HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 6/17/18

Hello! Hello! And welcome to the latest edition of Hexie Linky Party for Hexie-aholics!!

Have you been stitching anything new and exciting recently? You may recall that I finished my Lion several weeks ago. My original plan has been to make a single quilt with all the animals in it together but then I changed my mind. Women's prerogative, right??!!

This was the first quilt that I free motion quilted ... on a machine that didn't lower the feed dogs. It's not my best work but it's my first and it's been hanging in the same place in my quilt lab for the last 10 years. Time for a change...

Aslan the Lion

That is sew much better!!!

And with that it was time to start on the peacock! The papers were separated, matched with the fabrics and placed in baggies.

Percy the Peacock

I worked on it gangbusters for a while but I also promised Lisa I wouldn't finish before her and she has 2 cross stitch pieces to finish for her grandkids first so I've set it aside for now.

I've been working on Zag & Zig but it's really in my best interest to get working on the quilt for our next hexie club quilt exhibit at the Arts Council...I have 442 days left to design, stitch, quilt and bind it. For next years exhibit we are all going to make the same size wall hanging but the fabrics, colors, shapes, etc are up to the quilter. I want to take a picture of Zorro and convert it into a quilt using EQ7. First things first, I need to pick a photo so before I commit to Z, I better make sure I have a decent photo...

And now it's your turn to share! What projects have you been working on or dreaming up? Any UFO, PIG or WIP counts as does any paper shape. Looking forward to your links, especially since this whole comment thing is still a disaster.

An InLinkz Link-up

HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 5/17/18

Hello my fellow hexie-ologists and welcome to our monthly Hexie Linky Party!!

With my EMT written exam tonight and some other deadlines and meetings in the past couple of weeks I haven't made any progress on Aslan. I guess no progress isn't really correct because I have been plodding along ... it's just that there are only 3 pieces left to baste and or attach and I'm positively dying to get him done. Tomorrow! I promise myself!!

And what's on deck when Aslan is done? Well the peacock of course!!!
Shall we call him Percy Peacock? Does anyone have a better name suggestion?

I forgot to put the gold fabric in for the feather centers.

My friend Lisa is making the peacock as well so she picked up the fabrics and we split them.
Gotta LOVE these brights!

Rumor is ... Violet Craft is releasing "something" at Spring Market this weekend and I'm hoping for another EPP pattern. Her facebook page says that 4 patterns will be revealed and at least one appears to be EPP!!! Woo Hoo!!

And now it's your turn... What EPP projects have you been working on? Remember, any paper shape is welcome as is any vintage project; meaning WIP, UFO or dream. We all need the inspiration!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #50 - 5/2/18

If last week was the highest mountain peak of hexie production (thanks to 6 days of conferences) then this week was the very bottom of a tunnel dug towards China.

Last week I got the colored parts of the Lion done (pic is from last week, I've since finished the whip stitching) and made a dozen jewel hearts.

Sorry, the blue really darkened those dark greens.
54 - 49 - 61 - 47 - 42 - 56 - 75 F

This week I could barely finish my temperature rosette.  I feel like a slug. I suppose that's bound to happen.

Maybe life will get back to "normal" next week...

An InLinkz Link-up

HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 4/17/18

Hello, Hello and welcome to the latest Hexie Linky Party, our monthly (when I remember) link up to check in on our hexie friends and their projects.

As you will remember, I'm in the midst of newprojectitis and working on The Lion by Violet Craft.

I'm amazed at how easy this project has been. It probably takes more time to cut out the fabric than to sew them together thanks to a wonderful pattern. The pattern pieces are numbered in the order they should be added to mothership. I've made some personal changes in the order, even sewing a group of 2 or 3 pieces together before adding them when that chunk of pieces will have a relatively straight edge. No need to handle the mothership more than necessary.

And now it's your turn. Do you have newprojectitis, UFOresurrectionitis or maybe just newprojectdreams??!! Any project, in any paper shape, of any vintage is free game to share in the linky party. We are looking forward to seeing your projects!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #47 - 4/11/18

Due to a very serious, but not quite lethal, case of newprojectitis I became engrossed in working on this:

Another round added!!
There is so much depth to this pattern in the solids.

And completely forgot to finish this:

38 - 29 - 38 - 30 - 30 - 35 - 37 F

Oopsies!!

I'm not sure how someone forgets to work on something that you've been doing for 329 days but I did. I'll get it caught up liketysplit.

In the meantime I need to distract myself from that Lion.

Probably not gonna really happen but it sounded good, didn't it?

An InLinkz Link-up

The Lion, the stitcher and the new ruler

Ok - so the title is corny but I'm sure you know where I started and I'm sure, if you're here, that you know who the stitcher is. Work with me people...

Having "finished" the project I shared yesterday...I decided it was time to start a new project. That and Chantal is going to make the project at the same time. Nothing like a little sew-along to get a project moving!!!

My chosen project is the Lion by Violet Craft using the kit I bought from MSQC last fall.

It's really an ingenious way to do such a complicated pattern. Each fabric/color is assigned a symbol and the appropriate symbol is on each piece along with the number order to piece them. My only complaint so far is that I can't find a piece numbered 28. I'm sure that means it doesn't exist since it's not in the diagram but that little OCD corner of my brain keeps looking and looking and looking.

First I layed out the pattern (a heavier card stock than I am used to) and separated them into piles of similar symbols.

The bagged papers were then matched with the fabrics from the kit.

That's when I had to wait for my eagerly anticipated my new ruler. A girl's gotta have the right tools!!!

The 12" length is a little awkward sometimes.
 I had considered having Dad cut it in half but then I needed more than 6" the other night.

Anyone who's familiar with the add-a-quarter rulers for paper piecing (one of my previous obsessions) will recognize the new add-three-eighths ruler. Isn't it fabulous??!! I am all about ordering matching acrylic templates when I order papers from paperpieces.com but some times there are just too many paper shapes in a project to make that affordable or reasonable. With a little washable school glue to hold the paper in place it's super easy to trim out fabric as I need them.

The piece is worked from the back which can get a little messy
and you don't quite see how the pattern is evolving.

Next up was to start stitching!! For the most part it's been an easy process since the numbering tells you what order to stitch them in. It's just a little fussier with the thicker card stock to get the pieces to fit together since I prefer to stitch with a regular whip stitch and the pieces are right sides together. I suppose I could try the flat-back-stitch but I'm not always working at a table. It's worth a try tho...

A quick peek to the front side now and then is always interesting to see how the pattern is evolving.
Isn't it fabulous so far???!!!!

Be sure to look up Violet's other EPP patterns - there is a peacock and an owl so far. I'm hoping there will be a 4th (or more??!!) so that I could put them together into one quilt. Otherwise this is destined to become a ....drum roll ...... doll bed quilt. LOL.