Little Hexie Quilt WIP

Lately I've been working pretty furiously on a really cute quilt. How I found the pattern is an interesting story. One of the quilting magazines I follow posted an image of a hexagon quilt, discussing the quilting on it but not the pattern. I asked if they had it, and another woman who follows it responded with step by step instructions on how to make it! I am so thankful to her for that kindness.

So far, I have the top quilt nearly entirely together. You see some horizontal lines going across the colored hexegons? That's because instead of sewing the whole hexagons together and doing y-seams (pain in the butt), you stitch half a hexagon to the one above it, making long strips which you then sew together to make the whole top. Isn't that clever?

I had a few 2" strips laying around from a UFO and I took two, stitched them together, and used them to test out the instructions the woman gave me. It worked like a charm, and the test block turned out to be pretty cool.

The fun thing about this pattern is that depending on how to sew the blocks together, you can get a completely different looking quilt. For the test piece, I simply cut 6 triangles out, flipping my 60 degree ruler as I went and then stitched them all together, alternating center colors. I will definitely be doing a tutorial for this quilt after I've finished it up.

The Little Hexie uses white as one strip for all of them, and I cut enough triangles from each color set to end up with 12. That allowed me to make two hexagons from each strip set, one with the color on the outside, and one with it on the inside like this:

Inverses!

The color combinations and placement choices are practically endless here. I was so inspired by the purple and black test quilt, that I decided to make one for myself using that color scheme. The bright and colorful Little Hexie quilt is being made as a gift.

Quilting is Back On!

I finally found and received the darning foot I needed for my machine. Woo! I also bought a pack of 20 bobbins. You can never have too many bobbins, and since these are "exclusive" to my machine, I figured I'd better stock up. I love my L-500 to pieces, but the fact that it's no longer sold and supported means I will have a very hard time getting replacement components in the future. Very disappointing, especially considering the cost of the machine.

Isn't it lovely?

 Now I'm back in the saddle and ready to finish some project have have been hanging over my head for quite some time. The first up is the Halloween quilt! I know it's "Christmas in July" time, but Halloween is coming up sooner, so I decided to finish this one up first. It feels good to be back at the workstation.

 
Another eight hours or so of quilting and then it'll be ready for the binding. I'm very excited to finish up the quilted webs. They're not terribly complicated, but do involve a lot of maneuvering. Ages ago, I cut and pressed the binding, so once the quilting is finished, I can wrap it up in a breeze. I have a tight painting schedule to keep to for my Warhammer army, but hopefully I can sneak in some time this week to work on the quilt.

Crate Mat for Piper

For National Quilting Month, one of my projects was making a mat to put down in Piper's crate. She's a snuggly dog, and I wanted to make her crate a little more comfortable for her. For some reason, I didn't think the dog bed and dog blanket was enough.

She gives me that look a lot when I take out the camera.

 It was very easy to do. I measured the plastic pan in the bottom, cut two pieces of fabric to that size, and then quilted it up, along the lines in the pattern. I used two pieces of batting to make it extra cushy. I machine stitched the binding on. It looks like I succeeded in making it comfortable, since I didn't even need to encourage her to lay down on it.

You'd think I'd bombed her house.

She was a little annoyed that I *gasp* messed with her crate. But she is a loving dog, so she quickly forgave me. I ironed it and made it all nice for her, but the minute I left her alone in it, she did what she usually does which is pile everything in the back and lay on it. That'll teach me to make her nice things.

National Quilting Month Begins!

In honor of March being National Quilting Month, I'll be doing a few special things. First, each day I will be tweeting a photo of a current project (you can find me @LilThunderLiz). Today's photo, though, is below.

Yup, those are pawprints.

I picked up this fabric for my birthday. It's an adorable collection called Max and Whiskers by Moda. I've been meaning to make a little mat for the dog's crate since we got her. Piper does everything in her power to be as comfortable as possible. This includes laying down on clothes I'm trying to fold, a errant blanket that fell on the floor, and even on top of the foam used to protect Warhammer figures.

Also, on this rug because it's slightly more comfortable than the carpet.

 She has her own blanket and her own bed already, but they don't cover the whole plastic floor of her crate. So I am going to make her a nice little covering to put down in there. I'll probably use a double layer of batting to make it extra cushy for my spoiled pup.

In addition to my quilting photo of the day, I am setting a challenge for myself. I have seven unfinished projects (including Piper's crate pad). Seven. My challenge is to finish them all by the end of the month. I better go get started.

The Good, The Bad, The Awesome

I've had my gorgeous new sewing machine for just over a full month now, and in that time I've done quite a fair bit of sewing. I've mended a number of things and made two crib-sized quilts from start to finish. I definitely have a better understanding of what my machine can do, its limitations, and its pitfalls.

As I mentioned previously, the extra throat space is awesome. Now that I've quilted something on it, I can really attest to how much of a boon those additional 3" of space have been. For the two small quilts, it was not necessary but definitely noticeable. The next time I make anything bigger, it will be invaluable. I really prefer to quilt tops myself, and now I can do it much more easily.

Such a pain in the neck.

The bobbin set up is still the worst part of the design, but what really grinds my gears is the low bobbin warning. It beeps and flashes an image of the bobbin on the display. It also stops sewing. Even though you have about 5 yards of thread left on the bobbin, you cannot easily finish the seam. Once you clear the message, it pops right back up and stops stitching again after another 5-6 stitches.

Sewing Room Revamp

Our house guest left, so I had to put my sewing area back into sorts this week. I wanted to rearrange it a little so that I could make room for a little something new- a design wall! For quilters of all stripes, a design wall to help visualize your quilt before stitching it all up is a really useful tool.

Some squares from the twin quilts set out.

These seem to be all the rage, I've seen ads for various kinds in several different magazines lately. Some have all sorts bells and whistles- retractable, fold-able, portable, etc. However, they all seem to be quite expensive. Many of them weren't right for what I needed, either. I need something permanent that doesn't wreck the apartment walls.

I have a quick and easy alternative way to make your own. You start with some flannel. Flannel has this awesome ability to 'stick' to quilting fabric. All you need to do is push your blocks to it, and they stay in place for as long as you need.

Ode to My Sewing Machine

Oh Singer 2639, how good you have been to me. You were my first sewing machine, and we've been together a long time. It seems like yesterday I was just learning to quilt and you've been an integral part of every project I've worked on since- from mending to quilting to making my own clothes.

My simple but effective machine.

I didn't do the best job of taking care of you in the beginning (I didn't actually know you required occasional maintenance). Despite that, you've been a faithful workhorse for ten years, and I know you're tired. When you finally gave out, it was not a shock. I got more out of you than I ever hope to.

It is with a twinge of regret that I must retire you now. My sewing needs have changed so much since we first met that I cannot justify spending twice your purchase price to fix what's broken. RIP, my friend.