Hexie Love

Hello Everyone,

 



I'm showing some more hexie blocks today.  This is more exciting than showing you spread sheets, accounting paperwork or printed patterns.  That's what I've been doing for the last few days.  BORING!

 



 

I have all of these wonderful little strips cuts for more blocks.  You can see the size of the acrylic template.

I group them together and make three blocks at a time.  Don't they look like first place ribbons?  In my book, they are all winners.

You can see that I usually just key off of the center and introduce similar colors.

But not always.  I have to get in some plaids and polka dots.

 

Isn't this one fun with the purple and the red.  I love to put purple and red together!

I think I'm about 1/10th of the way finished since I think it's going to take about 200 of these little babies to make a queen size quilt.  If I stopped now, I'd have a nice table runner.  But I can't stop making them.....I'm totally out of control when it comes to working on this old fashioned quilt.

I've discovered that stripes work best on the third row.

Not in the first row.

I may be a bit quiet for the next few days.  My daughter in law isn't feeling well, and we'll be the taxi service for the grand kids, doctor visits, and anything else she needs like a nice home-cooked meal.  But don't worry, I am going to carve out some time to make more blocks!

Soon,
Lynn

Grammy Squares

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm becoming an expert at sewing set-in seams.  They aren't nearly as challenging as I was expecting them to be.  Just these few blocks would make a cute table topper.

 

This is what started my obsession with the little hexie blocks.  I knew I had this afghan somewhere, I just needed to look in the right trunk to find it.  Now I'm going to leave this out and on display for inspiration.

I cut quite a few 1" hexagon centers and paired them with some 1" strips.  When I say 1" hexagon, that refers to the finished SIDE of the hexagon.  When they are sewn into the block, they measure 1-3/4" from one side to the other side.  Not from point to point, but from flat side to flat side.

I always start with a center that has more than three colors, making it easier to find matching strips.  There is just a hint of purple in this center....see it?

Here's a close up of my strips.  Not really matchy-matchy, but they are going to make a great block.

Round one....

Round two....

Round three......

See how it changes once the black is attached.  You can get away using just about any color, since the blocks are separated by the black.

Can you find the block?  These are so much fun to make.  Each block has a personality unique to all the rest.....just like people!  Once I finish a few blocks, I stitch them together so I'm not going to be faced with that monumental task in the end.  I'm not going to stress over block placement, since it's going to be all scrappy and I do mean scrappy!  I'm working through my stash 1" at a time.

 

Now to some home decorating.  Mr. Joe and I are really into "repurposing".  We had this old toboggan under the cabin that wasn't useable any longer.  I love to display quilts in unique ways, and this is just about the most unique way I can think of.  Mr. Joe made the wine barrel bar....another chance to repurpose.

 



This quilt is called Summer Wind by Miss Rosie.  I think I will rename it Winter Wind.  I think of my quilts as insulation for the cabin.  I don't believe they are "up to code", but I don't care....the logs aren't insulated to begin with.

Once Mr. Joe finished his grumbling about screwing the toboggan to the logs, he stepped back, looked at it, and liked the end result.  I promised him that I wouldn't change my mind and move this to a different location.  This toboggan is here to stay.....forever.

Look around your house, garage, attic (I wish I had an attic and basement), and see what you can repurpose.  If you find something and display a quilt on it, send me a picture.  I'd love to see what treasures you find.  Look for treasures today within your own home.  I think you'll be surprised when you look at something with a different use in mind.  Happy hunting.

Soon,
Lynn

Keep Celebrating

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year celebration.  We had a very quiet one and it felt good to relax and hit the sack early.  As you can see we are big time party animals!

 

I started the week with 11 completed blocks for Once Upon a Vine.  I set up my cutting station on the island in my kitchen, and cut my way through several TV shows and multiple football games.  

 

Then I started to piece, double flying geese four at a time, and HST eight at a time.  I went from 11 blocks to 28 blocks.

Today is play day with the block layout after I make two more blocks.

 

When I'm designing a quilt, I'm always thinking about the open space that I can fill with beautiful machine quilting.  I'm anxious to get this one together just so I can quilt it!  Today I might even play around with the borders......I'm rubbing my chin and contemplating what I'm going to do, and can I pull off the plan that is floating around in my head.  I need the calculator for this one!

 



I know there is always the "let down" after the Holidays.  But I look at it like this.....just because the Holidays are over doesn't mean we have to stop celebrating.  We can celebrate every single day of our life.  We can keep the anticipation of Christmas morning alive each day by planning how we are going to fill our days with creativity, inspiration, generosity and love.  That is my goal this year.  Celebrate life each day as though it was a new beginning.......an empty page to fill in my book of life.  I want my book to be a good read, and it's up to me to decide what to write on each and every page, each and every day.

Start writing.

Soon,
Lynn

P.S. In Between Stitches is in the process of developing a new website.  None of the links work to my patterns, but be patient......they will be there soon.  If you are interested in purchasing any of my patterns, you can contact the shop or me directly.  The new website is going to be wonderful and it will be a fun place for you to virtually visit to see all of the new quilting goodies.