. I’m still not sure whether I want to do this in Oriental fabrics or in shabby chic. The bonus of using the Oriental fabrics for this is that, with small pieces, one can get totally different looks from different areas of the same piece of fabric.

I printed some of the .50 hexagons from one of the new Inklingo collections last night and made these two.

To give you an idea of scale, here’s one beside a ruler.

I love how perfectly these press — it really helps distribute the bulk and they lie flat as can be.

I can really tell that fall is coming. The light, even on bright sunny days, is quite different. It’s getting much cooler at night now but the days are still warm. So far, only a few leaves on the trees on the roof garden have begun to turn.

Lester, dozing after a big play with one of his toys.

While waiting for the new Inklingo collections to be released, I’ve been stitching little 4-patch blocks. These all finish at 2″. I’m thinking about setting them with 2″ plain squares and making a small quilt — I love the simplicity of 4-patch blocks.

Also being stitched together were a few more 9-patch blocks. I think there’s another teddy bear quilt in the making here. There are about 20 or 25 more 9-patch blocks ready to stitch together. Mindless stitching like the little 9 and 4-patch blocks are perfect some evenings.


There are also a few hexagon flowers I’ve put together. After looking at that Japanese book, I have an idea for a rather simple yet pretty quilt with these flowers and others just sort of dotted across the top. The current Inklingo hexagon swap should be completed sometime next week and then I’ll have lots more to add. 🙂

The annual invasion of the movie fans around here has started. The theatre that is part of our complex is one of the participating theatres in the Toronto International Film Festival. A lot of us who live here dread the annual invasion, although it does make for some great people watching opportunities as well as eavesdropping on some conversations that are hysterically funny. I cannot believe the noise level in the retail mall. We were downstairs doing a bit of shopping yesterday and the din was incredible.

Lester doesn’t care — as long as he’s got somewhere comfy and warm to sleep, he’s happy.

Smudge feels the same way. Look at the whiskers on this cat!! I call him the crayfish cat sometimes! LOL

Finally, I can reveal the secret. I was fortunate enough to be asked to be a tester for the new Inklingo. I wish I did, but I have no financial interest in Inklingo at all. Edited to Add: It is totallly Mac compatible!! I tested it on my Mac and it works like a charm!

These are the blocks/small quilts I have made with this free collection — so far. I’m playing with the idea of making a small Lone Star quilt too using these shapes. :-)) First I made this block:

Then this block:

Here’s the best news! The shapes for the 4.5″ LeMoyne Star blocks are free to download from inklingo.com. There are three new collections available for purchase as well! All you need is a computer (Mac or PC) and an inexpensive inkjet printer as well as some fabric and freezer paper and you too can try out Inklingo. Be warned — it’s addictive! There are more new collections coming too!

This is the first little quilt top I made using the shapes. Because of the precision of the lines and matching points, it is SO easy to make these!

It’s quilted and a couple of the bears decided to test it out on the weekend. They decided it was just right for an afternoon out, as you can see from the picture at the top of this post.

I have wanted to make the Snow Crystal block for ages and now, with this collection, it was dead easy. This block finishes at 9″. This may be the start of my pink and white quilt. I’m still deciding on that.

This is going to be a small wallhanging. I’ve got the setting triangles ready and have been stitching them in. Still deciding on a border for this. I love having the plain setting squares for some hand quilting. I’m going to go through my stencils and see what I can find — maybe a tiny feathered wreath. 🙂

Warning — lots of photos in this one so may be slow to load.

I’ve been asked a couple of times about the stitching process for hexagon flowers the Inklingo way so thought this little pictorial tutorial might be a better route to go than trying to describe it in words. The method is one I learned from Linda Franz. Both her Quilted Diamonds books and the Inklingo product have wonderful instructions that make this and other methods incredibly easy to learn.

Edited to Add: All the hexagons for this project were printed using Inklingo , which prints very fine cutting and stitching lines as well as matching points in your choice of many colours on the back of your fabric. One always gets perfect precision when stitching as a result.

Lester’s peaceful countenance should help put you in the mood for some calming hand piecing.



This flower will be made with 6 one-inch hexagons of one fabric and 1 one-inch hexagon of a different fabric in the centre.

Materials needed:  six hexagons for outer circle of 6, one hexagon for centre, needles and fine thread.

I use #12 sharps as both needles and as a pin as they are so fine. My “pin” goes right in at the cross-hair at the end of the little seam. I use YLI Heirloom, YLI Select, DMC or Mettler 60/2 threads for hand piecing and do try to match my thread colours as much as possible to the fabrics I’m using.

Here I have the first two hexagons of the outer 6 pinned together.


Then I start my seam. I make a quilter’s knot and then use this little trick I have found which helps make it easier when I get to the continuous stitching to attach the centre later. I insert my needle from the front, just a tiny bit over from the cross-hair on the right (I am right-handed) and come back up from the back right in the cross-hair. Then I immediately take one very tiny stitch, which serves as a back stitch and then a load of 4 or 5 running stitches on the needle. Pull the needle through, take another little back stitch and load up the needle again.


Now I’m at the end of the first little seam. Finish the seam right at the cross-hair and then take another back stitch, turn the piece over and take another back stitch through the opposite side and make my quilter’s knot to tie off. This way I have no knots right at the intersections, which I have found does help later on.

Because I was using very fine YLI Heirloom in a pale pink for this flower, it is almost impossible to see the stitches on the fabric. Just to give you an idea, here is a shot of the blue and white fabrics of the Texas Star quilt — I stitched that with DMC blue thread which you can see on the white hexagon in this photo.

Here are the first two hexagons stitched together.

Now attach the third hexagon in the very same way, stitching from cross-hair to cross-hair.

Half the outer circle of 6 hexagons is now complete.

Now 4 are stitched together.

Now 5.

Finally, the 6 hexagons of the outer circle are stitched together all but for the final joining seam, which gets stitched after these are stitched to the centre hexagon.

Now it’s time to start joining the outer circle to the centre hexagon. I pin the first of the outer circle hexagons to the centre one right at the cross-hair and start another little running stitch seam, again with a back stitch.

When I get to the end of that first little seam I take a little back stitch and, rather than knotting and cutting my thread, I just continue on by inserting my needle right through the cross-hair of the seam and then starting to stitch the second hexagon of the outer circle to the centre hexagon. I continue that way right to the end, never having to break the thread. Continuous stitching like this makes putting a hexagon flower together very quick. This is the reason I like to try to avoid having my quilter’s knot right at the cross-hair — it makes it easier to get my needle through the seam and start the next seam.

At this point, I have half of the outer circle of 6 attached to my centre hexagon.

I have now finished joining all 6 of the outer hexagons to the outer circle and all that is left to stitch is the final seam between the first and sixth of the outer hexagons. Once again, I pin through the cross-hair and stitch right to the end.

A completed hexagon flower all done with a running stitch. Simple as can be. No cutting out or buying commercial papers or basting or whip stitching. Just a nice simple running stitch and lots of wonderful continuous stitching.

This is the back of my little hexagon flower, ready for pressing.

Because I was stitching this late at night and because hand stitching means one can leave pressing to another time, I have these two photos of hexagon flowers made using .75-inch hexagons that have been pressed. You can see how the seams are pressed to distribute the bulk.

Making GFG flowers this way is so quick and easy and incredibly addictive!

Now, Lester wants to know — was this a calming experience?

The blue and white stars are almost completed. I have a few pieces to add along the edges and in two corners and it will be done! I’m still debating whether to add a small border, although I love the look of quilts that just end with the binding.

When it was spread out this morning to take pictures, Lester decided he needed to inspect. I think he’s given it the kitty paw’s up seal of approval. Just to give you an idea of the size of his paws, the white hexagons on which he has a paw are hexagons with 2″ sides. There’s a reason we call Lester our house lion!

The other day when I was printing a few more of the star points, Smudge decided he had to come watch. It was so funny to see him peeking between printers.