..... QUILTING FOREVER, HOUSEWORK WHENEVER .....

Saturday, January 24, 2009

More of Hexagon Tutorial...

*** I forgot to mention in my past instruction that you only sew on the lines, end to end. You don't sew to the end of your piece of fabric, as you will have problems with pressing out your seams later... ***

Please read through all instructions before continuing... 8-)

Now it is time to add a 3rd hexagon...

Photo 1.)
The thread/needle from the first 2 sewn together sits in the middle of the 3. We then line up the new hex with the first that we started with.


Photo 2.)
Match pin your stitch lines in the same manner as you did the first two hexagons.

Photo 3.)
Check the back to make sure everything lines up properly. Some fudging may need to happen.

*** Please remember to; do 2 back stitches at starts and stops of each hexagon; when you are picking up your 4 to 6 stitches to peak at the back to make sure you are on track; and to back stitch about every 3/4" as you sew... ***

Photo 4.)
You've finished your second stitch line. You many snip your thread leaving a 3/4 to 1" tail, or leave it hang there to pick up later. If you do this, you will need to take up another thread to sew the third seam to complet
e this unit, and carry on as with the first two seams...

Photo 5.)
At times, you may need to pass your needle through a seam to carry on with the next block... **
* An example of this below. ***



Photo 6.)
Here I am connecting large sections. Working on the orange hexagon.



Photo 7.)
I've come to the end of that seam.




Photo 8 & 9.)
I pass my needle through a cross seam to the next hexagon at the corner marking. Now you have to twist your hex groupings to match up for the next seam. {Check out this post at the booboo I made when not having worked on it for a while. You don't want to do this!} Now I carry on with my pinning and stitching...

Please notify me if there are any errors in my instructions, or if you are having difficulty...

Later today I will make a post to show you some hex groupings, and how the seams should be pressed for a nice flat quilt top...

Hexagon groupings & pressed seams...

Third post for today... sheesh! What's up with that!?! 8-)

There are many different groupings of hexagons you can make. It is all up to you! 8-)


One friend of mine makes long rows of them, the width of quilt wanted, then attaches them row by row...

Another friend makes a row of them the length of what she wants, and then builds on it hexagon by hexagon, row by row...

I'm trying different groupings such as these... They will eventually all end up together anyway... Right!?! 8-)




















For each of my little groupings I have stopped to press the seams before starting another bunch. That way there will be much less to press when large batches of them are put together... 8-)


Take a good look at this photo of a pressed grouping. This is the best way for a nice flat quilt top that my friends and I have learned. Some gals just press from the top and whatever way the seams end up laying, so be it!

I hope my tutorial has helped some that wish to avoid other methods they have tried and not crazy about. I also hope that my tutorial was done well enough for the new quilters just learning... 8-)

I do have a question for those that regularly use "Labels". I just started using this "Label" feature, and wonder if the tutorial posts can somehow be put in the correct order of teaching, instead of last post first?

Friday, January 23, 2009

Downsizing... sort of... 8-)

First thing this morning it was -23C, feeling like -36C with the wind-chill... brrrrrr..... Over night we had really high winds a blowing in from the north... Dora wasn't liking it one bit, but I was too tired to let her out of her kennel... Eventually I fell asleep amongst her ruckus! Ruby could have cared less...

Empty nest dilemma. Well not really a dilemma, but had to put some thought into making Lasagne for 2! How many noodles? Cut the ground beef in half. What pan?

Pictured is the glass casserole of Lasagne I prepared today, inside the pan I would usually fill for our family. DD1 left 3-4 years ago, then DD2 left last October, but I still filled it. With a son through 17 to 21 years old it would all disappear within 2 days. Now DS moved out at the beginning of this month, so my "vacuum", "bottomless pit", "hollow leg" eater is gone. DH can sure dig in at supper time though, but making a big pan now would be much too much for just the 2 of us. I am hoping that his amount will cover supper tonight, and a left-over for DH to take when working evenings... We shall see...

DD2 just called to invite herself for supper. ...?... She doesn't do Lasagne if she can help it, but I assured her I have a few chicken fingers left over from yesterday's pot-luck that had her name on it, to have with the Caesar Salad and garlic toast. She is happy with that idea... We haven't seen her since last week sometime... The visit will be nice! 8-)

No sewing done today... yet! Had a bad sleep, thus no energy... Sorry Pg... Pg is wanting me to have one of my quilts quilted and bound in 2 weeks... Yikes! 8-)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Wonky Bits Show & Tell...

Our group had a wonderful Pot-Luck lunch today... I didn't even have room for supper tonight... which is not a bad thing... 8-)

This "Butterfly" quilt top is Pd's Disappearing 9-Patch. She put a lovely boarder on, with mitered corners too yet! Nice job Pd! Looks great! 8-)
This wonderful quilt is Lp's "Country Sampler". This is the product of a quilt class we took together. Actually where we first met, about 4 years ago... She is finishing up on her applique in the boarder... Looking good Lp! 8-) For color comparison, you can see mine in this past post...
This little darling of a wall-quilt was made by Cd, for her daughter Dd's grade 4 classroom door, for the month of February, ( Edit: in recognition of Heart & Stroke month... The quilt, "Healthy Hearts with Hart, Haart, & Harte" - all girls... ) All that needs doing is the binding yet... Too darn cute Cd! 8-)
This is Jm's front door leather bench topper. Her cats have taken a liking to the bench and she hopes that this topper will protect the leather some from their claws... Click on the photo to see the fun fabrics she has in there... Fun stuff Jm! 8-)
This is Dd's quilt that she is finishing up with the binding. The quilt is for her brother. Disappearing 9-Patch, thought it does not show it clearly...like it is in disguise or something... Nice job Dd!!! 8-)
And finally, a sneak photo of what I worked on today. I sandwiched 2 quilts that have been waiting a very long time to be finished. Spray basted, and stitched basted on the edges... The top one is my Country Sampler. Check here for basting story of it's past... The bottom one is my Sunflower quilt (photo in sidebar). It feels so good to have them basted and ready for quilting... That will be then next battle! lol! Pg says she wants to see one done in 2 weeks... Yikes!!! We shall see what we can do here Pg... 8-)
I also worked some on my hexagons again... 8-)

The temp around here for the last few days had warmed up to -6C to -9C, with very little wind-chill. During the day today, we had some fog earlier, then freezing rain, which has made the roadways some scary on the way home, and now the temp is starting to drop again and the wind-chill is picking up... It is10pm here now, -13C, feels like -24C with wind-chill... brrrrrrrrr.........

That be it for this Wonky Bits day! 8-)

Another find fell upon me...

I received another new follower sometime during the night. I had a "quick" look this morning at ADR's Treasures, Diah's blog before I had to rush out for Wonky Bits... She has some absolutely wonderful creations to look through! Diah's profile write up says this, "A family is quilted and bound with love and grace, pieced together with hope and faith." Isn't that lovely!?! 8-)

I will be back tonight, hopefully with some Show & Tell from our Wonky Bits gathering today! In the mean time, check out my post from last night's quilt gathering... 8-)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

One Show & Tell

It was a confusing Wednesday night gathering, but it was there...sort of... halved actually... 8-/

There was one Show & Tell for the evening, but in hind sight I could have taken some photos of the gals making gift bags for the ladies that come up for International Day at MPQ in April. That is when the Grand Forks Guild comes up to spend a day with our Manitoba Guild, and shop. It is their turn this year. Next year MPQ goes to GFs for the day...

The quilt pictured here is Sd's creation. Her and her hubby made it for the table auction at the community club's fund-raising carnival. Sd's hubby does all the cutting, and she does all the sewing... What a team hey!?! Lovely quilt Sd!!! 8-)

Seeing lots of stitcheries and cross-stitch projects lately got me to thinking about something I started a very, very long time ago. Before children blessed our lives, before marriage even!!! I don't even recall what parts I did, but DH finished the majority of it when DD2 was born... I think it is more his project then mine! I am planning to make it into a small wall-quilt... 8-)

Tonight I did some more hand stitching on my scrap hex units. I did it correctly this time, so now "unstitching" to do! 8-) It will end up a VERY scrappy quilt. It has fabrics in there from leftovers of clothes/items I made our children when they were young. Some hexes are even from well worn clothing. I guess it will kind of be a memory quilt... 8-)

This is some goodies that I received from Pg tonight. They had a fund-raiser of sorts at the MPQ Guild meeting Tuesday night, where everyone bid on donated bags of UFO blocks, used magazines and patterns, scraps/pieces of fabric, thread, whatever a person chose to put in that they will never use... Pg had no use for these few items from her bag... I'm hoping that the colors used in the poinsettias match a boarder print I have... 8-)

Tomorrow is our Wonky Bits day. We are having our New Year's Pot-Luck, and I am planning to get 2 quilts sandwiched while there... That's the plan... and get some more of my hexagons joined up...

You must check out the blog "Don't Look Now". Awesome eye candy there!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

An award...

Brenda of blog "Days of My Life" so kindly named me as one of the recipients of this Friends Award. Thanks Brenda! 8-)
The following explanatory paragraph is to be included when you post about this award, so remember that, recipients!

"The Friends Award isn't about being the most popular blogger or having the most read blog. It is just because you are a friend." Here is the cleverly written text of the award: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Once again, it is too hard to choose only 8 to pass this on to. I have so many wonderful blogging friends that I've been getting to know since I started blogging 9 months ago. So please, do accept this award if you are one of my regular blogging friends/commenters. 8-)

Monday, January 19, 2009

A PJ Day!

I received a lovely haul of Phentex today. Some of it is knitted up that I will have to pull out... no prob! Gift from Jk, brought over by Wk. Thanks friends! 8-)
There are 6 closed 6 oz. bags with price tags of only 99 cents (see photo), so they must have been sitting around for quite some time. These days you can only find half the size balls of Phentex, for about $2.39 each.

I know a lot of people do not like working with Phentex, but they make the best slippers that can last a very long time... I be a happy camper! 8-)

No stitchings today...yet! I had a PJ day... Yup! Stayed in my PJs all day... It is allowed every now and then, isn't it? Been working on a puzzle I received for Christmas. I love puzzles, and once I dig into one, I am not easily distracted... lol...

Anyone else have PJ days?

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Finally warming up!

Not many days ago it was -43C with the wind-chill, right now it is -5C, though -12C with the wind-chill. That is much, much better!!! (photo- street cleaned piles from earlier in the week with a light dusting of fresh snow)

I did not get into the sewing room yesterday as I had hoped. We had comp problems, company for coffee and help with the comp, out for a quick bite for supper and rented movies. (Thanks J & W for your visit and help!)

One of the movies we rented was "Mamma Mia". I haven't seen a musical in a very long time!!! I enjoyed it, but DH was not thrilled. But then, I wasn't too happy with his choice of movie either, "The Recruit". It was OK, but not the kind of movie I would choose to watch...

Going to Mass at my parent's parish today, and then taking them out for a brunch visit. {EDIT: We had a wonderful brunch at Smitty's Pancake House, and I finally remembered to take a photo of Mom in her Sweatshirt Jacket that I made her back in October. You can find the tutorial here if you haven't seen it before...} At some point we will watch the third movie we rented "A Raisin in the Sun". Oprah had the cast and talk about this movie a few weeks ago, and it peaked my interest...

Photo of what welcomes me when I first sit at the comp in the morning with my cup of java... 8-)

I had the pleasure of checking out Janet's blog, "Idaho Quilter", a bit today. Go have a look-see! At a quick glance she has some wonderful and talented quilty posts to look through. I know I will be back for a closer look! 8-)

Friday, January 16, 2009

Return to the mystery...

I can't believe it! I spent 5 to 6 hours in the sewing room today!!! Wow!

First I did my hexagon stitch ripping, then I looked around and thought, "what should I work on that I could finish by the end of the month to meet the "One Project a Month" challenge?" Which b
rought me back to the mystery top I had completed in early November...

So today I did some concentrated stitchings on it which took a fair amount of time... Not completely happy with it, but DH says it looks nice. I may post more on that tomorrow once I get all the threads tied off...

The new "Red Delicious Mystery BOM" is up now. Click on
the link in my sidebar to find it...

Watching a nature show right now. "Wild Down Under" with all the wonderful creatures of Australia... 8-)

My little snugly Ewok, Ruby... 8-)