Hand Sewn Hexagons

Happy Wednesday everyone!
And you know what that means? Two more days until a three-day weekend and
it's WIP Wednesday with Freshly Pieced!

Now don't hate me when I say this, but I really don't have a lot of WIPs that need to get done.

I have two quilts that need to be quilted and I'm working on these hexagons. That's pretty much it.

But last year was a different story. Lots of pressure so this year I took a different approach and I'm going slowly; not jumping at every quilt-along.

 Believe me, I really want to 'cause there are so many very cool QA's to join!

Anyways,.... Here is a look at the backing. I was thinking of making another 3 sets like these, adding sashing and making a wall quilt.

I was also thinking of just appliqueing this to a tan canvas for a summer tote.

What would you make with these hexagons?
I almost forgot, I finished this little mini you can see HERE.

In other news, my prize came in from Leisure Arts. Remember the Pat Sloan giveaway with her new book? I won a copy over at P.S. I quilt!

Thanks for letting me gloat and for stopping by!

Now head to WIP Wednesday and see what others have been up to.

Till Next Time!

Carla

Floating Squares

If you remember, last week I shared a book I FINALLY came around to cracking open. 

There are lots of cute minis to make!

So deciding which to co first was difficult, but one did catch my eye...

The first mini I made is titled Box of Chocolates. It was the optical illusion that caught my eye. To recreate the same illusion, I used two shades of blues and white as the focal square. I didn't want to use print fabrics as the original because I wanted to see if I could make the same effect with solids. Happy to say I did!

The back is pieced from scraps. Nothing special.

The binding is a faded orange that I thought would be a fun splash of color against the blues.

It worked out as planned :o) Love it when that happens!

Just a closer look. I tried basting spray instead of pins and my layers still shifted when quilting.

But in a way, it helped create more of the illusion. Don't you think?

So I guess it was a happy mistake. I would like to make all the minis in the book but I'll take one at a time and see how far I get. You know the best part of all this is?

The instant gratification with a quick project!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday w/Quilt Story.

Have a look and see what others are sharing :o)

Till Next Time!

Carla

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I have to admit, I almost missed it!

That would of been a big bummer for me.

Anyways,  this round I'll be sharing my 

Dresden In Bloom quilt.

 My lovely took about a year for me to finally finish.

It patiently waited while I got my mojo back.

The flower blocks measure 17" tip to tip and they were hand appliqued.

The flower center were made from large yo-yos in browns fabric.

It was time for me to actually start using some of the fabric I've been hoarding.

So I picked the lavender shades and made a pieced backing.

I'm really happy with the results.

You can see the quilting better on the back verses the front.

 The orange polka dot and brown were a fun combo but I think the light blue border makes it all mesh together. It was a nice surprise!

 The more crinkles the better!

It measures 85" x 61". The right size to snuggle with a loved one.

 The quilting was kept simply and I just did some echoing with all straight lines.

There you have it, my Dresden In Bloom quilt.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are all enjoy!

Now I'm off to see all the wonderful entries :o)

Till Next Time!

Carla

Bits And Pieces

When I first say this book, I fell in love with all the little mini quilts featured inside!

I enjoy working with little pieces. I also like the instant gratification one gets with a quick finish. So of course I grabbed this book up. 

 As always, life had gotten in the way and the book waited on the shelf for a while.

Months later, after I reorganizing my shelves, I came across it again! 

Quickly I thumbed through it and this mini was the first that caught my eye.

Or maybe it was the title that caught my eye....

 I opted out on using pinks/browns and went with blues and white. 

No prints just solids. Gotta love them!

I've only have seven blocks done but plan to make a few more tonight. 

These blocks come together rather quickly and before I know it, I'll have a finished top to share! 

There are lots of great patterns in the book and I would like to make all of them.

But I'll take one at a time and see how far I get.

Now I'm off to do some more cutting and sewing!

Till Next Time!

Carla

Study In Gray Quilt Top

Yesterday was such a great day thanks to my family!

I hope your Mother's Day was as great as mine.

Since I didn't have to lift a finger, I was able to work on my quilt top.

At first I had sewn the three hexagon strip together, trying to make a lap quilt. I quickly ran out of triangles and that idea was out the window.

Then I thought I could add strips between the hexagons and it would be big enough for a lap quilt. 

Bingo! 

I undid seams, cut up some strips, and sewed up the pieces.

The wind was blowing and made it challenging to take a decent photo.

But I guess it all worked out.

I'm loving the look of this lap quilt!

Now the question is, how to quilt it..... :o/

Linking to Fabric Tuesday w/Quilt Story!!

Till Next Time!

Carla

A Study In Grays

One definite thing about me is that I like to work with bright and bold colors.
You probably can see it in my finished projects.

So when I came across  Moda's Denim FQ Bundle, I went ahead and bought it.
Not because it's bold or bright, but because I wanted to challenge myself to work with muted, dark, somber colors. 

I lived with the bundle for some time before I finally knew what I wanted to create.

So I sorted the bundle and just took out the grays, blacks, brown grays, creams, and such to use. The rest were mostly blues, which I have another project planned for...

I used this tutorial from Jaybird for this project.

It's really easy to follow and quick to put together.

There really is no rhyme or reason to my stacks but just laid them out on my cutting mat to easily grab and sew.

Two rows done and sewn together.
If I can make a row a night, I can probably finish this up by next week.
Maybe....
Sorry for the dark photos. It's hard to take nice ones once the sun goes down.

I'm loving the look of it already!

Linking To
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Till Next Time!

Carla

Dresden In Bloom

Well my Dresden flowers are blooming and just in time for spring!

It took a lot of ground prepping and sewing the seeds to finally get these beauties.

I can honestly say, it was worth all the work and time.

 The flower measures 17" petal to petal and the background blocks is 19".

So this came out to be a pretty large lap quilt. 

It measures 85" x 61".

 For interests I pieced the backing from fabrics I've had in my stash for much to long.

Longer than I would care to admit. 

If you double click on the photo, you can probably get a better look at the quilting.

I picked a very bold sashing for something new.

I love the statement it makes.  

I wasn't sure about the light blue border but it all just seems to work!

Now that it's all done I can wrap it up for my friend.

You see, it was her birthday last month and I didn't get a chance to visit her. 

But it did give me the extra time I needed to finish it. Now this Saturday I'll be seeing her so I can give her the quilt :o)  

If I remember, I'll take photos of her with the quilt to share with you all.

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Some great ladies are hosting the following Linking parties so makes sure to check them out!

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop! 

Sew And Tell

Show Off Friday

 Till Next Time!

Carla

Scrappy Hexi

Hey everyone! How are you doing? It's been a while since we last touched base.

All is good here in my neck of the woods. Not much sewing going on.

Just a little hand sewing with some scrappy hexagons.

I've been playing with some ideas on how to use these lovelies. Maybe incorporate them into a summer tote, a table runner, or just another wall quilt. But I haven't settled on anything yet. So I just keep sewing, enjoying the process and going through my scraps.

I'm itching to cut into my Moda Denim FQ's!

Till Next Time!

Carla