Category Archives: 60-degree diamonds

Cheerful Hexagon Blocks

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Close to half a dozen more of the little hexagon blocks were added to the group on the weekend. As each of these hexagons measures 2″, the quilt should grow fairly quickly. That said, for now it’s only weekend play stitching as I’m going back to work on the red and white piecing during the week.

We had a beautiful Easter weekend with mild temperatures and lots of sun. And, unfortunately, lots of allergens in the air. There’s a lot of sneezing going on in this household.

This week I’m hoping to go through my quilt books as I know there are a number that should go to new homes. They’re taking up a lot of shelf space and are books I know I won’t be looking at again. What do you do with quilt books which you longer want?

Then I’m hoping to attack, once again, my fabric and try to get it organized in a better fashion. I need to figure out a way of storing it that doesn’t involve large containers as they’re too heavy for my hands. One idea I’ve had is to empty a bookshelf or three and use them for the fabrics I most often turn to. That way they’d be out where I could see and easily access them. But that would also put fabric within reach of a certain kitty who just loves nothing better than to get a piece of fabric.

Saturday night I failed to put all the little hexagon blocks out of reach and Mr. Q.O. woke up Sunday morning to find two of them on the bedroom floor. There was no damage done and no teeth marks. Baxter just likes carting them around.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “You woke me … for food?”

Possibilities for Kaleidoscope Stars

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So much fun was had making the kaleidoscope stars like this one that I couldn’t resist doing a little hunting in my stash for some other fabrics that might be likely candidates for interesting kaleidoscope stars.

This one is a definite possibility and will be easy to fussy cut/print for some more kaleidoscope stars.

This one has a larger repeat, but I think some really striking kaleidoscope stars might be the result. I don’t have a lot of it, but perhaps an interesting wallhanging can be made using kaleidoscope stars from it.

This is the fabric combination from yesterday’s post that I was 90 per cent sure I was going to select. It was interesting to read how many of you also felt the same way. So that’s another project waiting in the wings. I’m going to make one block using the two fabrics before I start on that project in earnest.

Last night I was working again on the red and white quilt. I’m really motivated to at least get the 12 blocks together this week. Then I’ll make a decision on whether a small stop border is added before the pieced border.

This picture of Baxter makes me laugh.  If you look closely, you can see that his tongue is sticking out just a bit.

Little Bits

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The centre of the last of the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower blocks is ready. I’m getting very close to having the main body of the quilt done. The pieced border is going to take a bit of time, but I think once the centre is done and together it’s going to put this quilt right up at the top of the list to be worked on until it’s completed.

The seams are graded and it’s pressed, ready to be put in the centre of that last block.

Two sides of the Scrappy Star now have the pieced border attached. I think I want to try to add those final two sides before I get started on the pieced border for the Feathered Star quilt, as I’d love to see the Scrappy Star top done and ready to baste. It’s getting a bit large to get a decent photo of inside but the weather is getting better every day, so a roof garden photo may not be that far off.

A few more sets for the Kaleidoscope Stars are ready to stitch. They’re a fun, quick stitch. I think I’ll end up with 20 of them and will then put them into a small top.

Thanks for all the great comments on the orchids. I’m really hoping I can keep this plant alive and see it flower again.

Baxter appears to love draping himself over the arm of the chair. Makes me laugh every time as he seems to be almost having a conversation with us.

Kaleidoscope Stars

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There was a little play time with fabric this weekend, although I have to admit to not getting back to the sewing machine. I will this week. But after seeing and thinking about the kaleidoscope stars on the All About Inklingo blog here, which contains a fabulous tutorial on how to place the freezer paper on the fabric to get identical diamonds, I couldn’t resist trying a few. I used the 2″ 60-degree diamonds. I’m so used to working with tinier pieces that those 2″ diamonds seem enormous!

These are irresistible to stitch. It’s such fun to see the effect as each star is put together.

The fabric I chose had a relatively small repeat and so was great for this technique, and I plan to print some more sets.

This is one of my favourites.

They press beautifully. I’m pressing each one the same way so that when I start putting them together, however I decide to do that, I won’t run into any difficulties.

Baxter was waiting for his nightly yogourt treat. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “Well, are you going to let me have that spoon soon?”

Seven Sisters and Then Some

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While initially I thought I’d turn these into multi-coloured Seven Sisters blocks, the block is turning into a very large family of sisters! So far there are 19 of them. How much further I’ll go with this block I’m not sure. Right now I’m thrilled with it. Of course I am – it’s mostly pink. As those who have read my blog for any length of time know, pink is my favourite colour. I think I was going through withdrawal not having a pink project on which to work. That said, perhaps I’ll add some green or some more purples and mauves or move into the blues. All I know is it’s fun putting these together and goes amazingly quickly.

When I started joining the stars I realized I hadn’t pressed them all in the same direction, so some time had to be spent at the iron. Now they’re all pressed the same way and that makes pressing the back of the block a breeze! Right now the block is about 14.5″ x 13.25″.

We are having an incredibly mild January, so far at least. It feels more like early spring than winter and the forecast seems to indicate it will be like this for the next couple of weeks. A sure sign of this being the oddest of winters? We went for a walk and, rather than seeing snow ploughs (of course not – there has been no snow and no, I’m not complaining), we saw street sweepers out and about. This really makes me wonder what the spring and summer will be like.

Baxter is proving to be a real quilter’s cat. Not only does he lie about under the quilt rack and hoop, he just loves to grab a piece of fabric and run off with it. I’ve found little 6-point stars on the floor. Last night, as I was working on another Feathered Star block, I turned my back for a few moments and there were some of the pieces from that on the floor.

Little Stars Joined

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Last night I got out the box full of little stars and decided to start putting them together. I’m starting with the centre and will work my way out. Right now it sort of looks like it’s going to turn into a Seven Sisters block, but it’s just the first round of many. The row of six joined stars clearly isn’t yet added to the centre star, but I wanted to get a rough idea of the effect and think about how I’d proceed. Now I hope to get the next round added quickly.

Earlier in the day I made a few more stars as I had a rather nasty headache but wanted to stitch. These little 6-point stars are what I almost always decide to make when I want to stitch but don’t want anything too difficult. Do you have a favourite block to stitch?

Baxter’s ruff is getting quite luxurious. We were looking at some of the pictures of him when he was a really small kitten and can’t get over the difference already — and he’s not even 9 months old yet.

Stars of Different Points

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Among the stars I have ready to stitch are a number of LeMoyne Stars in different fabric combinations. They’re from a swap of Inklingo pieces that was done a couple of years ago. While I’m not sure just how many stars I’ll end up with, I don’t plan to add to them unless it’s necessary to get an appropriate number for a small quilt setting.

They take only a second to press.

Another one of the 6-point stars made with 1.5″ diamonds. When they’re all made, I’ll decide how I want to set them.

It rained all day Tuesday and, by the sounds of our forecast, is going to rain all day today. At one point Tuesday it looked like perhaps there was some freezing rain mixed in, but thankfully no snow.

Another photo of Baxter helping as I was putting the binding on the flannel quilt.

Stars of Two Sizes

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This seems to be my week of working on stars and more stars. The larger purple star is made with 1.5″ diamonds and seems enormous in comparison to the little pink star made with 1″ diamonds.

Finger-pressing as they’re stitched means it only takes one quick press with the iron and they’re done.

There’s a box full of the larger diamonds in varying shades. While I’m not 100 per cent sure yet, I’m pretty sure I’m going to set these with large hexagons.

Baxter spent a lot of time on the windowsill on Wednesday. There were a lot of grackles on the roof garden lawn keeping him entertained.

Still Seeing Stars

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Along with the 8-point pink stars, a bevy of colourful 6-point stars are being made. I have some ideas for setting these, but will wait to decide until I have all of them made. Perhaps a multi-colour Seven Sisters quilt?  Or perhaps hexagons and stars? Or perhaps something altogether different. In the meantime, I’m having fun putting these together. They’re very quick to stitch and it’s really satisfying to see the stack of stars grow.

These are all 1″ diamonds ready to be stitched into stars. I have no idea how many stars I’ll end up with or how many quilts might be made using them. While some are ones I printed, the vast majority came from various swaps of fabrics printed with the 1″ diamonds using Inklingo.

Baxter was very interested in the diamonds. Shortly after this picture was taken, a few of the bags containing the diamonds were on the floor.

He’s looking less and less like a little kitten now, although he’s definitely still acting like one.

A Bevy of Small Stars

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Making these stars is another one of those go-to projects for me when I’m tired and want an easy stitch. They’re made with 1″ diamonds and are so quick to stitch that one can get half a dozen or more done in next to no time. These were made last night.

They press beautifully. You can just see Baxter’s paws at the side, as he was trying his best to get included in the picture.

And then they got added to all these. The box in which I keep the finished stars is getting full, so I think I may have to start playing with a setting soon and have a couple of ideas I’ll try out.

Yes, it’s another quilt(s) in a box project. This box has 2 rows deep of the little baggies, each full of the diamonds for stars. I have no idea how many hundreds of stars I’ll end up with, but I have plans for a couple of different settings.

As usual, Baxter was right there amongst the fabric when we were taking photos.

Earlier in the day he was playing with Cappy. While the picture is a bit blurry, as he was moving, it really shows how much he’s growing. Yesterday was the first time he’s really played with Cappy. Within a few hours it was evident this is now his favourite toy. He was even sleeping with his head on it at one point.