Hex Project #???

 I have lost count of my hex projects...guess I could go through my quilts and count...but that's no fun!  Instead, I'm focusing on how to design my next hex quilt!!!  But that comes with some decisions!!  Big decisions!  HA  

In my mind, I'm looking at having a color wheel of hexes which will be under a patchwork piece of fabric.  Similar to my horse hex pieces or at least I'll 'try' to follow the process I managed to come up with!   I'm planning on red/red orange; orange red to orange/yellow to yellow/light pale green to....well, you get the idea!!!!

So this was my first idea/design....I'd cut out each leaf and color hexes would show - once I cut out the leaves on the patchwork background!

You can see I traced the design on some hex (5/8 in) sheets I taped together.  Kinda helps get the idea??

BUT...then I started to look through some of my sketch books I made in 2020 while taking a class from Hilary!

I'm kinda liking this one best...but...could cause a lot of issues with where to place the colors?  But then I could quilt some areas vs having hexes in background with different color threads.  See where my mind is going!  UGH

This one is 'ok' but I'd have to tweak and make larger, etc.

I am thinking of having this new hex piece be a table runner vs a square or rectangle for hanging. But still deciding!

Now this is giving me MORE ideas....having those holes contain a hex behind them!  Yep..they would have to be larger holes but.....just an idea!

I think the color wheel idea might work???

Not fond of the leaf shapes but, again, each leaf might work out with different colors....

This has possibilities!  I can see blending the colors - even in an individual leaf...Making the leaves larger to fill in space gives me the opportunity to have more colors in a leaf???

This is another favorite....lots of possibilities....designs like this are what keep me up at night!!!!  

I am excited to get started...but the next decision is what patchwork background or solid fabric ?? to use!!!  

I have a small black quilted piece that I may cut out and play around with....this is going to be a fall/winter project for sure!

Illusion Quilt Finished!

 I have to say it felt good being back to quilting again!  Other than binding some old quilt blocks, I haven't finished a quilt since July this year .  You can see that post here.  

This was a fun piece to work on...except I had to remember which way was 'up' so you get the illusion!  HA  Hubby kept reminding me!!!

I really had to figure out how to quilt the piece!  Fortunately, I remembered which was was up to keep the lines in the right direction.  I'm not good at sewing a straight line!  HA

For the border, I figured I could get away with doing some free motion quilting.  I didn't want the lines to go into the border...too many straight lines for me!  

I  used 3/4" masking tape to follow the lines.  Worked for me..although, some of those are still a little crooked!  HA

But it's done!  And now to my next project which is 1) online class for leaf printing with Hilary!  My readers will remember (well, maybe!) I have taken several online classes from her.  I do enjoy her classes and have learned quite a bit from her.  

I've started to collect leaves and excited to get to printing again!!!

2) Making little zippered bags I need as gifts for Christmas!  I need to purchase batting and sandwich half a yard of fabric so I can quilt it; then cut it up and start making the bags!  

3) Our library book sale is coming 10/18 & 19 so that will take some time for our setup.  But I can work on all those projects at once, right!

OK, so I lied.

17"x17"
1999 - 2025

I told myself (and Cheryl and Beth!) that I’d only work on my needlepoint project during our Wednesday meetups. I figured that way it would last me through 2025. Well… that didn’t happen. I started stitching every chance I got!

And let me tell you—never again. I gave up beading years ago because those tiny Delica seed beads were just too hard to see. This project felt just as bad. Even with my bifocals and a magnifying glass around my neck, it was a real eye strain. Headaches and all, I kept pushing through because I didn’t want to let Cheryl, Beth, or my daughter down (since she’ll be the one who inherits this piece someday—lucky her! HA).

When our DIL, MJ, was here a few weeks ago, we took the finished needlepoint to the new Michael’s store for framing. They did an amazing job! Three people worked on it—Rachel (she assisted in picking out mouting board, framing, etc.), Olivia (helped remove backing for me to fix a thread!) , and Christina (who handled most of the work initially and fixing the thread). I even wrote a letter to the manager to let them know how much I appreciated their help.

Now it’s finally done, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Bob will hang it up this weekend, but in the meantime, here are some close-ups of the finished squares.

This is the pattern booklet.  

Some closeups of finished squares:

I'll send pic when Bob gets it hung.  Until then..off to work on my illusion quilt top!  

Did I really do all this stitching!!!!   I amazed myself that I did this!  HA HA