It was inevitable – the minute I said I was going to dedicate stitching time to those three quilt tops, a tiny distraction came along. And I do mean tiny. This little hexagon flower was made with the Inklingo .375″ … Continue reading
This is an enormous block for me – 18″ from side to side and about 21″ from point to point. I’m going to make two of them and then turn them into — well, I don’t know yet. I might just add setting pieces to turn them into large rectangles and use them as the covers of a stitching book. It’s made with the Inklingo 18″ Rose Star collection. I used the 3″ hexagons and one-third of the 3″ hexagons from the 3″ Hexagon collection for some of the shapes as well as the kites in the Rose Star collection. I fussy cut the large centre hexagon. Had I used all kites, I could have had an entirely different effect.
The back after grading the seams and pressing.
A new small project was added to the list. Enough was printed on fabric for 12 blocks and I’ll hopefully have the first one made sometime today. It’s going to be a small quilt made up of only the 12 blocks and a border. Some fussy cutting and printing to make a couple of trial blocks for the Pickled Ladies pieced border was the major thing I wanted to get done on the weekend and I did. Now to make a couple of those blocks and decide if I like how it looks.
Baxter loves the top tier of his kitty tree during the day.
And, as shown in this Baxtertoon, he also loves it at night.
In fact, as I was writing this post last night, his paws were dangling mid-air as he snoozed in that top tier.
I’ve been making these little flowers on and off. From each 5.25″ x 5.75″ scrap I’m able to get enough blue hexagons for two flowers. There are still a few blue ones to make and then I’ll pick out some … Continue reading
Over the past while, I’ve been sorting through my batiks stash and found a great use for small pieces. With a piece that’s 5.25″ x 5.75″, I can print enough of the .50″ hexagons to make two flowers. When I … Continue reading
While I’m still about two weeks away from finishing the red and white top, I have been looking at the project boxes that litter the apartment — are scattered about — are neatly stacked, and found this box. Full of … Continue reading
Yes, I know the saying is six of one, half a dozen of another but only five of the little Drunkard’s Path units were finished so …
Yesterday there was a question about the matching/registration points on the 2″ Drunkard’s Path blocks. As a picture tells the story much better than words could, I took this picture of the back of two pieces showing just how many matching points there are. You can really see them if you click on the photo to enlarge it. Those matching points are the secret to perfect curved piecing. Pin, stitch to pin, move pin, stitch to pin and so on. And the curves are perfect every time!
The half a dozen?
Half a dozen of the red and white Texas stars. Remember them? Last time I showed this project, an entire row wasn’t yet done. Since then it has grown to three complete rows (I’m joining them as I go) and with these six and a couple more I’ll soon have the fourth row done and attached.
It presses beautifully. I realized as I pressed the six that I haven’t been grading the seams on this one as I went so some time will be spent on the weekend doing just that. I don’t want to take any chances on the deep red shadowing through the white on this one.
This is our long Victoria Day weekend and the weather forecast couldn’t be better. Hot and sunny. Who could ask for more on the first long weekend of the season?
Baxter on “his” quilt. He loves to sit up there in the evening.
This idea has been in the works for a week or so. Mr. Q.O. draws some fabulously fun creatures, so I asked if some could be drawn for the little hexagon quilt. So far he has drawn four or five and I’ve then traced them on to 2″ hexagons, which I had already printed and cut out. Three got stitched last night – a turtle, fish and frog. There are other fish and various other creatures who will show up periodically as I turn them into little 2″ embroidered hexagons.
The final layout of this is still far from decided, but I’m thinking it will be a small cot quilt when it’s done. It’s fun to do a few stitchery blocks from time to time.
We ran into a former neighbour who had some really exciting news. She has been accepted into the Nurse Practitioner Ph.D. program at Yale. Mr. Q.O. knew, before I said it, that I was going to decide she needs a lap quilt to take along with her to remind her of her time in Toronto. I think a fair amount of time is going to be spent on the weekend looking at possible design ideas.
Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot, “The Critic.” The minute we start setting up to take photos, Baxter’s right there.
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?”
Part of play time on the weekend was adding the triangles to two of the pinwheels. I’m not sure whether I’ll add a plain 2″ hexagon in the centre of each set of six little blocks. Perhaps I’ll add some redwork on a 2″ hexagon. Whatever I decide, it’s going to be some time before this turns into anything.
I might do something like Emma’s Butterfly Stars, although I may ask Mr. Q.O. to draw some little creatures that I could use for stitcheries. Or I may just come up with a different setting altogether. For now, it’s a nice little project to which to add a block or two every week or so.
Monday was a lovely spring day. This is perfect weather to be anticipating baseball season beginning. We’re heading to a friend’s on Thursday to watch the Jays’ season opener. It seems like it has been a very long time since we’ve seen a baseball game.
Baxter found a new perch on the blue and white quilt that is draped over the back of the sofa. Now that he’s found it, that seems to be a favoured spot. I love how well his lynx tips show up in this photo.
Having shown Cameron’s Windmills again seems to have piqued my interest in working with those little half hexagons once more. So out came some 1″ white on white hexagons I’d printed ages ago and I made these two little blocks.
They took only a few minutes each to make and, as I finger press as I stitch them, only a second to press.
I’m going to print and add 1″ white equilateral triangles to the pinwheels and then use them along with the new hexagon/half hexagon blocks and perhaps something else, just for fun, and put together something. I don’t have any idea how large this will end up or when it will get finished. I knew that box full of half hexagons was going to eventually come in handy. For now, I’ll just make blocks periodically and when I think there are enough I’ll play with a setting.
We were out running errands on Saturday and oh, how the temperature had changed. And even more so last night! It was cold and windy but it appears, if our forecast is right, that this colder weather isn’t going to last long and we’ll be back to the warm weather within a few days. I hope they’re right as the tulips are coming up, the daffodils are about to bloom and the crab apple trees are starting to get their leaves.
One of the errands was to pick up a new keyboard for my Mac. I had literally almost worn the L and N keys out. A lot of the letters on the keys were worn off, but the keys themselves being worn out? And only those two? I’ve had some fun thinking about what on earth I use those keys for so much that they were getting worn right out.
When we’re taking photographs of the little quilt blocks, we usually have a board propped up on the chair Baxter has claimed as his own. And most of the time he then jumps up and wiggles his way under the board. Sometimes he peeks out. Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot, “Is that thing gone yet?”
Other times, he’ll be right under the board but one paw will come up and he’ll try to grab whatever is on there. Mr. Q.O.’s caption for this shot is, “I’ll wait here until it’s gone.” I think it should be more like, “Put that block closer to the edge, please.”
Quilt Obsession 