Hexie Madness

Some time ago I blogged about a new hexie project. I have been working on it fairly steadily as an evening in-front-of-the-television project. I finished making all the colored diamond lozenges some time back and have been assembling them into rows. Three of the longest rows in the quilt are completely sewn together; a fourth is in progress. I thought maybe it would be interesting to throw it up on the design wall and take a photo.

I see I should have done this earlier as there are definitely things I would have moved around. But, it is what it is. Another lesson learned is that the black on white prints used in the sashing would show up better if they were more white than black. but, again, it is what it is. I was using what I had, which is the point of making these things in the first place. Eventually, when the entire rectangular ground of the quilt top is done, there will be a border of white on black (i.e., more black than white) hexies. Maybe two rows if one looks wimpy.

My daughter asked for a quilt to raffle off at her organization's annual benefit dinner. I had these blocks sitting around for two or three years - they are from a local quilt store's BOM. The photo is not the best as it was taken on my phone, uploaded to Dropbox, then downloaded to my computer. My husband says that every time you manipulate a photo this way, you lose quality. The sashing and setting triangles are Dots by Riley Blake. White on black and black on white.They kind of look bluish in the photo. The backing is another dotted print. White coin-sized dots on a black background. My daughter promises that it will be displayed properly - hung up and not folded on a table somewhere. My friends think it should have a minimum price set. What do you think? If they only get $100 or $200 for it, I could just write them a check and be done with it.

It is off to the longarm quilter who said she will work it in with other quilts so that it will be ready by the April 19 benefit raffle. Did I ever mention what a great longarmer I have available?

More Quilt Show Photos

As promised, here are more photos from my guild's recent show.

Our featured quilter was guild member Hallye Bone, also an AQS certified appraiser. This is one of hers that is hand pieced.

I really liked this one. It's a classic bear paw but the craftsmanship is superb and the color choices are especially nice.

This is my "One Blue Zebra" which is being gifted to a friend for her grandson this week.

Some may recognize this quilt from the AQS magazine where it was featured in an article about George Siciliano. George is renowned for his miniature quilts. Dolores Keaton has taken classes with George and made this quilt according to the pattern as a miniature. She made it again, this time enlarging the pattern to the size of a queen sized bed. And just to up the ante, she rendered it entirely in silk. It is stunning.

This alphabet quilt is from a pattern by two South African ladies, Jennie Williamson and Pat Parker. It's from their book, "Quilt the Beloved Country." All the animals and plants are native to Africa.

Ann McNew made this quilt, "All My Rowdy Friends." It is a whole cloth quilt and any color that you see is thread work. Ann is a very accomplished longarm quilter. This is a masterpiece.

A closeup of the thread work.

And another. Breathtaking.

This quilt was made by one of the Pettways of Gee's Bend. It is owned by Diane Corley who inherited it from her great aunt. Diane grew up in Alabama and her great aunt was a visiting nurse who received the quilt in gratitude for her services from Mrs. Pettway (of course, I didn't write down her full name). Diane traveled back to Gee's Bend and Pettway's daughter authenticated the quilt as having been made by her mother. With the provenance firmly established, Hallye Bone was able to make an appraisal of the quilt for Diane. The quilt is titled "Housetop", which is what the Gee's Bend women call quilts that we know as log cabins. Despite hard use as a picnic quilt, the quilt's seams remain intact; they were quite obviously very well sewn. The batting is field cotton and the front was pulled around to the back to finish the edges in lieu of binding.

Favorites from Quilt Magic

Our guild's quilt show is over. Thanks goodness it is only every two years. Lots of tired but happy people by the end. We had strong competition this year from the weather, which couldn't have been lovelier. As a result, attendance was down from 2013. Here are some of my favorites.

I loved the general scrappiness of this quilt which nonetheless has structure to it - probably due to the white space provided in the sashing and piecing.

There wasn't a Best of Show; instead three ribbons of equal value were awarded by the judges in each of the categories - large, small, and miniature. This quilt was hand pieced by Kathy Fueglein and machine quilted by Candy Grisham. In the opinion of many, it was the best of show.

This was a personal favorite of mine. The colors just sing and the use of log cabin blocks as setting and corner triangles is superb. There are a fair number of checked fabrics which always add extra interest.

This hand appliqued quilt was made by Wanda Kruse, who frequently amazes us with her wonderful handwork. The pattern is by Piece O' Cake.

 Russell Horne made this beauty. Pattern by Jacqueline deJonge.

Another one by Russell Horne. This time it's a pattern by Judy Niemeyer. Russ also quilts his pieces exquisitely on his home sewing machine.

More soon! Including a Gee's Bend quilt owned by one of the guild members.

Cultural Fusion

I started a Rail Fence quilt using the techniques outlined in Sujata Shah's book, "Cultural Fusion." The blocks are cut free form with a mat and rotary cutter, but no ruler. I went a bit wild with the middle block in the second row. It's not necessary to go that wonky to get an organic feel to the block. Lesson learned.

The quilt in her book has 36 blocks, each 16" square. It is a pretty large quilt and since I really don't need one that big, I will be scaling back on the size. I am thinking of 20 blocks, 4 X 5,  which comes out to 64" by 80". That's a nice couch size.

It's very freeing to just play with color and texture and not have to worry about being too too precise - a welcome release after working on more demanding projects.It pulls me into the sewing room every day, even though I need to be quilting Kaleidostar and cleaning up the perennial beds in the yard.

Kaleidostar

The Kaleidostar top that I started in a workshop last month is finished. The pattern is by Toby Lischko of Gateway Quilts 'n Stuff. Now on to the quilting. But not today.

Today - which is a rainy one here - seems perfect to play in my fabrics and start a new project. It's Rail Fence from Sujata Shah's "Cultural Fusion."

New York Beauty Finish

The New York Beauty quilt that I began in May 2014 at a workshop with Linda Hahn is finished. Quilted, bound, labeled and with sleeve attached. Ready for the guild quilt show weekend after next.

The workshop was hosted by the Piece and Plenty Guild in Rolla, MO. The pattern is Buffalo Bubble Gum by Linda Hahn.

It was actually more or less finished quite a while ago, but I was not satisfied with the quilting. I started it on my old Pfaff and used the tacking stitch at the beginning and ending rows to quilt the purple around the center new York Beauty blocks. The stitching did not really hold and was coming loose every place I used the non-tacking tacking stitch. I had to either pull out the stitching and redo it, or stitch over the top of it. Neither way was fast. I bought a new machine in July and used it to fix the problem.

The color is a bit off in the photo. The background fabric is very warm and a light golden apricot. It looks beige in the photo, but I am not going to fiddle with the software to try and fix it.

Snow and Lily

This is how we measure snow fall in my household. 4.5" on Saturday.

This is what I was able to finish while inside hiding out from the snow.