Half hexagon sampler

I found all the parts to the half hexagon sampler I started a few years ago and thought I’d spread them out to see what it looks like.There’s no rhyme or reason to the fabrics or colours other than they are from my scrap bins and 2 1/2 inch strip bin. The braid is probably going to be a border of some sort. There are going to be triangles of a light neutral in between each pieced hexagon. I have yet to determine what will be in between the rows.

It will be laid out in rows as it is in the photo with something in between each row. Any ideas or suggestions for what to put between the rows would be gratefully received. Maybe once I have some of the pieced hexagons together with their triangles I’ll have a better idea of what to do. It’s not like I have to decide in the next day or two.. In the meantime, it is now all packed up back in its project box and it’s time to work on the next time slot project which is my Willyne Hammerstein Battle of the Stars. I have one of the partial rosettes that circle around the centre finished and fabric for another one cut. I need 10 of these in colours that complement the complete one. I think I have what I need in my stash already. All I have to do is dig for it. (grin). I think the background is going to be a dark blue.

And lastly, I finished knitting on a shawl last week. It still needs to be blocked and stretched out to its proper shape. It’s made out of a lovely soft alpaca yarn that will be wonderfully warm and soft wrapped around the neck in the cold arctic vortex weather.

It is super bowl sunday, and since I am not a football fan I’ll be sitting in my comfy recliner away from the TV set, either listening to a book or watching something on the computer and keeping my hands happily occupied by stitching. I’m going to do at least one more of the rosettes and then maybe some more knitting. I’m linking up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.

Slow Sunday Stitching

One of my slow projects, Leo’s Mane, is finished, the hand stitching part, at least. I think I’ll be putting a border on it probably out of the same fabric as the half diamonds around the edge.



I’ll be doing up a pattern for this project in the next month or two. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to start next. I’ve just recently discovered the designs by Nancy Cabot, first published back in the 1920’s in the Chicago Tribune. A lot of them are very complex and would be perfect for the English Paper Piecing technique. Castor and Pollux was one of Nancy Cabot’s designs.
In the meantime, while I’m looking around and playing in the Electric Quilt software, I’m continuing to work on the half hexagons. This is a picture of what I have so far. I’m not sure of the layout here, but I have lots of time to play around and decide what I want to do.



There’s been a lot happening here this past week. I’m going to do a bit of “shameless self promotion” as my good friend Gail calls it. Our website http://eagleswingsquilts.ca launched on Wednesday, and we are now officially in business selling English Paper Piecing supplies, as well as some of my patterns. We are in Canada, so our prices are all in Canadian dollars, and we ship from inside Canada. When I first started this English Paper Piecing journey with La Passacaglia, I purchased from the States and was blown away by the added cost of the exchange on the dollar and by the cost of the shipping from there to Canada. There were actually four of us doing the project at the same time, and we all had the same reaction. We started thinking that someone should really do this in Canada. That was 2 1/2 years ago, and it never occurred to me at the time that the “someone” would be us. However, we don’t only sell to Canada. We can sell to the States, and the differences in our dollars can act in their benefit. I think it’s something like our dollar is the same as .70 cents in theirs.
There, “shameless self promotion” finished.
I’m going to link to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching, and then get back to more relaxing hand stitching out in the glorious sunshine. Of course, I’m going to check out what the others in the link list are up to, as well.

What I’m working on....

I’m doing more half hexagons. It doesn’t look like much has been added, but these things are a fairly good size, so the large pieced hexagons take an evening each to put together. I have decided, I think, to make a strip quilt out of these. The hexagons and the braids will alternate, and then the braids will be an outer border, as well. At least, that’s the current plan. It will likely be years in the execution. This is where it was a couple of days ago. I’ve since taken the two hexagons apart and placed them side by side, as I think the final layout will be.  I have yet to decide what the in between triangles will be. I have lots of time before I get there.But then again, I could change my mind.....
I’m linking up to Lorna’s Let’s Bee Social and Esther’s WIP’s on Wednesday
It looks like there is some interesting programs on PBS tonight, so I think some more stitching may be in order.

Finish it friday

I have 3 finishes this week, which actually sounds better than it really is. I did indeed get Becca's cold, (thanks for sharing that, sweetie), and it has knocked me off my feet for the past 4 days. However, while surfing around blogland yesterday, I came upon this post from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville, giving information about a quilt drive for survivors of hurricane Sandy. I have had 3 quilts sitting on a shelf in the cupboard for the last 2 or 3 years almost finished. Two of them had the binding sewn on, but needed the binding turned and sewn to the other side. The third needed to have the binding completely put on.
The first one is a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Bricks and Stepping Stones.
The second is a half hexagon.
The third is a Kansas Troubles or Delectable Mountains, variation. I'm going to get labels put on them, and then hopefully have time to get them shipped off, if not today, then Monday.  I'm linking up to Amandajean's Finish it up Friday .

Finishes

I finally got around to taking a few pictures of the  quilts I've finished in the past month, although I still haven't got the bindings sewn down. I've decided I'm finishing them off by machine, with my walking foot, decorative thread, and a decorative stitch. So, now, it's just a matter of getting it done, some time in this lifetime. I was hoping to have them done by the end of the year, so that I could use them as charitable donation deductions on my income tax, but I don't think that's going to happen. So, I'll get the rest of my donation quilts done in the new year, and have a much larger amount to donate. I also finished Amalia's quilt, and took some pics of it, as well. And now, I'm off to work on a quilt on the longarm before heading in to work this afternoon.

This is Amalia's quilt. It measured out at 97x97 inches. It's made completely out of batiks, and is absolutely stunning

This is a close up of one of the stars in the quilt. The centre of the star is sewn using a dimensional technique that I had never seen before

I tried to get a side view to see if the quilting would show up more. It is a pantograph called "Plummage" I can't remember the name of the designer at the moment. I used a Rainbows varigated thread

This is that half hexagon quilt I pieced last spring. The backing, which I didn't get a picture of, is large yellow sunflowers, which is also going to be the binding

A scrappy style Delectable Mountains,  in a barn raising setting. There is something about this quilt that I'm not happy with. I told Susan, when I was chatting with her last week, that it was an ugly quilt. 

This is a "Bricks and Stepping stones" quilt from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville.  It is going to have a scrappy binding. I took a whole pile of leftover binding ends, and sewed them together to get enough to bind this one

Another start

I can't believe how long this crazy cold is hanging on. I've been to the Doctor, who says there is nothing to do but wait it out. (groan). I know antibiotics don't work on viruses, so there is no point taking any, but this is getting quite tiresome. On a positive note, I've decided that the half hexagon quilt is indeed finished. And, since I have no energy for doing anything else, I've started another quilt, as if I need an excuse to do that. It's from Judy L's site Patchwork Times, and it is her Freeze Frame, that she set up as being able to do in one hour increments. I like that format. It is all from stash fabric. I ordered a lot of fabric after Christmas, when Thousands of Bolts were having a sale, and am finally starting to use some of it. ( I really do need to figure out how to put links into my posts).
There was no way I could pass up fabric at $3.00 a yard, including shipping, and duty and Canadian taxes when it crossed the border. At least, that was my excuse. The reality is probably closer to I would have bought it anyway, just not as much. (giggle). Actually, this is my retirement savings plan - except it is fabric, not cash, I'm saving for my retirement, which does do a bit of a number on cash savings, but then, I won't need to spend it later. Oh boy, I'm really getting "out there" with the rationalizations now, aren't I? Ah well, I'm going to go play for awhile, and I guess I should throw in some laundry to go while I play.

Half hexagons finished, I think.

I've been working steadily, for the last 4 days on this Half hexagon quilt. It hasn't turned out as large as I wanted it. It shrunk quite a lot during sewing. It's 57 x 63 right now. I'm happy with it, I think. I'm just wondering, does it need another border, or should I call it finished, and bind it with the gold fabric? It was a real challenge, doing the math to get the sizes for the borders figured out. That's why the top and bottom gold borders are bigger than the sides. It was the only way I could get the half hexes to fit, without altering their sizes, or chopping them off. Not bad for an impulse of the moment quilt. Now, to decide what's next. It was nice to work on something that had a quick finish. It seems most of the stuff I have going is complex, long term projects

Design wall Monday April 5

I've spent the last couple of days, (in between sneezing and hacking and coughing- rotten cold), playing with my 5 inch charms and 2 1/2 inch scraps, and cutting half hexagons. Then, the fun part was arranging them on the wall. Looking at the picture, I can see a couple of areas where there are too many darks together. But, other than that, it is close to be ready to sew. The trick is going to be sewing it together without mixing up the placements of the fabric. I'll have to do some labeling of the pieces, I think, to make sure they stay in order as I sew. That is the next task on my list for today. I should be working on a bridesmaid dress, but my mind won't focus enough to do that. There are pattern alterations needed, which means I need to be thinking clearly, before I tackle that.