A Quilt A Day

February 18, 2010

hexy idea #4: embellish!

Filed under: applique, flickr, hexagons, paper piecing — jennicakes @ 6:11 pm

I know this isn’t all that different from idea #3, but this is one of those rare occasions on which I made something to show here, so, please bear with me.

This photo of my hexy days of the week towels was the last one I took with my trusty Nikon:

flower towels

You’d think that would make me love the towels a bit less, but I can’t say that’s true.

I’m aware this has only the most tenuous relation to quilts and quilting. Thankfully, most quilters I know are crafty domestic types, and I’ve always thought one of the necessities of crafty domesticity was a set of hand-embellished days-of-the-week towels. Maybe I’m way off base. But if you can’t get a little crazy during hex week, when can you?

The towels are from a Martha Stewart K-Mart set from, I dunno, 2007? They are definitely not being made any more, and more’s the pity. They are great quality, and the colors are easy to match. I’m using some of my favorite fabrics to embellish a whole set. Minus one towel. I’m missing the Saturday towel – a blessing, in that, I bought the towels to give as a gift, and now I’m forced to hang on to them. A curse in that I’m missing one-seventh of my towels!

A hex flower is a great way to get a lot of mileage out of a small amount of fabric, so if you’re looking for a project on which to squander some of your most treasured scraps, I highly recommend something like this. A hex flower can look great on any trimmed towel, so if you don’t want to go whole hog and make seven, a smaller set of 2 or 3 would make a great gift from your scrap bag.

And, if you happen to have this set of towels lying around unloved somewhere, I’d be happy to take them off your hands for you ;)

February 17, 2010

hexy idea #3: just use one

Filed under: applique, hexagons, paper piecing — jennicakes @ 8:11 am

Quilted tablemat

I love these quilted placemats by dinino68. There’s no denying the huge impact that can be achieved by interlocking hundreds or thousands of hexagons, but don’t let’s forget that one can absolutely do the trick.

February 16, 2010

hexy idea #2: baste the rainbow!

Filed under: applique, baby, doll quilt, flickr, hexagons, paper piecing — jennicakes @ 10:40 am

Yeah, I know – bad pun.

hex front mini quilt dqs8

Good quilt, though. Seriously good flippin’ quilt, made by Kindred Crafters and found in the Doll Quilt Swap Pool.

Looking at the way the colors have dictated the size of this quilt, I’m having a major now-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that moment. To my mind, rainbow quilts are always huge, stripey extravaganzas. I need to rethink that.

I love this layout. Almost the simplest one possible, when you think about how hexes fit together, but the way they stagger, sweetly, adds so much life. As do the seven different prints in each flower – so much scrappy goodness!

I would love to see this in a kids playroom. If you can think of better way to teach colors, please share!

February 14, 2010

i heart hex

Filed under: applique, blocks, flickr, hexagons — jennicakes @ 10:04 am

Happy Valentine’s Day!

i heart hexes

I fell hard in love with hexagon quilts in the fall, and I’ve been working slowly but steadily (is there any other way to make hexes?) on a bed-sized quilt.

hex flower

(1% of the blocks I’m working on.)

And while I’m pleased with my decision to make a quilt out of 100 appliqued hex flowers, different variations on hexagons continue to fascinate me.

My alma mater used to celebrate “Sex Week” on the week of Valentine’s Day, and, in the spirit of being true to my school, I’m hereby kicking of Hex Week at A Quilt A Day. Check back for quilts that feature hexagons, but go way beyond the traditional Grandmother’s Flower Garden configuration.

If you want to get in on the fun, I highly recommend making or buying freezer-paper templates, like the ones I use from sewmuchbetter56. These will fuse to your fabric and let you form the hexagons almost as if they were yoyos – no sewing through paper means no hurting fingers! Searching online for “freezer paper hexagons” will bring up a number of tutorials that will explain what I mean.

As far as instructions, I suggest reading through several tutorials, and picking the one that strikes you as most intuitive. It worked for me!

February 12, 2010

Norberta the Green Giant

Filed under: applique, log cabins — jennicakes @ 5:33 pm

Norberta the Green giant

I love this quilt by CampFollowerBagLady. It’s made from the log cabin pattern in Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, and apparently only took her 12 hours! Amazing! I love the classic Amy Butler prints, the sweet color palette, and the adorable addition of the appliqued circles.

AND, it’s called Norberta the Green Giant. If that’s not creative, I don’t know what is!

February 10, 2010

Snowpocalypse 2010

Filed under: applique, embroidery, flickr — jennicakes @ 6:00 pm

Now that I live in California, I really can’t commiserate with my friends and family about Snowmaggedon, snomg, the snowtastrophe that is hitting the Eastern part of the US right now.

I can, however, post a quilted scene of a snowy day:

October Quilting Journey

(Click the pic for larger sizes – it’s totally worth it.)

I’m sure the last thing you want to see is more of the white stuff, but, you’ve got to admit, this quilt by lucyellen06 is pretty masterful. Look how she used beads to make the snow twinkle!

Not a bad way to spend a snow day….

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