Tag Archive for 'hexagon'

QUILTING PROJECT LIST

Published on November 25, 2010 in patchwork and the workroom. 8 Comments Tags: cog & wheel quilt, double wedding ring quilt, english paper piecing, hexagon, Log Cabin, patchwork pattern maker, quilt sampler, shoo fly, whole cloth quilt.

I thought it would be helpful/scary/interesting to dig up all my quilt projects that are in progress and do a bit of a status report on them. I’m curious to see how many I have and of course, it would be great to finish off a few of them. (so that I can start new ones!)

1. Double Wedding Ring Quilt, approx. 60″ x 60″
I am about a third of the way through hand quilting this. I am happy that I am still in love with this quilt every time I take it out to look at it.

2. My First Quilt, queen-sized
I am about a third of the way hand quilting this quilt, as well. That’s actually much further than I thought.

3. Plaid Quilt, approx. 40″ x 60″
This is a gift for a friend. The quilt is basted and I started machine quilting it on the weekend. I am trying to finish this quilt before Christmas. Especially since I started this for LAST Christmas.

4. V&A Quilt, queen-sized
This is going to be a bed sized quilt made from a pattern I created on the V&A Patchwork Pattern Maker. I spent hours and hours cutting out all the little squares and have only sewn together a small corner section. I’m dying to work on this quilt top. Hopefully after the holiday rush.

5. Grey, Brown & Orange Sampler, unknown size
I have four blocks made for this sampler – Road to California, Schoolhouse, Log Cabin, and Dresden Plate. I should try to make at least one block a month for this quilt.

6. Green Log Cabin Quilt, unknown size
I made four log cabin blocks, with the intention that this was going to be for my brother. I’ve decided that this is not the right quilt for my brother, so I’ve been looking for a new idea. Hopefully I’ll be able to incorporate these blocks somewhere into the new quilt. When I get a brilliant flash of inspiration. Quilts for guys = tricky.

7. Shoo Fly Quilt, unknown size
I fell in love with the shoo fly block when I saw the cover of ‘Color Your Cloth‘. I decided to use my French General ‘Rouenneries’ Jelly Roll to make a quilt using just this block. I only have four blocks made so far.

8. Grey + Persimmon Hexagons, unknown size
This english paper piecing project is probably going to be a wall hanging of some sort. soonish.

9. NY Subway Map Whole Cloth Quilt, 14″ x 14″
I’m actually very close to finishing this project. I’ve quilted the New York City subway line using a vintage map that I found. I’d like this to be a wall hanging and I’m just debating displaying it in a wooden hoop or if it should be a square with a proper binding.

10. Cog & Wheel Quilt, twin sized
As I mentioned in my last post, this quilt is basted and ready for machine quilting. I’m unsure of how I’m going to quilt it, but I’d really like to finish this before the end of the year.

I’ve updated My Crafty List of Things to Do with this detailed quilt project list, including quilts I want to make, quilts in progress and completed quilts. Okay, so ten quilt projects on the go. A bit more than I thought, but hopefully I’ll knock three of these off the list in the next month. There is exactly one month of craft time left before December 25th. EEEEK!

ENGLISH PAPER PIECING

Published on October 7, 2010 in patchwork, scraps, stitchery and the workroom. 22 Comments Tags: english paper piecing, hexagon.

I’m not sure why, but I’m going through a non-sewing phase right now. I haven’t really touched my sewing machine too much recently even though there is a pile up of projects I’d like to do – new Birdie Sling with Far Far Away II fabric, new dress from Built by Wendy Dresses, tea towels and napkins. Of course, let’s not talk about the pile of unfinished projects.

The one thing I’m really enjoying right now is English Paper Piecing. About six months ago, I embarked on a mini hexagon project (.75″) made up of all shades of grey and bits of persimmon pink. I had so much fun finding all my bits of grey fabric. Johanna even scoured her collection for some lovely grey prints for me. I filled a tin up with my hexies, but when it came to sewing them together I hit a bit of a stumbling block. My stitches seemed to be really visible. I kept trying different stitches, each one worse than the last. Discouraged that it wasn’t turning out very well, I put the project down.

It wasn’t until a couple weeks ago when I was watching Johanna work on her own hexagons that I realized she was stitching them good sides together where I had been stitching them wrong sides together. WHAT?!! I don’t have a clue why I thought they were sewn together wrong sides together. It is standard sewing practice to put ‘good sides together’ for everything. Feeling extremely silly, I revisited my tin of hexagons and now I’m finally sewing all 200-ish of them together. Lesson : even someone who’s been sewing for a heck of a long time can get stumped on the simplest little detail.

I’m sewing them together randomly and organically. I thought this might end up being a pillow, but now I’m wondering about making some type of wall hanging. I think it would be cool to keep the organic shape, mount it and hang it on the wall. What do you think?

365 : 65

Published on March 12, 2010 in 365, patchwork, scraps and stitchery. 0 Comments Tags: 365, english paper piecing, grey, hexagon, johanna masko.

March 6, 2010 of 365 : pile of grey ‘scraps’ from johanna for my hexagon project

The English Paper Pieced hexagon project that I’m working on is using all shades of grey with splashes of orangey red. I have quite a few greys in my collection, but I was hoping to have only one or two hexagons of each fabric. I have estimated that I’ll need over 225 hexagons to make my pillow, so that’s a heck of a lot of grey. I asked Johanna if she might open up her vault of fabric (over 20 years of collecting) and snip a few small pieces for me. She generously handed over an incredible stack of delicious grey pieces from her huge collection and each piece is a real gem. (I actually do mentally envision Johanna’s insane fabric collection as a huge vault full of fabric. She seems to have a neverending stash of amazing prints.)

365 : 53

Published on February 26, 2010 in 365. 5 Comments Tags: 365, english paper piecing, hexagon.

365 : paper pieced hexagon project

I didn’t realize how much fun this is. Now I know and I’m a bit obsessed. I have multiple future projects planned of various shapes. (Already!) But for now, I am quickly filling a little tin full of these tiny hexagons.

For size reference, each side of these hexagons measures .75″.

SAWTOOTH STAR PILLOW

Published on February 16, 2010 in patchwork, stitchery and the workroom. 12 Comments Tags: english paper piecing, hand quilting, hexagon, intro to hand work, sawtooth star.

It’s been a few weeks since the Intro to Hand Work class finished and I miss it. I really enjoyed the freedom of sewing without a sewing machine. It meant that the class group was able to sit around the large table, chatting and working away at the same time. It also meant I was able work on my project when I was on transit or sitting in bed late at night.

We basted our final sawtooth star blocks with a layer of batting and a muslin backing, just like a mini quilt. I kept my quilting design very simple, echoing the shape of the patchwork lines. It’s cool to see the hand quilting pattern from the reverse side. I used both a round quilting hoop and a square Q-Snap frame when doing this project. I like having the flexibility to switch between the circular and square frame as I choose.

Hand quilting is amazing. I just love the way the it looks. When I see it, I unrealistically want every quilt I make to be hand quilted. The slightly uneven quality of the stitches is so charming.

Turning this one block into a pillow was so incredibly satisfying because the entire project was completed within just one month. It seems a big feat, compared to the ongoing quilt projects I have that are a year or more in the making.

I chose to use the turquoise powerlines on grey print from Repeat for the back of the pillow. It couldn’t be more perfect. I love everything about this graphic pillow. I’m so proud of it!

I’m pondering my next hand piecing/quilting project and think it’s about time I did an English Paper Pieced pillow. I created this gallery with some of my inspirations.