Thursday, November 29, 2012

Hexagon Quilt Progress

I have been working on a hexagon quilt inspired by this quilt in the Nebraska State Historical Site .




I began making the hexies in Oct 2010, so two years now. I work on it mostly on the go- when I'm riding the car, or waiting at the doctor's office or on my lunch hour. 



A few more than half of the blocks have been put together for a queen sized quilt. I figured out I need 31 stars, 76 circles and 18 little 3 and 4 patches for the sides.


The original quilt is a top only and doesn't appear to be finished or maybe it has deteriorated around the edges. In order to have a straight top and botton edge, I plan on filling them in with 3 patches.


 Here are a few sewn together...



If anyone is working on or has finished a hexagon quilt, I'd love to see. Or if anyone has any idea on how to finish the edges, I'd love to hear about it

Thanks for visiting! 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Easy Street part 1

This is my progress so far on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt "East Street."  Last year's mystery, "Orca Bay" was my first and it was so exciting and easy to stay on track. It was not the type of quilt I would have attempted had I seen the whole thing from the beginning, but its broken up into steps, making it more manageable. The top was finished really quickly, and as with most of my quilts, it hangs in the guest bedroom closet waiting to be quilted.  I have really been looking forward to this one.  So far, it kinda reminds me of a newspaper. 




Here are my 2-patches. By the time I finished the 4-patches, the light wasn't so great for a pict, but you get the idea.
I was a little worried that some of the white backgrounds were more cream or ecru, but decided to just go for it.
Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Quilting Cart



Just wanted to show off a project that I think turned out really great!  I was looking for a portable cutting surface that I could move around and put away when I didn't need it. I found this microwave cart on Craigslist for $60. It was solid wood and sturdy and just what I needed (except for the color.)

Here is the before. (I had already tried out the new pulls.) The finish was really splotchy and scratched.

I used Krylon satin spray paint in "Periwinkle" and I found the new pulls at a discount hardware store for 50 cents each! Also, I just used the old hinges with a new coat of "Brushed Nickel" spray paint.


Easy to move!


These "s" hooks work great for keeping tools.



  


And here's the final product! It's a perfect height for cutting, ironing and hiding junk. It will fit in the closet in case I need the room for guests. Also, I can roll it into the family room if we're watching a not-so-exciting movie and I'd rather be working on a quilt.
Thanks for stopping by! 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Star Baby Quilt

This is a string quilt (55"x55") made for a friend's baby due in January. (I'm ahead of schedule!) It's a suprise, but I'm pretty sure she won't see this. Her colors are brown and blue and I just copied some patterns that I found when I did an internet search for string quilts. I used phone book pages for the foundation that measured 6 1/2". It's hand-tied #1 because I am not a good machine quilter, and #2 because I wasn't as careful as I should have been ironing and the top was a little lumpy. Mostly the fabric I used is from scraps- leftovers from other quilts and thrift store shirts.There's even some Washington Redskins fabric if you look close!





I am interested to see if anyone else does mostly hand-tied quilts and if there is a secret to making the knots good and sturdy. I took two stitches and made double knots, but am nervous about it falling apart!


Saturday, November 3, 2012

First Blog Post... Carolina Christmas

Ok, so first post. This is a quilt that I made for my mom. Its called "Carolina Christmas" and its from the book "Scraps & Shirttails II" by Bonnie Hunter. Enjoy!