Triangles

I’ve been basting triangles in my setting fabric so I can work out how many more hexagon stars to make. I took advantage of a sunnyish day to lay it out for a “see where I’m at” photo.

I reckon if I stick to 40-ish stars then I’ll have enough of the setting fabric. This will be a smallish lap-size quilt but I’m happy with that! Although I might consider adding borders…I’ll just have to see where the muse takes me 🙂

It’s All About the Hexagons

I have taken a break from my stars this week and finished off this pincushion and needle book for a friend:

The hexagons are English paper pieced and appliqued by hand. I basted them without going through the papers this time, which meant I could leave the papers in for a nice crisp edge when appliquing and then cut away the back to take the papers out afterwards. I would use that method again for small hexies like these.

I have also *finally* made a start on basting my hexagon scrap quilt ready for hand quilting.

Here it is all laid out ready to baste:

And here’s a progress shot:

I am looking forward to hand quilting this over the winter months – a favourite way to pass the dark, cold evenings!

I’m linking up with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and I am pleased to see that Life Under Quilts Monday Morning Star Count is back too!

Setting Stars

This week, I have three more stars to add to my collection, bringing the total to 16:

I’m starting to think about how to set the stars now & am pretty certain I will go with equilateral triangles between the hexagons. All I need to do now is decide which colour. I laid out a few possibilities (please excuse the unpressed fabric!) First, yellow:

But I think that makes just TOO MUCH YELLOW!!

Next, I tried white:

I think the stars stand out more on the white, but it’s just a bit too boring!

How about some wacky white on black dotty print?

That feels more like my style – though I can’t use this particular print, as I only have a smallish piece. I like the way it lets the stars sing though!

What do you think, dear reader? Is it any of these, or something different entirely?!?

Sew Much Fun!

I have two more completed stars to add to my Monday Morning Star Count:

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Plus I’ve also made an improv pieced mini quilt, using some lovely Vicki Welsh hand-dyed fabrics that I won several years ago. This is the first machine piecing I’ve done in ages, and I did enjoy it. I used single fold binding for the first time ever and I think it works really well on such a small quilt (it’s 18 x 12 inches). I used a tutorial from The Little Red Hen (find it here).

Seeing Stars

Having finished piecing my magnus opus of a hexagon quilt top, I decided that I must get started straight away on another English paper pieced quilt. Well, what would I do with my hands otherwise?

This one is going to be scrappy, but in a limited range of colours. I am going with hot pink, orange and yellow.

Lately, I haven’t done much sewing in public, because my quilt had gotten too big to cart around. So this time I am going with smaller parts to make up the whole. I have made three stars so far.

The first, in the waiting room at the swimming pool, while Waif was at swimming club:

The second, on the bus on the way to meet up with an old friend:

The third, on the bus on the way home from meeting up with said old friend:

I flipping love public transport 🙂

To keep me motivated making this quilt, I have decided to join in with the Monday Morning Star Count over at Life Under Quilts.

Three Corners Squared

A progress shot! Just one corner left to square off then a decision to be made – how to quilt? How to finish the edges? How many more years will it take?!

Hexagon Progress

It’s been a while since I showed you my hexagon patchwork. A sunny day, an as-yet-empty washing line, an opportunity for a photograph. Here it is:

Hexagon Progress

It’s been a while since I managed to get a photo of my hexagon quilt in progress. Today being a sunny day, I thought I would peg it out on the washing line and take a few snaps. It’s getting biiiiig!! The squaring off is going to plan too, so hopefully the finished product will be a more practical shape for a bed.

I wonder how many more months (years) before I get this top finished? And then I will *only* have to quilt and bind it. A labour of love for sure but I’m not in any hurry 🙂

Stars and Cards and Science

I made a couple more star blocks. I don’t feel inspired enough by them to make a whole quilt, so I have decided to make a table runner. Here they are sewn together ready to quilt (with apologies for the wonky photo!):

Now all I have to do is decide how to quilt them…

Meanwhile, we have continued with the ICAD challenge though I haven’t exactly been brimming over with ideas!

The boys are showing signs of being chemistry crazy with their latest cards:

Waif has been especially getting in to his study of the elements, and has produced a fabulous lapbook to display what he has learned:

I am heartened that the boys are enjoying learning about science as I think I was totally put off it by the way we studied it at school and have only started to take an interest again in recent years. There’s so much to learn, and so many amazing websites, videos and (shock! horror!) even BOOKS to help us do it 🙂

Twinkle, Twinkle Wonky Stars

I’ve started on a new quilt. I have no idea who it’s for, how big it will be, or anything else really – but I think it’s definitely going to twinkle 😉

I made these stars using Gwen Marston’s Liberated Stars technique. Easy peasy and lots of fun. Woohoo!