All things hexy

My latest projects have had a common theme.
that cute little six sided block, called the hexagon.

It started innocently enough...I spied a cute button on Katy's website and had to have it for mine. see that  button over there on the right?  About three buttons down.  I love grabbing people's buttons.  Yes!

I'll quilt-along!  I'll join your club!  I'll read Bronte and --well maybe not the Bronte group.  Sorry.  You gotta start saying no sometimes.

Anyway, Texas Freckles has a great little motivating group to encourage us all to do english paper pieced hexes.  I had started, before the quilt along, my own hex project.  Then I  stopped, then I lost my hex project all together, and even started a half-hex as I thought that would be quicker and easier---but it wasn't.  And that's all I'm going to say about half-hexes.  I bravely posted that quilt on flickr and I'm glad I finished it.  And that's all I'm going to say about that.

So since I was trying all sorts of hexagon piecing, I thought it would be cheeky to try the Amy Butler Sexy Hexy as well.    I read Nichole's blog about a very bad experience with the pattern (free on Amy's website).  And the directions are daunting and entirely off-putting.  So my advice--in my humble, novice opinion, I must add, is this:

Disregard the 11 pages of instructions almost entirely.  

there.  I said it.  I hope I don't get struck down by lightening now.

  But I can't make since of cutting 4 of this and 10 of this and so on if I can't see how it's coming together.  So I took the C band, the D band and the middle hex pattern piece, cut out one block at a time and looked thru the sewing instructions.

You sew C to D then all those pieces together--it should look like a hexagon at this point, and applique the middle hexagon.

I had to cut out one block at a time so I could understand the color ranges within the block and with each other.

I laid it out in a flower shape when I had finished 7 blocks and filled in 4 half hexes at the edges.  I thought I could cut the hexagon pattern in half for this job, but it needs extra for a seam allowance.  So note that.

I think I'm going to leave the zig zag edge on one side.  I like it.

So then I sewed the hexagons together and that was my first experience with Y seams.  See the puckers.

I had to rip it out and I learned that if you sew from the center, after the quarter of an inch seam allowance, it lies flat.  

Now I have to figure out my backing and quilt it and I think I'll have that little block out  of my wheel house for a while.  Except, of course, for the hex charm quilt along.  I want one of those cute progress bars like Texas Freckles has on the margin, too...

And speaking of cute buttons you gotta have on your blog, check out the Fat Quarterly button!

Hmmm, I think I stole that one from Katy, Imagingermonkey as well.  

You know Fat Quarterly is an eZine chock full of quilty goodness and inspiration and it's very first issue is Tuesday!  April 27th!!

I hope there's a question/answer section.  I got a lot of questions for those experts.  I cannot wait.  And maybe, just maybe--I'll listen to their advice.

The Fancy Schmancy Zoo of Love

Well, there's some new blood in the old family tree, and to welcome the little mister to the family, I made him a quilt from Michael Miller free quilt patterns, Giraffes, Elephants, and Hippos! Oh My! (Oh, yes, much inspired by Katy's version here)

I didn't have all of the kiddy prints they used in their version, so I opted for a lot of Love, because my animals live in a very fancy zoo, you see. Hmmm, and I didn't quite follow the pattern now that I'm seeing Katy's. Hate instructions! Just look at the pictures and go with it, right?

Actually I was wanting to tackle this quilt pattern and jonesing to cut into the Love stash, and I thought it was a fun spin. I do wish I were a really good stippler. I wanted to stipple all around the big animals. ...and you know I tried, like some one who doesn't have good sense. Let's learn to free motion quilt right here and now! Worth a try, because I always think that if I up the ante I will really follow through. But I ended up quilting around the animals in a wavy line farther and farther out each time. The back is a Heather Bailey's new Hop Dot in Sky, very sweet.

So there it is, fun, simple and sweet.

Happy Birthday, Joseph Paul!

Hopscotch Quilt

And this would be my second quilt ever, made in one day...well, most blocks were waiting for me on the day, with a deadline imposed by self so that it would be a part of my new online store header. Pictures have been safely uploaded to the web genius lady, so now I can sit and blog with the little quilty over my knees. And notice that the binding needs a bit of work...

But since I give myself some beginner's grace, I can enjoy the quilt for the colors and fabrics and even the stitches. I had thought in the planning of it that it lacked a little spontaneity so I added the rusty bouquet of Garden Party (Anna Maria Horner) and the wine from Amy Butler's Love.

My free motion technique is still quite lacking, so I plugged on the walking foot and did wavy, curvy lines across it. I quite liked the kinesthetics of that, the quilt rolled up on each side and steering it this way and that, my mind meandering like the stitching.

oh, new online store plug, speaking of plugs, www.thistlehillfabrics.com is coming soon, another wonderful little experiment into the webby world of quilters and lovely fabric and maybe some Munki Munki pjs, that I cannot sell on Etsy, unless I cut them in bits to offer as "supplies". And, listen, I am an upcycler, recycler, get another use out of it, but, first things first...and firstly, you wear the apparel, then you make your quilt. Ok, I hear you, it's Heather Ross, she gives us no alternative, licensed exclusively with them. And I understand. I do. Just buy the whole classic set and you cut it up. And I don't need to know. Now how did we get into this whole argument? I didn't mean to argue. I was just telling you about my quilt. And it's meandering stitches....

A Good Day

Today I...

1. secured a ravely hem in my daughter's pants with packaging tape.

2. realized I missed out on Amy Butler's new Love collection's early release.

3. saw that Jennifer Paganelli posted that she loved my skirt on my Flickr site,

here

It was a good day.