Pyramid Hexies

I love a good treasure hunt. 

The latest find has arrived home and I am so happy to share.

The minute I saw it on eBay with a “BUY IT NOW” option it was all over.  The ebay app strikes again.   A bit more than I usually part with for a top but it is a setting I have never seen before and I am loving the Red, White and Blue solids.

Just rows of triangles/pyramids.

Simple and Dramatic.

Straight to the point as they say.

By the slight sheen to the fabric and a touch of age smell I am thinking a bicentennial quilt.

It is pretty big at 80 x 82 at this time.  The edges have been cut straight so I can easily add a border.  I am thinking some 6” Sawtooth Stars in patriotic fabrics will do the trick.

 

 

Looking closely at the setting I see some inspiration for other settings.

I am loving this quilt top!  

And also in the genre of a treasure hunt, the following landed in my email inbox this morning to share.

Looks like Craftsy is having their seasonal “BIG SALE” this weekend.  This one is with a twist.  New classes will be on sale each day.  Friday thru Monday at midnight. 

You can click on the image all weekend to check out what the new offering is.

 

Today there are some goodies.  Fabric Patterning with Wax Resist and Celtic Cables (knit class) are in my basket!

A great way to spend my evenings during next weeks trip to Arizona.

It's a Hexie Ice Cream Cone Block!

Start hexing now!  This would make a cute set of pillows or a table runner for summer!

                                You can find the PDF pattern for it at the side of the blog!

Pieced Hexie Star EMILY

 

Here is your free Pieced Hexie Star Pattern for March. 

It is named Emily, after my daughter who brightens my day every time she calls.  Soon she will be a college graduate and off on the adventure of life.  I can’t wait to hear all about it!

I did a fabric sample showcasing Em’s favorite colors of green and lavender/periwinkle. 

You will find a PDF link at the top of the right hand side column on the blog. The PDF will give you all the info necessary to make the “Pieced Hexies Emily Star”. You will need a copy of my Pieced Hexies book to make the actual Jacks and Jazzy hexies.

April’s star is already being sewn….check back on April 15th to meet her!

What did you do today? I hexed.

As promised a blog with an update on the “Hexie Quilt”.  

It has been named…and it is

Whist Jubilance

Kind of a haughty name for such a scrappy quilt.  But there is meaning.   Basically if you break it down it’s a fancy-smancy way of saying “Quiet Joy”.  

And that is most definitely what this quilt has been.  First the quilt then the back story.

 

 

 

As I type ONE SECTION (SECTION #2) has been done!  Woot!  Well except for the appliquéing of the 1 3/8 circle in the center of each inner flower (10 have been done and you might see them randomly).  I am saving this job for later (this will make sense in a few paragraphs)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is basically next to my seat in the living room where I have been spending countless hours since October 20th. I am quite organized. 

 

Side bar: my friend Brenda’s hubby makes these fantastic seam rippers…if interested you can contact Ken at the following email addy.   kenessl@cox.net

 

 

I am almost thru a second section being put together.  You might note that I am figuring out the layout of each section on the design board in my studio but sewing them together upstairs in the living room.  What gives?  The comfy cozy chair in my studio left in early October to join it’s partner and the couch in the living room of Paul & Emily’s apartment in Arkansas.  I have found a chair I like but as of right now I haven’t purchased it yet.

During the putting together of the first section I would whip stitch a few flowers together and then run downstairs for more “parts” of the section to add on.   This arrangement was not gonna happen for the remaining sections this I was sure.  Too much running.

 

So I came up with lightly taping a section of the section (how’s that for confusing) to some butcher paper and viola I have a couple hours worth of work right at my fingertips…no more stair running.

So this has been my life of late…lots of hexing.

Ironically between lots of doctors appointments and tests. I will be having some surgery later this month that will most likely put me out of commission for awhile. So if you see a few week gap in blogging well just know that I am resting well.   You can always friend me on Facebook for daily updates.

 

 

 

But in the meantime the leaf in the dining room table (the only table in this small abode) has been put back in….meaning Paul and Emily will be home soon.  

My heart is filled with more joy.

 

 

 

p.s. I am counting on doing all the center circle appliqués during my recovery. 

      How’s that for ambition!

Sometimes the “Type A Personality” slips out

 

I like things organized.   At least when the creative part of a project is over and the “get ‘er dun” part is taking place.

When I am working on a new quilt I screw around with bits and pieces testing what I see in my imagination and once I am satisfied I flip over the the “Type A” part of me and break it all down to the fast and most efficient way to progress.  

So I decided on Saturday night I was far enough into the “Hexie Quilt Project” to fall in love with it completely and thus it was time to devise a plan to bring it to completion.  I have a time table in the head…as always.  I work best with self imposed deadlines. 

This is what the final tally is in regards to pieces needed for the quilt:

Border Flowers : 42

Green Fillers : 80

Inner Pieced Flowers: 95

Odd Ball Flowers shapes : approximately 12-14 flowers total

I counted up what I had done randomly and I was just about halfway there.

I went into full pieced Hexie production on Sunday Morning.  And by Sunday late afternoon I had all the pieces cut, stripe sewn in, and ready for English Paper Piecing.  The same with the Border Flowers.  And the filler Hexies were done.  I would leave the “odd balls” to the very last to be able to play with color placement when it came to them.

I took my sketch of the finished quilt and divided it into 8 sections.  And not all sections are created equal.  Some are much bigger than others.  Trust me there is a method to my madness…when I feel a lull encroaching on this project I will put together a small section and viola the motivation to keep moving on.

Now I need to divide all the Hexie Flowers I have done and the cut flowers (but not done) so I can guarantee that fabrics and colors flow nicely across the quilt.

With masking tape, I divided the counter in the back of my studio into 8 sections. 

Then I put a note in each section with it’s assigned number and the numbers of each items (Border Flowers, Green Fillers, Inner Flowers) that is needed for completion. 

The shuffling of flowers around took less than 10 minutes.  

 

 

And lo and behold one of the smaller sections (#6) already has all the pieces needed completed…it can be put together immediately if I wished.

I elected to save it for one of the “lull periods” and am tackling section #5.   I hope to have a few sections done for you by next week….that is the plan.

p.s. Please note that the last pic is actually only about half the “items” laid out…just realized I forgot to take a final pic…but I think you get the idea.

It’s been a “hexing” sabbatical.

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all fine.  I have been thinking about the blog these last few weeks and finally decided it’s time to bring it back.

You might note that all the past entries are gone…and for this I apologize.  But it was either archive the old posts only to my computer so I could start fresh or start an entire brand new blog.  And since I love the name of this blog, I wanted to keep it.

I have learned a few new tricks and cataloging is one so this will be a very organized blog that will make locating past info extremely easy….I hope.

So a brief update for some of my long time readers (and I do hope a few of you find your way back).

P&E are now Juniors at Hendrix…and the talk of plans after graduation have begun.  Looks like graduate school is on the agenda for them both…and this makes us very proud parents. 

They are out of the dorms now and sharing an apartment.  Emily is loving having her own kitchen and is cooking up a storm much to her brother’s delight.

We are enjoying being “empty nesters” and have fallen into a very nice routine although the house is very quiet at times.   I sure wish they would hurry up and invent the “Jeanie Transport” as I call it so I could just blink my eyes and pop up for a few minutes to hug them both on campus.  I know they would love that…lol.

I traveled quite a bit in the last six months and just finished up my last “on an airplane gig” for the year.  I am doing some teaching locally but the load is very light.  This gives me some time to explore and create.  And I have hit the ground running.

A few months ago as I was ordering supplies for kits I added a pack of English Paper Piecing Hexagons to the virtual shopping cart.  You may better know these as “Hexies” and from now on this is how I will refer to them. 

Bonnie K. Hunter is a very good friend of mind and she has been working on a “hexie quilt” while on the road for a couple of years now.  In January we taught together at the Road to California and I got a glimpse of her spectacular quilt…and I was in “hook, line, and sinker”. 

The only problem is I just didn’t have time to start this project, so on the back burner it went.  And then I ordered the Hexie Papers and they sat and fermented.  

And last week I finally put together a travel kit of some hexies and fabric squares and hit the road to Oklahoma.  

Let’s just say all that “fermenting” was dangerous because by the time I was whip stitching my second flower together I was dreaming up all kinds of designs for the Hexies….using a technique I am calling “Pieced Hexies”.   

These are just some (yes the word OBSESSION has been thrown around) of the Hexie flowers I have completed in the last week.  These wild flowers will make up the border of the pattern I have designed. 

The center will be made up of “Pieced Hexies”. 

Yes…this quilt is going to take awhile…with a total of about 150 flowers needed for completion…but after all I have a very quiet house now…and full control of the TV remote.   And they are like potato chips…I just can’t seem to stop.

   p.s. YES..there is going to be a workshop…and a pattern… several of you have already inquired from my Facebook posts.  Thank you for your interest.  :)

So signing off for now.  I am thinking 2-3 blog posts a week will be the average.  After all life is a bit slower around here with just the two of us.