Hex Quilt - July

This is my progress on the landscape hex quilt. I have completed 2 sides of the quilt, therefor, my diagonal rows are getting shorter. It always feels good when I reach this point of a hand pieced quilt. Hopefully the piecing of this one will be completed by November of this year. I'm looking foward to starting new projects.

As you can see, I now have some sky with clouds. I have been making minor changes to the pattern as I go.

Ribbon Quilt

This is the pattern Christmas Ribbons done in batiks. It is a very easy pattern. It only took me 7 days working approx. 1 hour a day. This one is a small one measuring 47 x 31.5. It would be beautiful in lots of reds and greens for Christmas. As you can see, it is a great scrappy quilt. I'm thinking it would also be a great 2 or 3 color quilt. Now I have to move on to a baby quilt that I need in 3 weeks.

Christmas Ribbons

This quilt pattern is from the book Scrap-Basket Surprises and is called Christmas Ribbons. Since I'm using batiks and not Christmas fabrics, I will need to call it something else. Party Ribbons and Celebration Ribbons perhaps. Anyways just found out that an out of state niece is having a baby girl and her shower in our state is in three weeks. I had already started this one, so it will have to be her baby's gift. I have the blocks partially done and should have them finished and in rows by the end of this coming week. Then I can get it layered and quilted the following week. Thank goodness it was already in the works. LOL

Scrappy w/ 3 cuts

Here are the instructions for the block I picked up info on yesterday. Start with assorted dark fabric squares 8.5 square. Make a cut 3.5 x 8" and the second cut 5.5 square leaving a strip 3.5 x 5.5. Sew them together so that you have a different fabric in each segment. Do the same with assorted light fabric squares.

Second step is to put a lt and dk assembled square right sides together, making sure the 5.5 squares are together. Draw a line diagonally across the light square, and sew 1/4" on each side of line. Cut on the drawn line, and you will have 2 half square triangles. One side darks and the other side lights. Assemble as desired. The quilt at the shop was assembled in such a way that there were light and dark diagonal strips.



This would be a great way to use up your stash.

One Block Wonder

Some friends and I have been discussing stack and slash quilting. Another variation of it is the One Block Wonder which I fell in love with. One block wonder is the name of the book and you do the whole quilt with just one piece of fabric. I decided to use that technique for a jacket that I made from a sweatshirt. Once you do this technique, you really look at fabric differently.

When trying this technique you need fabric with images close together, you don't want a lot of background. You end up with hexagon shapes as you can see from the pics, but when assembling you are doing it in columns so it is all straight stitching. I fell in love with this technique and have acquired some fabric that will go perfectly for it. I'm thinking of possibly making place mats and table runners from it. One of the things I like best is the surprise you get as each hex is formed.

If you ever get a chance to view the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall, do it. Saw the one in DC years ago, and was as moved by this as I was then. So many names, so many lives. Don't know if I know anyone on the wall, but it is quite possible that some old schoolmates are on it. Even though it is a replica, those viewing it were as silent as those at the DC monument. While you are looking at the names of those that gave all, you are also seeing yourself.

I once saw a picture of the memorial, or should I say graphic, of a man and his grandson at the wall. The man had his hand touching the wall, and in the wall you saw a soldier who would have been the son/father of the two. Even thinking about it gives me chills.

The crazy quilt style was a small quilt that I did for my youngest granddaughter, Sarah. I did it by the stack and slice method. The border fabric is dolphins in many different colors. I used the fancy stitches on my machine to stitch along all the lines as my method of quilting that one.

The red, white & blue quilt was a mystery quilt from a magazine. I gave it to Sarah's brother Steven. I'll have to do a mystery quilt again in the future, they are a lot of fun.

I hate summer

I hate the hot humid days of summer. Unlike most people, I very seldom complain about winter. Spring and Fall are my favorites.

This kind of weather makes it hard to do hand piecing. The thimble gets really tight when it is like this. Looking forward to weather in the 80's next week.

This picture is a piece that I did from a design my daughter did for a college design class. I gave it to her for Christmas 2007 and she and her partner got it framed and hung it in her home. I really liked the lines of the design.

The picture in my heading is my beloved Taz. We lost him New Year's Day 2000. I often called him Tazman.

I love it when it is cool enough to have windows open. Yesterday was in the high 80's or higher. Didn't hear final temps. However it was about 85 indoors which is way to hot for me. Definitely put on the air as soon as we returned to the lake in the evening. I can't sleep at night unless it is in the low 70's. Prefer the 60's.

Won't have a lot a time for quilting today. Saw a new pattern yesterday that I will be drawing up in my EQ7 program. It is a Cozy Quilt Designs pattern called Butterfly Blooms.

New pics of long term project

Finally got pictures of the landscape quilt. Even at the house I can't get it all in one shot. You can see that I now have the sky and am starting clouds. There is also some snow on the mountain peaks. Sometime soon I will have to get an actual measurement of the size of the quilt. It has reached it's full size vertically and horizontally. Just have to work the upper right corner.

Bride Doll

I've made many bride dolls as gifts for people in the family that have gotten married. It is my wedding gift for them. This one is the first and only one I have kept for myself. It got second place at our state fair. They are fun to do, though I have slowed down on them considerably since I started quilting.

Cathedral Window

This was my first big project, I had done one small one before this. I do tend to jump right in. Something like fools rush in etc. LOL

I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I used a blue batik for the background and about 10 fabrics for the windows. The 'X' isn't really visible when looking at it unless you know what you are looking for, but it sure shows up in photos.

March Update

Another month another 600 pieces or so. It is coming together. Sometime this summer I will reach the top of this piece and the rows will get shorter. Right now there are 145 pieces per row.

Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be adding another piece to my daily routine.

So glad we are into Spring weather. This and Fall are my favorite times. Looking forward to heading back to the lake for the summer.

Next Project

This is a picture of my next major project. I had to tape together parts of 9 pages to get it all together. It will be done by paper piecing 1/2" pieces. Yup, I'm crazy.

I'm better than half way done with my current project.

March update

Another month, another 600 or so pieces added. I'm getting there.

Starting to plan my next big project even though this one won't be done until much later this year. With any luck I might be done in October. We will see. Finally started on the sky. It is in the upper left hand corner. You have to look hard to see it. LOL

Haven't gotten much done on my Monet's Wedding Ring quilt this past month. Hope to finish piecing it in the next week or so.

Weather in the high 30's and low 40's, spring is coming.

Hex Quilt - January

Another month, another few hundred pieces. A little over 600 this month. It won't be long before I'll reach the top left corner of it, reducing the # of pieces in each diagonal row.

If you look closely, you can see some snow on the mountains.

Monet's Wedding Ring

I've finished the 9-patch blocks for the quilt. A lot of pieces to this one. The next block will take 506 of 2 colorways each and another 200-300 of background. I forget exactly how many. The quilt consists of 3 blocks to give a double wedding ring effect without doing curves.

This is a picture of some of the 79 blocks done so far. Lots of cutting to do this week for the next block. The background fabric is a dark blue Fusion, and as you can see, the rest is scrappy.

New Year's Resolution?

I've added a list of some projects I plan to get done this year. In reality, you can add 6 more to it since I have been piecing my backings. Each project is one that I have fabric for in my stash or a kit that I already have.

The first one is Monet's Wedding Ring. I am doing that one with an on-line group. We have a schedule set for it, so hopefully it will keep me on track and off to a good start. You can see a picture of this pattern at the following site. http://www.judymartin.com/Scraps-Poll-Results.cfm It is on the page after Week 3.

We are in a January thaw which feels really good after the deep cold we have had here recently. It almost feels like spring even if it is only in the 30's.

December update

December has been a busy month, and, as you can see, I didn't get much done on my main project. Only about 4 rows. As happens in December, a lot of time is spent finishing Christmas projects, shopping and wrapping and sending Christmas cards. Then there are the wonderful days with family that don't leave time for any sewing.

We had just a touch of snow this year. Just enough to give the feel of Christmas. We have been very lucky so far and haven't had much more than an inch at a time and many times just a dusting.

With the new year, I have plans on assembling some of the kits that I have had for some time and never gotten around to. That alone should keep me busy and out of trouble. LOL

Christmas Eve

Well it is Christmas Eve and the last gift is finished. Hooray the bride doll is ready to go.

Sometime after the first I can start on some new projects. Have a couple I want to do for QOV, plus all kinds of projects in my stash of fabrics and kits. As always, there aren't enough hours in the day for all the quilting I want to do. LOL

Transformer Quilt

Finally finished grandson's quilt. It is done in a quilt as you go, so that was one step that was eliminated and it is reversible. Of course, since he loves Transformers, I don't expect the backside to see the light of day. There are some aspects of it I am not happy with, but I don't imagine he will notice any mistakes. LOL

Transformer Quilt

The first of 3 sections of grandson's Transformer quilt. It is a reversible quilt, and the quilting is done as it is pieced. 1 1/2 weeks to get the rest of it done and finish doll for DGD's wedding gift. I always seem to get into a last minute rush with these things. It is working out OK, especially since it is being designed as I go. LOL

November progress

I'm running out of space to get a good picture of the quilt. Don't know what I will do as it is getting bigger.

It was a busy month, but I still got a fair amount done. A little over 600 pieces. December should be slower what with all the holiday stuff and occasions.

Lego Castle

We have a wonderful museum here called The Henry Ford and it has Greenfield Village attached. The village has a lot of buildings that Henry Ford had brought here from the slave era, edison's workshop and many other things. In the museum are many things from years gone by as well as old trains. They also have temporary displays. Right now they have the Lego Castle which is wonderful to see and has many activities for kids of all ages. These are some pictures I took. During the holidays we will go back with a son and his wife and our youngest grandson. You can find pictures at http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/575636163TJPnDZ

October update

We had close to 200 kids for Halloween. Ours is a very active area for it, and I am another year older. The color has been beautiful here, but it is pretty much gone with the rain and wind we have had.

Our lake property is closed up now, just need to clean the gutters and blow the leaves this weekend. It is always depressing to leave the lake, but we have next spring to look forward to.

Made more progress on my hex quilt. Progress will be slower now that I am in town with more housekeeping to do and Christmas gifts to make and plan.

Picture quilt

Some friends and I have talked a little about picture quilts made for children whose parents are deployed.

A few years back when oldest granddaughter, Amber, went into the Army and was being sent to Germany; I made one for her brother who was only about 2 at the time. I used pictures of her with him and the rest of their family that were taken at her boot camp graduation. He loved it, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. At the time he was really into trains.

Vacation

Saw some wonderful color yesterday. Unfortunately the best color was in an area where we couldn't pull over. This was a very pretty spot in New York that will be glorious in another week or so. Wish we had more time to spend driving around. The picture with the wonderful color was taken from a covered bridge in New Hampshire.

Tuesday's travels

We traveled around with my cousin on Tuesday and saw a couple covered bridges and lots of fall color. We saw this building and decided to check it out. It is currently condos, but until the mid 70's it was a Catholic women's college. Obviously for the well to do from what we were able to see through the doors. The lobby was amazing.

We followed a lot of roads that led us in different directions. It was a long day on the road, but a lot of fun. Was sorry to have to say goodbye this morning.

Trip East

Stopped in New York on the way to MA. Went to church Sunday morning in a little town. The area around the crucifix was done so beautifully, I had to take a picture of it. The rest of our trip went smoothly and it was wonderful to see my cousin and her husband. More about that later.

Quilt Progress Month 5

I've progressed pretty well this summer, but things will slow down considerably over the winter months. I'm currently on vacation, so no quilting. Today was a long day. We started about 9 this am and finally got into a hotel around 8:30.

Quilt Guild Results

Had our guild meeting last night. We held our first quilt show last month and thanks to an excellent committee, everything went very smoothly. We even made a little money on the event.

The only prize was people's choice, and I was the lucky winner. How exciting. We are now trying to decide if we will do another in 2 years or 4 years. There were so many wonderful quilts. We have a very talented group of ladies and 1 man.

The quilt is made up of 7/8" hexes, and contains 12,877 pieces. I call it "You're crazy grandma" since that is what my oldest granddaughter told me when I told her about it.

9-11

Three years ago I saw this quilt at a quilt show. It is reputed to have a picture of each of the people lost on 9-11 on it. It is a wonderful tribute, and an amazing piece.

We must always remember what happened on that day and why we are fighting terrorists wherever they may be.

Hex quilt month 4

It is so hard to believe that another month is gone and summer is just about over. Another 2 months and I will have to move back to the house in town. We have had a cool summer which is fine with me, but the people from Florida are not happy with it. Some will be going back early.

Made some good progress on my quilt as you can see. I have 3 patterns that I am considering for Quilt of Valor projects when I get to the house. Always more ideas than time.

Marge

Hex quilt month 3

Had to take pictures in 3 parts. It is too big to get it in one shot here at the lake. Not enough room to get away from it. I got quite a bit done this past month, but probably won't get as much done next as I have 2 projects I need to complete.

Reunion/Wedding

As the reunion/wedding was on a farm, the bride made an unusual entrance to the tune of "She thinks my tractor is sexy". We had a beautiful day with temps on the cool side, making it a very comfortable day for a picnic, baseball and horseshoes. Over 100 people were in attendance.

Fabulous food as always, and I ate way too much.

Here are the bride and groom with their new quilt. One of her sons is also in the picture. Don't they look great together.

Bride Doll

Have finished the bride doll for my niece's wedding. They make wonderful gifts, and each one is different. Found a doll that had an up-do, so was able to do a different veil than I have done before.

Now I need to start on one for the next wedding.

Hex quilt month 2

Can't believe June is history.

We went to our local balloonfest this past weekend. Over 50 balloons went up Friday and Saturday evenings. Unfortunately the craft area was very small this year - not many vendors. There were a lot of people there both nights. Great show.

Now for my quilt. I have reached the 2000 piece point with many, many to go. You see the beginnings of the land on the other side of the water. By then end of July I should be into the mountains.

Hex quilt month 1

Well I have finished the first month of this quilt, which I estimate will take 2-3 years to complete. It is a landscape design and what has been done so far is as follows:

On the left is a swampy kind of area which goes into a blue water. You can also see the beginnings of a grassy area in the foreground beginning on the right. It will eventually have a tree and some mountains. Hopefully it will come out well. Time will tell.