I’m sneaking in one last post before I disappear for a few weeks on a much needed vacation & blogging break. I finished the mini quilt I’m making for my partner in the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap, and I just have to share! I have loved working on this quilt, and I’m pretty certain my partner will love it, too! Nicole at Modern Handcraft has a wonderful tutorial on this short-cut hexagon quilting method. I’ve done some blogging (and a lot of Instagramming) about my progress on the quilt, which you can read here and here.
Are you ready for a total photograph color explosion? Okay, good. I took a LOT of photos of this baby, and in my usual style I can’t choose just one.
I took the quilt to the city (Bangor, ME) to find a good brick wall on which to photograph it. I wanted to mix it up a bit from my usual shed/barn side backdrop. I love the effect!
A little angle from the left…A little angle from the right…
I decided to bind the quilt in one of my favorite low volume prints from Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics collection. I used light grey aurifil to quilt it, and the grey on this print ties it together nicely without distracting the eye from the colorful hexies.Oh how I love depth of field!
Finished quilt stats:
Name: Modern Hexies Mini Quilt (for Schnitzel and Boo, Round 3) Size: 24″ x 18″ Fabric: Hexies are primarily Anna Maria Horner’s True Colors collection, with supplements from my stash (including but not limited to Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics, Timeless Treasures Sketch, other Anna Maria Horner fabrics); backing Kona Snow; binding is Carolyn Friedlander’s Leaves in Charcoal from Botanics. Quilting: Straight-line quilted through each hexagon, lines 1″ apart Thread: Aurifil 50wt 2615 – Aluminum (light grey) and 28wt 2000 – Light Sand in the bobbin Finished: December 2014 Related blog posts: Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap: I’m in!, A Mini Sneak Peek, Modern Hexies Mini Progress
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One of the secret projects I have in progress is actually not entirely secret. It’s for the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt swap. I suppose I can share all of my progress photos, I just can’t say for whom the quilt is being made! We’ve had a long string of uncharacteristically dark days here in midcoast Maine (it usually snows every few days with lots of sun in between), so I’m sharing photos taken with my iphone. Instagram has a wonderful array of filters and adjustments that help bring out the light and color in an otherwise dark space. Many (all?) of these are repeats from my Instagram feed, so I apologize to those of you who also follow me on IG. Just think of it as an inspiration flash-back de ja vu color explosion!
I cut out my chosen ones, and was all ready to EPP some more gorgeous hexies.
Next, I played around with layout and decided upon an Instagram-approved arrangement. It was decided that the bottom right dark blue-white hexagon would be best removed. I had been struggling with it already, upset that I didn’t have the perfect transition fabric to make it “work” in the flow, but hearing other IG friends and quilters suggest removing it helped me make the final decision. Out it went.
Next, it was time to start actually gluing! Yipes!
Nicole atModern Handcraft’s pattern is fantastic. This is such a simple and “easy” method, yet the outcome is so fabulously gorgeous. I love the aesthetic of the borders between each hexagon, and the range of possibilities is endless. I didn’t have the suggested Aleene’s Fabric Fusion glue (Get yours here–affiliate link), so I used Fabri-Tac, which I had already. Boy was it a stinky and stringy experience! The glue would bubble up on the tip of the bottle by the time I got the next hexagon trimmed and de-papered, so it was quite a sticky process. Next time, I will definitely try Aleene’s, since I love the all-purpose glue for just about any other craft project. Sticky stink aside, I finally got all 44 hexies glued down, in a little over two hours.
I layered, basted, and was all ready for quilting! I only got a few passes done with the quilting before my sewing window ended for the day, but I’m very happy with my progress. I can’t wait to see this quilt completed, and I definitely will be making another one (or ten) in the future!
Update: I have finished the quilting and I’m getting ready to bind! I will show the quilt in its full completion after the recipient has received it (most likely… maybe sooner if I just can’t wait!).
Question for those of you who have participated in mini quilt swaps before: Do you stitch on a hanging sleeve, or leave it as is in case the recipient would prefer to clip it or hang it in a different way?
I finally chose the pattern I am going to use for my Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt swap quilt for my partner, and boy am I excited! My inspiration is a quilt I’ve been drooling over since its unveiling by Nicole at Modern Handcraft, and I’m excited to give a go at recreating it.
As much as I was tempted to use Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics to recreate this stunning quilt exactly, I decided to be a *little* original and use a fabric line by another one of the designers listed as a favorite of my secret partner: True Colors by Anna Maria Horner. I’ve made a little bit of slow progress.
I took my photo shoot outside on a cutting board, since we have yet another cloudy, overcast day and a winter storm brewing. 8-14″ of snow forecast for tonight!
At first, I wasn’t sure about these fabrics and how they would work in a modern hexies mini quilt, but once I put them together and took a photo, I’m a lot more encouraged. For some reason, when looking at the fabrics in a stack, they don’t seem to flow as well as I’d like. Looking at them arranged like so and through the eye of a camera, it definitely “works”. Woo hoo!
I ordered a small pack (100 pieces) of 1″ hexagons from Paper Pieces, but I got a little antsy waiting for them to arrive, since my charm pack of Anna Maria Horner arrived first. Rather than wait, I pulled out some card stock and printed off a page of adorable Happy Hexies by Mollie Johanson of Wild Olive. I had bookmarked these a few months back, and was thrilled to finally use them. I mean, how cute are these little guys peeking out the back!?
Now that my Paper Pieces hexies have arrived, I can go to town on this project, but I’m so grateful for these cheerful little guys and Mollie’s free download since they allowed me to get a little head start on the mini. Hopefully, we will see this cute little stack of hexagons grow and grow and GROW over the next couple weeks!
Do you remember a few months ago (less than 4, to be exact), when my quilting friends Stephanie and Michelle and I decided to launch a new Facebook community for fellow late night quilters, since we were getting so much out of our own nightly conversations? Late Night Quilters Club (LNQC) was born of necessity by midnight oil-burning moms who sew to maintain sanity, and desperately wanted to connect with others in the same position. We knew that there were many others doing red-eyed stitching as silently as possible while little ones (and maybe hubbies) sleep, as well as those sewing at night out of habit or necessity unrelated to little ones, but we had no idea the community would take off the way it has.
Yesterday, Late Night Quilters Club reached a giant milestone: 1,000 members!! The group has been a wonderfully supportive, drama-free, inspiration-generating group thus far and we are thrilled to be the creators. Since its inception, our club has added Stash Swap Tuesdays and Flaunt it Fridays (when members have a chance to toot their own small-business horns), and administration has grown to include Mandy Leins, who has been a most invaluable addition. We four are excited to see where the next few months or years take us!
To celebrate reaching 1,000 members, we admins are hosting five days of giveaways, starting today! This weekend, Stephanie is giving away 3 yards of the brand new Mint Condition collection by Jackie for Camelot Fabric. Leave a comment on her post on the LNQC Facebook page to be entered.
Here’s a sneak peek at what I will be giving away on Monday:
It’s a fabric bundle including half-yards of Migratory Lace Aquatic and Coordinates Plum from Anna Maria Horner’s Field Study Collection and fat quarters of Cross Square in Red, Bleeding Hearts in Red, and Ladder Dot in Fuschia from Denyse Schmidt’s Chicopee Collection.
Here’s your chance to build your stash. If you aren’t yet a member of Late Night Quilters Club, just click here to request membership. Enter Stephanie’s giveaway, enjoy the inspiration and advice given by the other members, share your projects and questions, and stay tuned for my giveaway on Monday.
Since it’s Sunday and this is a good chance for you to build your stash, I’m linking up with Molli’s Sunday Stash. ps. You don’t have to be a momma to join Late Night Quilters Club! You don’t even have to sew at night. Just bring your quilting, stitching, cutting, seam-ripping, sparkling (?) goodness!
One of the best parts about taking on a new quilt challenge is the fabric shopping that ensues. Since I’ve officially joined the Supernova Friendship Swap partnering with Laura from Adventures of a Quilting Diva, and we finally decided on our color plan and background fabric, I had to do a little fabric shopping.
Since I was shopping online so that Laura and I could be sure that we were getting the same exact background fabric, I ordered a few more prints to bring the total to >$50 (free shipping from QuiltHome!).
I ordered mostly half-yards, and 2.5 yards of our background fabric, since the pattern calls for 2 yards and I wanted a bit left for another project-in-the-works. Here’s what I bought:
Pretty Potent-Candy Fabric by Anna Maria Horner
Pretty Potent-Outloud Fabric by Anna Maria Horner
Edges in Sky by Laura Gunn
Acacia-Honey Fabric by Tula Pink
and some Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons in:
-Ice
-Spruce
-Eucalyptus
-Quartz
-Heather/Mushroom
-Granite
-Prune
-Coal
Gorgeous stack of Kaffe Fassett shot cottons.
We chose Kaffe Fassett’s Granite shot cotton as our background, after debating between various shades and textures of gray. As you can see (the third one up in the stack is the granite) it is very purple! Yet somehow, with our jewel tone color choice, we both think the greyish purple shot cotton will be awesome! Everyone uses gray as a background. We’re going to push the envelope a bit. I’m nervous and excited all at once.
Radiant Orchid Color study with the Canvas pattern by Leanne at She Can Quilt.
The shot cottons are all they’re made out to be. The colors are so dynamic and deeply rich; they just beg to be touched. I have a feeling these will not be the last shot cottons to enter my stash.
April is nearing its end, which means I’ve been shop hopping every chance I get. On Saturday, I went on a whirlwind 10 hour trip up the coast of Maine from Freeport to Nobleboro, visiting six shops before calling it a day. I will be introducing you to all of the shops I’ve visited in the next few weeks, but will spread them out a bit.
With all of this shop hopping going on the past few weeks, I’ve been really itching to start a new project. More specifically, a new quilt. I’ve been quite drawn to low volume, black and white, and grey tone fabrics lately, and have developed a fairly decent stash of them, at least for a beginner like me. I have decided it’s time to pull them out and get them into a quilt. During my epic shop hop along the Maine coast on Saturday, I bought the fabric needed to supplement my stash and I got started cutting last night. I’m so excited about this quilt!
Night Quilter 