Hexagons – Page 8 – Kelly's Kwilts

Design Wall Monday – May 13, 2013

Well I managed to get 2 more diamonds completed the last few days. I finished the blue one during the guild meeting Tuesday and the pink one last night after we got home from camping. Two more diamonds and I can put the next row together. Unfortunately I need to put this aside for a little while so I can finish a cross stitch piece that is a present. I had started 2 pieces for my cousins twin for Christmas and just ran out of time to complete them. I have 1 more part to finish on the second piece and then I can put them both together.

I passed out the challenge fabric for the block exchange at our guild meeting last week, and now I need to figure out what my 2 blocks are going to be. I can’t get additional fabrics until I pick my blocks though. I also need to go shopping to get some fat quarters for the fat quarter exchange. They are due at our June meeting, so I need to get busy!

I am planning on going to Joann’s tomorrow to get some batting so I can finish some quilts. I’d like to work on the red, white and blue quilt for donation at guild. I also want to get my first hexagon quilt ready to be hand quilted. I’ve committed to putting it in our quilt show in October, so I need to get started working on it! I’ll finish the test piece once the hexagon one is done.

We had a speaker at guild last week that owns a quilt shop, Quilts & Sew Forth. Of course they brought products to sell. I don’t usually find anything that I want to buy, but I saw that they had a charm pack of Fossil Fern. 100 charms for $27!! I could not pass up that deal!!! Don’t know what I’m going to do with it yet, but it’s sitting here and ready to use for something!

Shopping Again

I was blog surfing the other day and found one that was using 1/4″ tape for quilting lines. I had asked where she found it because that is really what I’d like to use for my hand quilting since it’s easier than marking all those lines! My shipment came today from Connecting Threads and of course I had to add some items to the order since the tape was pretty cheap. I ordered 2 packs of 4 different charm packs to try their fabric. Each set should be enough to do hexagons, or triangles, or some size squares with. Not that I’ll be doing anything soon, but at least they are here and ready for me when I have time. Of course what do I see at Walmart today? The same quilters tape!! Oh well, I can always get it there when I run out of the 2 I just got today.

I managed to get another diamond completed and I have the next 4 prepped and ready to go. I’m hoping to get some work done on them this weekend since we’ll be camping and I won’t be able to watch much tv! I really like the colors in this one, I love the orange!!

I need to go and get the fabric for the block exchange split up and ready for the meeting tomorrow. Need to get everyone working on their blocks! I need to go shopping for some coordinating fabrics, plus fat quarters for the exchange, those are due in June.

Wiggly Whimsy Finish, New Toys

Yep I did it, I finished my Wiggly Whimsy top! I ended up taking 2 different seams out and reattaching them. Still have a couple of small puckers in one of the seams, but it won’t be noticable once it’s quilted. Now I need to find a backing and get some batting so I can get it quilted.
I mentioned the other day that I had spent a little money to get some Accuquilt Go dies that I’ve been wanting. I got the 3″ finished half-square triangle to go with my signature die and a 2″ finished half-square triangle to go with my 2″ finished squares. Anyway, they arrived today! I’ve already started playing with the 3″ HST and signature block dies. I designed a quilt the other day in 2 colors in EQ and today while driving home from lunch started to think of colors I could use. Top colorway? Red, white and blue! I figured I had enough red and blue scraps for the triangles and I was pretty sure I had white I could use for the signature part of the block. I’ve already got 4 blocks done, took me maybe 10 minutes to cut and sew them together! I LOVE how the dog ears are cut off when you use the dies. Everything fits together so nicely and there is no guessing at all! I think I’ll work on cutting as much of this out as I can today and maybe put it together tomorrow. It will finish around 29″x33″ as it is designed right now, I haven’t thought about a border yet and I can always make more blocks and make it larger. We’ll see what I decide. Oh! I also bought the Lil’ Twister template, I love the look of these quilts and I might be able to use a bunch of scraps to make up some easy quilts. Hope to play with this soon too!

So I’ve talked 5 brave souls at guild to do a block exchange. Because none of the quilt shops in our area have the focus fabric that I wanted to use, I placed an order with Hancocks of Paducah and got enough for everyone (they are paying for their yardage!). I really like the fabric and it’s just enough out of my comfort zone that it will be interesting to see what everyone does with it. Since there are only a total of 6 people (that’s including me) if everyone does 2 12″ finished blocks it will be a decent sized quilt – around 38″ x 50″, if it’s on point it’s around 40″ square. Now I need to go shopping for some additional fabrics and do some designing to figure out what blocks I want to make. I’m thinking one simple and one that is a little more complicated.

Well, I want to get back to playing with my new dies, so I’ll be back soon with an update!

Hexagon Diamonds Update

Well, I FINALLY got the 6th row added onto the main piece last night. Waited until today to get the picture just because it was so late when I got the last piece added. There’s only 7 more rows to add on to this and I’ve already pulled the baggies for the next row. Of course while I was trying to get a picture this morning, Alex wanted to lay on it so I got a picture of him posing. He was crawling all over it finding all the blue pieces of fabric – that’s 1 of 2 colors he can say. He understands what the colors are, he just only says blue and black (this is new in the last week or so).

Hubby and I have been working to get our macs setup the way we want them (he got a new Macbook Pro last week). We’ve been buying things we need for the machines or our network at home so I decided to buy a few things for myself too! I ordered 2 dies for my Accuquilt Go, a 3″ finished half-square triangle and a 2″ finished half-square triangle. The 3″ die is going to be used with my signature die, and the 2″ die is going to work quite nicely with my 2″ finished squares. I have so many designs in my head I’d love to do and having the 2″ finished triangles and squares will take care of MOST of them! I have 2 dies I’d love to have custom made, but they are each just under $100. I wish I could get them done cheaper somewhere else, I just haven’t bothered looking yet to see if that is possible. It’s on my large to-do list!

I fixed the row that was messed up on Wiggly Whimsy, but then realized I had another row that was messed up. I took the stitching out of that row this morning and was hoping to sew it this afternoon, instead I’ve been working on my computer all day. I hope to get it pinned tonight and I’ll probably sew it tomorrow. Once Alex gets up from his nap, my sewing time is gone and he should be getting up in the next 45 minutes or so.

Can’t decide if I want to work on hexagons tonight or hand quilting. Maybe I’ll do both! We were at Home Depot last week and I wanted to see if they had 1/4″ blue painters tape and forgot to look. I’m going to Target this week, maybe I’ll see if I can get some there. Then I wouldn’t have to mark the hand quilting lines when I’m doing 1/4″ in a block. Looks like Alex is up, and I haven’t pinned the pieces togther for Wiggly Whimsy, guess that’s on the list for tomorrow’s nap time!

Design Wall Monday – 04-15-13

I have decided to work on my hand quilting practice piece for awhile this past weekend in an effort to finish it and get my first hexagon quilt basted and in the hoop. I’d like to have it ready to go before we start camping so I can work on it while we are gone. If I can get the hexagon quilt completed this summer I can enter it into our guild quilt show in October! I’ve been expirimenting with different marking pencils/markers and I think I like the disappearing ones best. I don’t think I like all the chalk ones, hopefully they will come out of this since I started this using them.

I spent yesterday working on my Wiggly Whimsy quilt and I got all the rows put together. I’m not posting a picture of it yet because I need to take part of it apart and resew it because I somehow managed to mess it up last night. Hoping to get that taken apart tonight and put it back together tomorrow while Alex naps. I really like how it looks and I’ve decided to finish it for Alex to use in his bed. He’s starting to like sleeping with a blanket and he has to have one from momma!

I also finished up the last 2 diamonds I need for the next row in my hexagon diamonds quilt. Hope to start putting them on in the next few days. I’ve already pulled the baggies for the next row, so I have those to work on as well – prepping them to be sewn together. I am beginning to think I was overly ambitious in wanting this quilt completed for our first camping trip. So when I was out buying things we needed I found a nice blanket for our bed until I can get it completed. I can work on it while we are camping.

While I was putting the Wiggly Whimsy quilt together yesterday I was also working on the scrappy 9 patch quilt and putting the 4 patches together for the border. Since that is a long term project and I’m in no hurry I don’t mind using it as a leader/ender project. Of course while reading blog posts yesterday I saw a quilt on one of them that was all 9 patch blocks and solid squares set on point. I spent a few minutes designing it in EQ and thinking about how I could do it with the fabrics I have. It would look really cool as a 2 color quilt, but would also look nice scrappy. I just have way too many ideas in my head! I was perusing Pinterest today and saw directions on how to do a disappearing 4 patch block. Oh did that look cool! I have a ton of 4.5″ charms I cut from scraps with the value die on my Go that I could use to do this. Maybe with black squares and scrappy squares? I’ll have to see if I can figure out the best way to design it in EQ and play around with colors.

Hopefully I’ll be back soon with pictures of a completed Wiggly Whimsy top!

Wiggly Whimsy & Scrappy 9 patch

I finally got another hexagon diamond finished, only 2 left and I can attach to the main piece. I really like the colors I picked for this one, but I can’t stand the maroon fabric. I don’t remember when I bought it or what I bought it for, but I really can’t wait until it’s gone. It is really stiff and hard to work with, especially when working by hand.

I decided to finish up the rows for Wiggly Whimsy. I still need to iron them and put all 7 rows together, but at least these have been finished. I really think I’m going to like this when it’s all put together. Still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with it, or how I’m going to quilt it. I might give it to Alex for his bed, he’s started wanting a blanket in bed lately. I think it might fit in his toddler bed without being too huge. We’ll have to see once it’s all put together though!

While I worked on finishing up Wiggly Whimsy I pulled 2.5″ squares so I could start working on the scrappy 9 patch quilt. I needed to cut more black squares with my Go, but that’s so easy and fast it really wasn’t a big deal. I now have 120 twosies that need ironed so I can make the 4 patch blocks that make up the border. I’ll need to cut more black squares for the 9 patches, but that can wait since I have the 4 patches to put together. I’m thinking that I’ll work on this a little in the afternoons while Alex naps, along with putting Wiggly Whimsy together. I can listen to the tv or a podcast while I work and time just flies.

Alex has finally hit the terrible twos and has little tantrums at stores, usually when I tell him no I’m not buying him something. I’m at the point of ignoring him even though people are always looking at me because he’s screaming and crying. All of a sudden he doesn’t want to nap, he plays in his room for hours until I finally let him out. He’s locked his door twice in the last week, the first time I FREAKED out and had to call hubby to find out how to get the doggone door open. I just could not think clearly or rationally. There is now a wire hanger outside his door for easy access :).

I guess I better go start gathering things for the trip to the in-laws for our Easter celebration, tomorrow we’ll be at my parents all day. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Small Updates

I have been trying to work on projects again now that everyone is on the mend. I spent the afternoon putting binding on some baby quilts for the guild. These are just pre-quilted pieces of fabric that needed binding so I said I’d take 2. Granted I brought these home in February and should have finished them already, but that’s ok. Binding is now attached to 1 side, and I’ll work on sewing it to the back this weekend during all the family travels for Easter. I can return these in April so they can be donated to one of the charities we support.

I’ve gotten another hexagon diamond done this weekend, I have 3 more and I can start adding the next row. Hoping to have another overall picture by Monday, but I’m not counting on it! I am planning on working on another diamond tonight, might be able to get it done while I watch tv.

I did manage to get all the squares put together into sets on Sunday afternoon. So next time I can sit down and work on Wiggly Whimsy I can attach the rectangles on all of them. I love that this is a SAL, however these rows go together so fast I just can’t wait until the next month to work on it. So I’m thinking I’ll just work on it in batches when I can and see when I get it done.

We had our taxes done last night and are getting a refund. Hubby said I can get a Mac mini since my PC is getting older and having issues. Instead of reformatting everything I’d much rather get something new. I think we are ordering it tonight, I hope it gets here fast!!!

Wiggly Whimsy – Row 3

I am FINALLY able to sit at the sewing machine and work on a project. We’ve had a lot of illness in the house the last few weeks and when we weren’t sick we were either packing my sister’s apartment or actually moving her to the house. The move is all done and while Alex and I are still sick, we are feeling much better!

So while Alex napped today I decided to work on the next row for Wiggly Whimsy. 3 rows are now completed and I can’t wait to see this completed. I think it’s going to look really cool with the black background. I’m really happy with how this quilt is turning out. I just finished sorting the rest of the 2.5″ squares into 4 piles for the rest of the rows. I might see if I can get all of the squares put together tonight – unless the hubby wants to watch shows! I took a picture of all 3 finished rows together, just looks cool!

Since I have a lot of projects that I’m working on that are using black as a background, I decided to get a bolt of the black Kona from Joann’s. A bolt is 8 yards and while it’s 7.99 a yard, I got a discount on the last 3/4 yard since it wasn’t a full yard. Plus I used a 40% off coupon and paid less $45 for 7+ yards of fabric plus a couple of water soluble markers that I need for my hand quilting. I shouldn’t need anything else to finish Wiggly Whimsy, and hopefully nothing else for the hexagon diamonds quilt.

I don’t have an update on hexagon diamonds, since I haven’t really been working on it lately. When I was sick I just didn’t feel like working on any hand work. I was working on the hexi prep during the last guild meeting, and it just sat for a week or 2. I almost have 1 of the 4 diamonds completed that I need for the next row, hopefully will be putting that all together by the weekend.

I’ll try not to be a stranger anymore, Alex has finally hit the terrible twos and I need the sewing to keep my sanity!

Design Wall Monday 030413

I haven’t had an update in awhile. I’ve been busy working on putting the next row of diamond hexagons together and finally finished the fifth one yesterday. Here’s my excuse 🙂 hubby decided we needed to reorganize all the hard drives on our network (including buying 2 new ones!). So I spent quite a few days moving files and renaming things. Then I was sick over the weekend – as in I was so cold that a blanket AND a fire didn’t help! Feeling much better now, but not much got done while I was sick. Oh yeah, I did read Jennifer Chiaverini’s The Giving Quilt that came out last fall. I liked it, but would have like more story around the main Elm Creek Quilter’s. Hopefully the next book will have that!

So I did get 2 of the diamonds attached last night, the other 3 are just in place and I hope to get attached tonight. I had originally planned on getting this done by the end of March. I am finally realizing that I was WAY too ambitious. Since we still not sure when the RV will be ready I guess it doesn’t matter. Besides, we don’t have the first camping trip planned yet! So I will keep working and see what I can get finished.

I was looking for something the other day (can’t for the life of me remember what it is now) and found a ziploc baggie with yo-yo makers and some fabric scraps. Red, white and blue of course! I’ll need to get these ironed up and run them through the Go, just need to decide which die to use. 2.5″ squares, chisels, drunkard’s path….so many choices! They really aren’t big enough to do anything else with, I’d rather make them into a size I can use.

I spent some time on ebay recently and found some really cute Valentine’s Day 2.5″ squares – 200 of them and for less than $10!! Of course I had to get them! Haven’t decided if I am using them as squares or if I will turn them into hexagons and them make something out of them. I’ll decide eventually, too many other projects in line before them! I have something else coming that I finally won, I’ll talk about that once it gets here!

Design Wall Monday – 2/18/13

Manged to get another row completed in the last week. I’m really liking how this looks. I’ve picked the next 5 diamonds for the next row and will be starting them this evening. I was wondering how I was going to be able to get a decent picture since this is getting so big. Usually I stand on a chair and hold the camera (or phone) as high as I can to take the picture. Lucky me, hubby decided that I could get a new phone and we picked up iPhone 5’s yesterday. The new panorama feature on the camera is so cool! Took me a few tries to get a good picture, only because Alex wanted to play on the quilt since it was on the floor. Hoping to get the next row completed in a week just because I want to get this done so badly. I want to see the whole thing done and quilt it. I know exactly how I’ll quilt it on the machine.

In between working on the diamonds and sewing in my office I’ve been working on my hand quilting. I now have the entire center of this completed and I need to move the hoop to work on another section. It’s not a big quilt and I’ll use it as a table topper somewhere when it’s completed. I am thinking about doing another test piece before I start working on the first hexagon quilt, just so I can work on the rocking motion some more. I have a table runner using my favorite equinox fabrics I made back in 2008 that I still haven’t quilted. So I’m thinking of hand quilting it and doing cables or something in the ribbons. I have some time to figure out exactly what I’ll do, but I have pulled the runner out of the closet so I can start thinking about it. I think I even have some equinox sitting here I can use for the back!

Back soon with more finishes! This is linked to Design Wall Monday at patchworktimes.com