Month: March 2019

I finished the top for my Kaffe Fassett Collective hexagon quilt last night. And I love it!

I am going to add a small border of the grey Guinea Flower fabric to give the illusion that the blocks are floating. Then I’ll piece the back and get it off to my long arm quilter.

I really had fun putting this quilt together. Each block was prettier than the next, and some of the fabric combos are just breathtaking.

Of all the blocks, this purple and orange one at the bottom center is my favorite!

The greys photograph much better close up. They are vibrant and have movement! And they’re so pretty with the bright colors.

Some recent favorite blocks

This quilt went together really easily. I was really careful to be as accurate as possible with each block and the attached triangles, knowing that the final construction would go better if everything was accurate.

I pinned…. a lot! I wanted to make sure that my points and seams matched as well as possible. There are a few that are off a little, but it’s really accurate for the most part.

This thing is going together so fast! The blocks are really big, and they’re all put together with straight seams, so you can really fly in the assembly process.

I am pinning carefully to keep everything lined up and precise. So far it’s looking really good and I haven’t encountered any severe issues with misshapen blocks or wonky rows.

I’m almost half done with the assembly on this quilt. Should have it done by this weekend.

The blocks go together in diagonal rows. Each hexagon block has two triangles sewn to it to make a parallelogram and the straight sides make it relatively easy to sew together.

I finally figured out the top edge. These photos give you an idea of what it will look like when it’s done. I’m planning on a 2 or so inch border of the grey guinea flower around the perimeter of the quilt. It might give the effect that the blocks are floating.

I just love this quilt. I wish it photographed better!

I spent about an hour in the sewing room tonight and got the first two short rows of the grey hexagon quilt put together.

I’ve been really careful in sewing blocks because I knew it would be easier to put it all to ether if everything was accurate. But still, I was worried that my blocks would be wonky and it would be a mess when I started putting it together.

I got the first two short rows put together and I’m really happy with how it’s going. There have been a few odd things, but overall, it’s going together nicely and it looks really good. I’m pinning every seam because I really want it all to be accurate.

Some points are pretty accurate, and some are wonky, but I know that once it’s quilted, a lot of that will be hidden.

I’m really happy with how this is looking, and the blocks are big so it should go together really quickly.

I had one last piece of fabric I wanted to buy this weekend to see if it works as a grey background in my hexagon quilt.

A friend suggested that I try the silver spots, so I bought a yard thinking it would certainly work. Well, it doesn’t. I tried it on the design wall and it’s flat, boring and blah.

All of the other treys are dynamic… they have movement in their design and they have color. This polka dot really didn’t work.

So I set about arranging the three grey fabrics I have, and came up with this design. it’s pretty much a done deal except that I’m going to have to play with the top and bottom edges to make that work, but I’ve been thinking about it and have some ideas on how to make it work.

Once this quilt is done I’m going to have to enlist my friend Heather to photograph it for me, because it just doesn’t photograph very well for me.

Later this week I’ll start sewing the diagonal rows together. I’m hoping that I was careful enough with my blocks that it all goes together nicely!

I’ve hit a bit of a stopping point with my hexagon quilt with the grey backgrounds. I’ve landed on a final arrangement and have started adding the greys, but I’m a bit stuck until I get the final grey fabric on Saturday.

So I spent some time tonight looking at my stash to try out some ideas for the background for my hexagon quilt that I’ll make from the scraps from my hexagon quilt. I’ve got all of the triangles cut and sorted, so I’ll be ready for the background soon.

I’ve been thinking I want to use a yellow background… probably Kaffe’s yellow paper weight.

Unfortunately, I only have small scraps of this, so it’s hard to get an idea of how it will look with my blocks. But the more I think about it, but more I think it’s not right.

So I pulled out some other fabrics and tried them out with the scrappy blocks and the backing I’m going to use for this quilt. And I came up with a couple that I really like.

Of all the ones I tried, I think the yellows are my least favorite. I like the polka dot one, but not the more solid yellow. But it’s not giving me the effect I was hoping for.

I really like the more solid yellow with the backing, but it’s not very exciting with the colorful blocks.

I tried some blue. The light blue was a fail. I like the darker blue, and the blocks are really bold on that darker background. But i want more of a contrast with the backing. So I’ll probably rule out the blue.

So here’s the current winner. The polka dot is sort of a fuchsia with orange/yellow dots. the blocks play well on it, and it’s amazing with the backing. I love the brightness and boldness of this fabric, especially since my current quilt has grey backgrounds. So I’m hungry for something bold.

I’ll probably look at some more options while I’m at the quilt shop this weekend, with a lot of the spots color ways. Maybe I’ll find something even better!

I’ve been working a little each night on finishing up the blocks for my new hexagon quilt and tonight I finished the last four blocks.

The photo above was taken this morning when I got up and saw the light coming through the blinds and hitting these amazing fabrics on my design wall.

I’ve been moving blocks around my design wall for weeks now. Every time I add new blocks I have to redo the entire thing. When I added the last blocks tonight, I spent another hour moving blocks around, taking photos, tweaking, taking black and white photos, tweaking… But I think I’ve finally hit on the right arrangement.

And now that I post this picture I can see something that needs to be fixed…. the two blocks immediately under the center red block are too similar… it really shows in the black and white version. ARGHHHHH!

A couple of days ago I had to make a decision about what I was going to do with the top and bottom ends of the second and fourth vertical rows. I have the choice of adding sections of grey, or partial blocks to fill in that space. I decided to go with the partial blocks… they just feel more finished that the large sections of grey.

Next up is to start making final decisions about the grey triangles fabric and placement. I have one more piece of fabric I want to buy to see how it works before I start down this road. I’ll purchase the fabric on Saturday.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve been loving putting the fabrics together for these blocks. Each combination is more amazing than the last. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to give this quilt away!

This fabric combo!