Friday, March 28, 2014

New Hexies and a Quilt for Allie

For the last few weeks I have been joining flowers and stars for my first hexie quilt.  Turns out that its really hard and I hate doing it. I am plugging along though.
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The good news is I have found a new hexie pattern to work on while on the go.  I found it on Pinterest, but can't copy the picture to this blog. You can see it in the 4th picture here.  I will probably use a lime green instead of the teal in the original. Also, I'm using larger hexies this time around and am only making it a more manageable 50 x 70". This hexagon punch is made by Fiskars and makes hexagons with one inch sides. I found mine at Joann's- make sure you take a coupon ;)




Also, this type of punch doesn't seem to punch the cardboard cereal boxes easily, you have to use the thinner ones. Compare it to the smaller hexies I used in the first quilt- see the blue one on the yellow flower? I may even try to hand quilt it if I'm feeling especially adventurous!




Also, I made a new baby quilt.  The side border is made of 2 x 3.5 inch rectangles that I pieced it  leader/ender style.




This one is totally scrappy and I just stuck with pastels- some fat quarters, some shirts, a tea towel, and a pair of floral PJ bottoms.





No batting, flannel green polka-dots for the backing and the binding is from a lovely, pale pink thrift store shirt.
*This pattern uses the Quick Curve Ruler and can be found for free here.
I am linking to Hexie Weekend.
Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your weekend!



Friday, March 21, 2014

Feed sacks!

I have a dear friend who recently lost her mom. When she was cleaning out her mom's home, she ran across these feed sacks and gifted them to me. Aren't they great? I love the top one- such a bright cheery yellow.


I am pondering what to make with these. They are about the size of king pillow cases- a good bit of fabric, but not enough variety for one quilt. I could add different fabrics and make a scrappy quilt. Any ideas for a pattern?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Friday, March 14, 2014

The last hexie star and bicycles?

I am finally finished with the last hexie star!  


It will probably be awhile before I have them all put together, but as soon as I do, I will post lots of pictures.  


This is my latest finish- its a 50x70 throw. 


I had got inspiration from the binding fabric.  My 2.5 inch strip basket had tons on brown and teal/aqua.  


Each block is 6x8 inches finished. 


I used four 6.5 x 2.5 inch strips for the outside and one 6.5 x 2.5 inch strip for the middle. Just sew three strips together, press in any direction and add the end strips. Super fast and easy, and you use up lots of scraps.


I used all kinds of combinations- florals, men's plaids, polka dots, batiks, and fire hydrants!


And (drumroll) here are the bicycles! I just used flannel for the back- no batting.


If you look closely, you can see the little lime birds perched on the bikes- I couldn't resist.

I am linking to Hexie Weekend- check it out!
Have a great weekend!




Sunday, March 2, 2014

Hexie progress and a top for donation

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your kind comments on my hexie / grandmother's flower garden quilt.  I don't personally know many quilters and it means alot to get encouragement here.


It is a beautiful day here in northeast Florida-72 degrees compared to 38 degrees just a few days ago. The Jasmine is already blooming!
I have completed one more hexie star with only one more to go.


I really like the colors on this one. 


I'm getting so close to the end, its exciting! But then I remember that I still have to put all of the stars and circles together. Boo! That's gonna take forever and I have to do it at home because its too big of a project to take with. I've been scanning Pinterest to find another take along hexie project. ;-)


Here is a top I made to donate.  Its twin sized and made of scrappy 4.5 inch squares. I give some tops to a friend whose guild makes quilts for kids in foster care- I think the idea is for them to have something of their own.


Whenever I have left over fabric that's not big enough to fold back up, I cut it up in to useable pieces, like 2.5 inch squares or 2x3.5 inch bricks- you get the idea.  Anyway, my 4.5 inch bin was overflowing, so I tidied it up a bit and made a top. It was super fast, only took a long weekend to make.


As I may have mentioned, I am addicted to thrift store shirts, so I have tons of plaids.  This is an example of making do with the fabric you have.  See how the borders are different plaids? This took less than 2 shirt fronts and backs, and I still have the sleeves!  The shirts I buy usually cost a dollar or less, so its a bargain and adds lots of variety.  Last week I found some 3x ladies pj's, so look for girly donation tops soon!

Thanks for stopping by!