Down Under Doll Quilt Swap 2

Here is my progress...

Lots of pretty new Liberty and hand stitching...

I am enjoying working on this little project very much.

I've also got some Liberty hexies on the go, amongst other things!

Happy Easter!

Playing with hexies

Just playing with the layout of this future beauty...

Because Liberty prints are so detailed, I wanted some structure with the layout, to make sense of the fabrics.

What I've done is made rows of blues and pinks, using both colour and tonal value to balance the picture.

I really like where this is headed!

But before I even "go there" I still have Mary's hexagon quilt (the 1930's reproduction one) to quilt and the civil war reproduction hexies to piece together.  Not to even mention all the other UFOs in my quilt basket!

Mary's hexagon quilt

Pinned and ready for hand quilting!

Thanks to Jenny from Patches Indooroopilly for giving me a hand to pin it. xx

More Hexagon Love

Hexagon Love

I haven't been sitting around doing nothing, dear reader!  I've been sitting around making hexagons out of Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.

Unfortunately, my computer won't let me upload any more photos to this post, so I will have to show you more later.

Bits and Pieces

Well, it's been a while, I know, but I have been working on a few bits and pieces...

I am the Queen Bee this month for the online quilting bee, ANZAC Bee.

I have received a few blocks in the last couple of days and although I am yet to piece them together, this is the look I'm going for.  I think it's going to be a really beautiful quilt!

I'm also working on a good old fashioned 9-patch using fabrics from the American Jane "Breath of Avignon" range.  I love these colours with a navy background.  This will be a gift for the next baby boy that comes along (there are plenty of babies on the way!).

I have completed 30 hexagon flowers with Judie Rothermel civil war reproduction fabric, ostensibly for the Hexagon Charm Quilt piece-along that I am a member of, but it's not going to be a charm quilt, so now it's just a hexagon project I'm working on.  I was going to applique the flowers to a background fabric, with sashing in between each piece of appliqued fabric, but I didn't really enjoy the applique, so I'm thinking I may now need to make an awful lot of hexagons to go in between the flowers....  Not sure yet.

And because I am basically insane, I have started making another set of hexagons out of liberty prints.  Don't ask me why, because I don't know myself!

This is a sneak peak of yet another project I have on the go at the moment.  The technique is called "pojagi", which is Korean patchwork.  It is a double-sided piece of patchwork, with no batting in between, making it an excellent patchwork project for someone living in a warm climate.  I first learned of this at The Silly BooDilly's blog.  This woman's work is seriously beautiful!  Do yourself a favour and check out her blog.

  Then I found this lovely blog, which gives EXCELLENT instructions on how to make pojagi patchwork.  This blog is written by a Japanese lady in English, which is her second language, but her instructioins are nonetheless really clear.  She has used pojagi to make a furoshiki, which is a Japanese wrapping cloth.  Her furoshiki is divine.

So, as usual, I have an enormous number of projects on the go, with many more UFOs waiting for some much needed attention piling up in the corner of the dining room!  Oh well, I don't fight it anymore.  This is how I work.  Now I just go with it.

Thanks for dropping by, and if you are reading this now, thanks for reading all the text as well!

Cheers!

Hexagons

About a week ago, I decided to joing the Hexagon Charm Quilt Piece-Along Flickr Group.  I tthought that I might like to make another hexagon quilt, this time for my Mum.  I have been dreaming about fabrics and layouts and had pretty much decided on a plan:  French General Rouenneries + navy japanese style cottons in a Grandmother's Flower Garden design.  I even ordered the freezer paper templates for the project from Jackie at Canton Village Quilts, which will be here any day now.  The problem is...

In the mean time, I couldn't not make hexagons!  I was so excited to be starting another hexagon project, that I just had to make some while I waited to start the "real project".  This is what I've managed so far...

180 x 1.25inch sided hexagons made out of Judie Rothermel civil war reproduction fabrics!  Once I started, I just couldn't stop.  So, change of plans.  I've ordered 10 more fat quarters of the Judie Rothermel fabrics from Quiltsmith's and I'm going to save the Rouenneries and freezer paper templates for the next project.  Crazy, I know.  This just seems to be how I do things. :-)

I've also managed to finish the hexagon quilt top I have been working on for my unborn daughter (due this Saturday!) for the past 14 months.  It's all ready to be quilted.  What do you think??

I'm so chuffed.

The Story So Far

So, I've got the hexagon quilt pieced.  To a point...

I just spoke to Barb Cowan at The Quilt Connection and enquired about custom longarm quilting of this quilt.  She suggested that binding uneven edges was "very ambitious" and that I should consider attaching a border to the quilt to make it more user friendly.  She also gave me a very fair quote to custom quilt this quilt in a traditional format. 

I was planning on handquilting this quilt.  I have put so much work into handpiecing it, and it is for my unborn daughter and I wanted it to be special, but my life circumstances have changed, and I no longer have the time to handquilt this quilt.  I know Barb will do a fantastic job!  But first, a border.

The Stars and Hexagon project (see most recent entry) has been scrapped.  I just wasn't happy with the combination of fabrics.  It was too busy.  So.... I have pieced the hexagons together and this will become the pram quilt. 

I need to add a border, but I don't know quite how I am going to do that.  Should I add some more diamonds in yellows / pinks, or should I applique what I have on to the back of a border, or should I cut the uneven edges off what I have to square up the quilt and make adding a border a lot easier (no appliquie required).  It's basically the same decision I am facing with the hexagon quilt above.

So now I have these left over...

I think they need a plain background to really make them pop. :-)

And finally, look what arrived from Fabricworm!

I suppose you all recognise this range of fabric by now!  Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt.  It's been VERY popular with other bloggers that I follow.  I only hope I can make something as beautiful with my fat quarters.