Just a Little Update

Gee, it's once again been a while! I'm trying to get my act together, I swear I am.
I finally finished the Bright Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt I started back in 2007! You can see my original post here.
The very first photo I shared:

And here she is, more than 9 years later!

If you'd like to see her in real life, she'll be at the Des Moines Area Quilt Guild's show, which runs concurrently and in the same venue as AQS Quiltweek in Des Moines, October 5-8 2016.
A couple of progress and detail pics:

To Blog or Not to Blog...

I've been neglecting this blog A LOT and I miss the blogging community. I'm not even sure if blogging is still "a thing".

After some thought I've come to the conclusion that there is one big reason for my lack of blogging: photography. It takes a lot of time to set up a subject, take photos with a good camera, and edit them to be just the way I want them before creating a post.

So...I'm thinking that, with the advances in cell phone camera technology, phone pics may just be good enough, so here goes...

I finally completed my grandmother's flower garden quilt top started circa 2007! It's basted and ready to go.

I tried quilting it using thread I already have but I don't think the Sweet Sixteen is a fan.

I'm ordering proper thread and will try again when it arrives.

Now to see if I can follow other bloggers using my phone. Any advice and thoughts are appreciated.

Organization

When I posted pictures of my brand new ironing table on Instagram, I received quite a few comments about the little storage boxes/drawers underneath.

A photo posted by Twiddletails (@twiddletails) on Jan 3, 2016 at 10:28am PST

I had actually purchased those to use in the IKEA Kallax unit I have on the "office" side of my studio, but they're working so well for WIPs that I just ordered three more and thought maybe someone would like a little more information.

My main reason for ordering these originally was price. With discounts and free shipping I think I paid around $3 each originally. The last three were $5 a piece. They're nothing "fancy" but they do the job they're meant for. And I love the color.

I ordered them from homedecorators.com. They're Martha Stewart Living Fabric Drawers.

In other news, I just finished the Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt top and am now stuck as to what to do next. Stay tuned for a post requesting advice.

A photo posted by Twiddletails (@twiddletails) on Jan 13, 2016 at 9:16am PST

A Quick Update

The second Monday of the month is always crazy busy with Block of the Month kits having to be sent out, but I thought I'd share my Grandmother's Flower Garden progress from the weekend.
Instagram to the rescue!

A photo posted by Twiddletails (@twiddletails) on Jan 11, 2016 at 5:52am PST

The top is SO close to being completed. Next up, quilting decisions.

I've also been keeping up with the 365 Challenge blocks. Yay me!

I created an album on Flickr. I also made little progress chart so I can rearrange them to my heart's content and keep track of my progress.

We have a LONG way to go and I'll hang in there for as long as I can.

FYI, signups for the new BOM sessions starting in February will be closing soon so, if you've been on the fence, now is the time to go for it!

Hexies for Handwork

I like to keep my hands busy while watching television at night. I just bought a lovely new crochet pattern and REALLY want to jump into that project but remembered that one of my goals for the new year is to finish what I started. So...out came the hexie quilt. From 2007!

I had trouble deciding on a border back in September of 2014. I tried two or three different options and had to rip it out every time because I hated it. Now I'm going to pull the trigger, decide on a border and go for it. Hoping to have it done before its 9 year anniversary in June 2016.
Doesn't it look really pretty in the morning sun?

Border Decisions

All the "flowers" are attached to the Bright Grandmother's Flower Garden!
Next decision - borders.
I could use some advice on this...

I've scoured the web and came up with the following as my final choices
(The top border is cut off because I didn't think about borders when I designed the quilt in EQ7 and there doesn't seem to be a way to add rows to the top without redrawing the whole thing.):

The simplest choice and the one I'm leaning most strongly toward:

This one would lead to a very uneven border which, I think, would work great if I wanted to hang it on a wall but not so great for a useful quilt:

Too much green?

What do you think?

Quilting Grandmother's Flower Garden

The end is in sight for the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top. At least, I feel like it is. I've been working on it fairly diligently.
I'm thinking about hand quilting it, since it's hand pieced but I'm the world's worst hand quilter...

Anyhow, research has ensued and I thought I'd share a couple of photos from around the web.

A popular method is to shadow quilt in each and every little hexagon. That's a lot of quilting!

 It does make for a beautiful back though.

Another way is to outline the "flowers" and the "sashing".

There is a lot to be said for machine quilting too.

Decisions, decisions.

The Quilt I Should be Working on

Remember this?

It's been an (off and on) ongoing project since June 2007! The last time I posted about it was in January 2011 although I have sporadically worked on it since then.

At the beginning of the year I promised myself that I'd finish it in time for our local guild's quilt show in November. Entries close on September 20th so, if I want to be at least 90% sure I can finish it by then, I'd better get a move on.

Much as I hate to, I think I'm going to have to put Daisy Chain aside for a bit.

Hexie Progress

I've been working on my newest hexie project the last couple of days. Keeping in mind that the completed quilt will have almost 5,000 hexies, I have a long way to go.

Houston Part V

As long as you don't mind I will just keep these coming every so often.

This Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt was a sight to behold!
The hexagons are less than an inch in size.  As someone who is working on a GFG quilt and knows how long it takes to sew these by hand, I am in awe.

Made by Noriko Kido, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
She says about this quilt:
"I love quilts of simple patterns. The hexagon is especially interesting for me. This wonderful world is composed of many colorful pieces, which are cut from only one hexagon template."

The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted.

This weekend...

...I spent some quality time with Granny's Flower Garden, which I haven't touched since September (thanks for the inspiration Jodi!)

and the June A Tisket A Tasket block, which clearly will not be completed by the end of June.

This week the painters are coming to paint the outside of our house. I'll have to stay in and sew, I suppose. Darn.

What happened?

When did I become a weekly poster? Too many irons in the fire, I think.

I did start working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden hexagon quilt again. 24 blocks done. At least 24 more to go.

And I'm working on another table runner.

Oh, and did I mention that I started guitar lessons this week?

(What was that about the irons...)

My way

I'm quilting (and will be for a long, long time) the Stash Dash Quilt in 15 minute increments to save my poor neck and shoulders. It's 67"x79" and I'm getting a lot of exercise pushing that sandwich through Bernie's little throat.

I thought I'd share my method for making Grandmother's Flower Garden hexagons today.
When I first contemplated making this quilt, the thing I dreaded most was having to cut hundreds of little hexagon templates out of cardboard or paper and then getting them to stay in place while I basted around the edge. Then one day I had an "Aha" moment as Oprah would say.

I print the template on freezer paper which I cut to letter size and then feed into the printer like a normal sheet of paper. Remember to print on the non-waxed side. I used this template.
To save even more on the cutting out time, I staple a blank sheet of freezer paper to the back of the printed one, allowing me to cut out two hexagons at a time. I tried adding more sheets (I'm lazy I tell you), but they slide, so two seems to be the maximum that can be done with accuracy (which is VERY important when making a hex quilt).

The next step is to iron the little hexagon templates to the wrong side of the fabric. Remember that you're going to need a 1/4" to 3/8" seam allowance when you cut them out so leave space between the hexes. Don't be scared to really iron them on so they don't come off too easily.

Let the fabric cool down flat before continuing to the next step or the hexagons will just pop off.
Cut out the hexagons leaving a 1/4" to 3/8" seam allowance around the edge.

Now, because the freezer paper template is stuck to the fabric, it is much, much easier to accurately fold the seam over and baste around the edge to keep the shape. Baste only through the fabric, not the freezer paper and make sure to get the corners down securely. I normally double-baste at the corners. I "press" the fold with my nail when I fold it over to make sure it's a sharp edge Make sure you secure the corners well.

Voila, we're ready to whipstitch!

(For some amazing inspiration check out this Flickr group)

Miscellany

I'm so excited! Zoe over at Margin is creating one of her wonderful artworks inspired by Sydney. Needless to say I'll be first in line.

Christine has a great tutorial for a double glasses case for those of us having to switch glasses all the time. She also has giveaways regularly, so be sure to check out her blog.

A couple of weeks ago Jennifer sent me her half of Socksgiving. I now have a pair of socks I care too much about to wear. Thank you my dear friend for teaching me this skill that had been eluding (and frustrating) me for a long, long time.

Aren't they just splendid?

Lately I've been spending a little bit of time with Granny's Flower Garden. I'm shocked to see that my last post about this was in July!!! I have 13 blocks all done and attached. Only 35 more to go.

WIP Tuesday

I'm working on a project I'm very excited about. Here's a little sneak peek.

I'm also making slow but steady progress on granny's flower garden.

I have lots of home sewing (duvet covers, chair covers, curtains) waiting for me, but I'm having so much fun with the creative stuff that is falling badly by the wayside.

No sewing machine - Day 5

This is getting to be a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time and withdrawal symptoms are starting to set in. My head is swimming with ideas that I have no way of executing. Woe is me!

Anyway, I have been working diligently on granny's flower garden...

No sewing machine - Day 1

Yesterday was a crazy day containing, among other things, a burned down house (not mine), babysitting, and a doctor's visit. But it ended on a good note with a wonderful gettogether with my quilting buddies.

In all the commotion the sewing machine did not get to the "hospital" yesterday, but she's packed up and ready to go this morning.

I had to make a plan for the unknown period without automated sewing assistance. Last week Katie started a hexagon quilt, all hand pieced. This struck me as a great idea. And a "Use what you have" project.

I'm making "Grandmother's Flower Garden".

Here's what I have after 3 hours of quilt meeting sewing...

I'm planning on using all bright colors, with every "flower" having a yellow center. The background will be all white to show off the individual little flowers.

I'm so excited that I'm (almost) not concerned about how long the sewing machine will be gone for.