A Hexie Star Quilt . . .

A few weeks ago, my pal Victoria Findlay Wolfe,

gave me her new templates to play around with.

Last week I pulled them out and starting cutting!

I had some Jennifer Paganelli fabric I was hording,

and I thought this would be the perfect way to show case her fabrics.

A great combo right?  Victoria and Jennifer!

I started kinda fussing cutting the Hexie's and Triangles

so the fabric pattern would look like one big start.

I used the same green fabric to set the stars.

Really makes them pop right?

I was getting so impatient because

 I didn't have much time this week to play.

Hehe, I came home for lunch everyday and tried to cut some more.

The templates are very easy to use!

My day job just gets in the way of all my fun.

Finally last night, I had the whole thing cut and up on the wall.

Yahoo!

 

This morning I decided I needed to make hay 

and get this baby all pieced together. 

My design wall is in my kitchen, and my sewing machine 

is in the living room.  Not a far distance, but I had no time for 

all the up and down and back and forth!

So I set up my little Bernina on the kitchen counter

and put my ironing board right next to it.

Hehe.

I must say sewing standing up was fun,

kept me on task too.  I get distracted so easily.

 

Now here is the GREAT thing about these templates

and the layout I chose . . . . 

It sews together in a flash and very quickly!

Sew the diamonds first.

Then sew the diamonds into rows.

 

I pinned at the intersections and got perfect points!

The templates have notched tips

 and it makes the piecing together a dream.

Here I am multi-tasking!

I'm piecing on my sewing machine.

The dishwasher is humming away.

And I'm getting a steamy facial as I stand over it sewing.

Haha.

Here are my rows coming  together.

I used the triangle template to make some diamonds

to fill in on the sides.

 TADA!  Four hours of stand up piecing (with breaks of course)

And I have a beautiful quilt top!

I really love those sides and am going to do tricky binding

on those edges.

Here are the templates.  A 10" hexie with a triangle that fits.

You can order them right here.

Thank Victoria!!

Now I have about 8 more ideas for quilts using these.

Hehehe  #youaretheculprit

This and that . . . .

I haven't been home for a whole weekend in ages!

What a luxury to sleep in and linger in bed . . .

My favorite thing to do.

Once I hauled myself out and had my coffee and breaky,

I looked around and surveyed what needed to be done.

My sewing corner, a mess, needed to be cleaned up and organized.

It went quicker than I thought.

I am having my first private sewing lesson tomorrow with a lovely 

girl who wants to learn how to quilt!

I am over the moon!  So I want everything to be clean and easy for her.

I also got this lovely card and note from Kandy.

I joined the IG #quiltypenpal group and this is my first connection.

So fun!  Now what will I send to her?

Then it was off to Christie's to drop off my featherweight for service.

That's all I intended to do . . . . 

Then I saw this . . . . 

Kate Spain and Jennifer Paginelli side by side.

And a bit of Denyse Schmidt too.

A very cute little bath tub full of fabric

Christie and Garen egging me on!

I had no chance.  Hehe.

I bought a lot.  They said it was okay.  Enablers! 

So on this rainy day, I came home and worked on this,

my Pat Sloan Globetrotter.

A bit of chevrons . . . 

And a new project . . . 

Dresden flowers for a friendship garden quilt.

My friends are sending me their flowers.

I can't wait to build my garden!

Happy Father's Day . . .

We finally had two days in a row of sunshine this weekend.

A fitting tribute to all the fathers out there.

I spent a good portion of the day cutting fabric for two new quilts.

I am starting with strips and then cutting those into triangles.

The second pile is for a class I'm taking in July,

so you'll have to wait on learning more about that one.

It is quite hard on the feet and back 

to stand for four or five hours cutting.

Does this mean I am old?? Haha, I am.

Before I tortured myself at the cutting board, 

I took a nice long walk.

I came around a corner and found this lovely doe

about ten feet away from me.

She was so serene, not skittish at all.

Even let me slowly take a picture.

Very cool.

I also went to the car show at the park near me.

This Thunderbird was my fave.

They have the car show each year on Father's Day,

and this was my first time walking through.

Here is a picture of my Dad with the kid when she was three.

And me and my Dad when I was six.

My first ballet recital.

I remember that day like it was yesterday,

I can still feel his arms around me.

I wish he was still here with us.

He was an amazing man and a very fun Dad.

Happy Father's Day to all!

Local Fabric Shop . . . kinda . . .

Today was the day we were all supposed 

to shop at our local quilt shops . . .

Well, I had to work . . . in an office.

But . . . this past weekend I was visiting my family north of Boston

and we (I) did a little fabric shopping.

We visited Portsmouth Fabric Company, one of my faves!

Whenever I go north I try to con the family into a trip up to Portsmouth.

(There is a great brewery there too!)

This shop is a distributor for Kaffe Fassett,

so they  have all the new lines, but they also carry all the

golden oldies that I love.

The colors and yumminess are almost overwhelming!

I'm not even going to admit to how much I stocked up!

I usually stick to the fabric, but the quilts caught my eye this time around.

Then I turned the corner and saw a little "show" by this quilt artist.

Beautiful appliqued paintings of scenes under the sea.

I just love these!

And they remind me of a block that Helen did for one of our Bees.

It wasn't all fabric shopping . . .

I saw this lovely little cameo in a consignment shop.

I didn't buy, just taking the picture was enough.

While my aunt and uncle looked at couches at the Crate & Barrel outlet,

I found fabric!  Haha.  I always do!

I got four yards of Marimekko fabric for some backings.

Retail $45.00 a yard.  I paid $5.95 a yard!  Score!

We also did a bit of walking around Boston too.

This is Faneuil Hall with all the twinkling lights.

So while I did buy fabric, it wasn't "local" to me per se.

I'm hoping to do a little of that this upcoming weekend! Hehe.

What are you doing this weekend?

A Resolution of Sorts . . .

Happy New Year . . .

a few days late.

I'm not one to make resolutions,

I always feel I'm setting myself up for failure.

If it's something I want to do or change,

I should just do it right?  No matter what day of the year it is.

So this year I decided that I am going to finish the tops that I have knocking around.

There are six or seven, and I have decided that I will try to

finish one top for every new project I start.

It sounds confining at first, but really it's about balance.

So here is the first top I have finished this year!

Ha!  I love when  you can say that 6 days into the year.

I started this quilt 6 years ago and lost steam

pretty quickly.

Then a friend gave me this great fabric.

She was cleaning out and gave me lots of great fabric actually.

So this is the first of many of her cast offs you will see.

Seeing this fabric inspired me to finish this quilt.

Also, I have the perfect person to give it to.

He is someone who has helped me greatly over the past year,

and I want him to know how much I appreciate it.

Yesterday, I was in the city for a quilty event.

I got to see lots of lovely women, we laughed, we hugged,

we enjoyed each other's company imensely!

My friend Chris showed some blocks she was working on.

Orange, yellow and navy blues.  

I loved the way the colors worked together.

It reminded me of a "Goldfish" quilt I wanted to make,

and have been collecting fabrics for for the last few years.

So when I went to the City Quilter and saw

this blue lobster in a fat quarter pack, I just knew I had to have it.

And so maybe this will be my "new project"

before my next "old" top.

The other fabrics just jumped in my arms.

You know how that goes . . . 

So are you a resolution maker or not?

Ooops!

I really didn't mean to . . . . 

Well, no one twisted my arm either,

they didn't have to!

I have been on a fabric diet for too long,

and as with food diets, you just shouldn't eliminate what

you love cold turkey, right?!

So I bought lots of fabric,

some pillow forms, thread, whites-lights fat quarters . . .

It could have been oh so much worse! 

What I went in for was border and binding fabric for my 

Triangles Galore Bee Block top.  Sigh. 

So the moral of the story is . . . 

Don't go on a diet! Everything in moderation.  Hehehe!

A Finish!

Blue and White Quilt finished 

and delivered to the bride and groom.

Couldn't resist the photo opts at the beach.

I've been trying to spend as much time at the beach as I can,

winter is only a breath away.

A pieced back . . .

a piece of Marimekko from my sister

and a few scraps from the front finish out the back.

I called this one Dimples because of all the polka dots,

and because the bride, (my former girl scout),

has the cutest dimples ever!

So glad this quilt is in it's new home.

My friend Anne was cleaning out her basement last week

and while we were at the beach photographing quilts, we also dug through

the back of her car looking at fabric!

Fabric and the beach! Yum.

I was so good, I only took what I really thought I would use!

These have all been washed and pressed.

And to finish up the weekend,

a bee block for Binita!

A couple days late, but it is the lazy hazy last days of summer.

Hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend!