Gotta Love A Hexie Quilt

Don't you love a blast from the past.

Remember when it was safe to climb

on a metal jungle gym and girls wore dresses to school

or if you went to the library

and needed to look something up

this is what you did way back when.

So speaking of the past,
I'm finally done and ready to share
a quilt I started way back in the
fall of 2015.

When I first saw Di Ford's book
Primarily Quilts,
I knew I wanted to make the hexagon
quilt she calls Route 66.

  

I had never done English Paper Piecing, EPP, before,
but immediately
discovered I loved the accuracy,
the rhythm of the handwork,
making neat stacks of hexagon shapes,
and the crisp edges of each of those
pieces shaped around paper.

Fussy cutting the fabric is not a new concept,
but a fun one to experiment with, especially
when you're using the hexagon shape.

The top has been done for over a year.
I just couldn't decide how to have it quilted.

The only area where the quilting was really going to show
was in the light surrounding hexies.  I finally
settled on this simple swirl
 to make the look more modern.

The real stars of this quilt are the colors and
fabrics so in the center hexies
my machine quilt, Kathy, and I decided to
still keep it simple by accentuating the hexagon shape

and a simple motif in the centers.
I was super pleased at the results.

It may have been started awhile ago,
 but it's technically my first finish of 2018!
You've got to love a Hexie quilt,
even when it's a blast from the past.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Flower Gardens

 I live in beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado
located along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and

home of Colorado State University.

One of the advantages of being a university town

is the outreach to the community.

CSU is well known for it's

horticulture department and the research it does

on different annual plants and their tolerance

to high altitude, arid conditions,

wind and hail.

(Sounds like a great place to live.)

Actually, it is

and the Annual Flower Trial Gardens reminds us
that flowers can grow here.

 

It's a beautiful place to come and stroll

and enjoy all the different varieties of flowers and color.
The air even smells sweet.

What better place to take some

photos of a flower garden quilt than at

a lovely flower garden.

 The pillar print by Andover and Di Ford
has made a fantastic vintage style border.

The colors in the border were
the perfect guide for choosing the
fabrics for the hexagons.

Each corner came out differently because of the
miter, but the pillar still
flows around the quilt.

The sun was beginning to set and the
surface of the quilt was washed with
a soft golden light.

The nearby geraniums were a brilliant red which
caused the reds in the quilt to pop and show off too.

I'm thinking,
I might have to hand quilt this one,
but we'll see.

There was an older man sitting on a bench
enjoying the evening and he watched curiously as
Running Man and I moved the quilt
from place to place
setting it with different groups of flowers.
I don't think he ever figured out
exactly what we were doing.
Hopefully,
 we didn't interrupt his quiet evening too much.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Almost Done

Ever so slowly my

hexagons have come together.

 

I like how neat and crisp the back looked

 with all the paper templates. 

Finally, all the sections were

completed.

And I started to see what it would

look like with the border I'd chosen.

The next step was to connect all the rows

with the diamond shape.

It looked fantastic to see it all together.

I  had been putzing along at a pretty good clip,

 when I saw myself heading

onto a very uneven road.

Hexagons don't leave a straight edge,

but a very bumpy road.

The directions said to cut each side 

straight and leave a 1/4" seam.

I couldn't do that.

All the sides of the hexies were tacked down.

And all I could see was trouble ahead.

So my solution was to applique the border

to each side of the quilt

It has taken quite a bit of time to

get it right.

I've actually taken each side off at least once.

I was surprised how much the top

stretched even with the papers intact,

extra pinning and careful placement.

Well, it's almost a flimsy.

It's heading off to it's official

photo shoot this week.

Until Next Time- 

Kyle

Back Burner Update

It seems like the past week

has flown by.

I had committed myself to

only working on those stalled projects

that needed to be taken off the back burner.

I'm afraid, as always,

I tried to bite off more than I could chew.

But that doesn't mean that 

I didn't have a successful week.

I sauteed some small pieces into

2 inch four patches and pinwheels.  

and those were combined into 41-six inch blocks.

That's not all....

They were whipped together with 40 other six inch blocks

that were from an earlier

mystery quilt designed by Thimble Creek Quilts. 

I had used all scraps and "leftovers".

 There are still borders to figure out,

but I guess I'll move it back to the back burner

for just awhile longer to simmer.

It was fun to get out my kitchen aide mixer

 and mix up some new fabric combos

for the last four full size hexagons
I need for "Route 66" designed by Di Ford.

 I hung up the last

set that I just finished.

I'm getting closer.

One more tasty treat.

Look what finally popped out of the oven.
It had baked long enough.

Snow Happens

by Bird Brain Designs.

This has been my traveling "snack food" since

the start of the year.

It was ready to be done and enjoyed

with the red geraniums of summer.

There's still plenty lingering on those

crowded back burners,

but I'm feeling quite happy with

 

this week's baking.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Flowers or Snowflakes

Are these flowers or snowflakes?

It's hard to tell in Colorado.

I've been working on hexagon blocks

for the Di Ford's pattern, Route 66.

 They're as addictive as 

chocolate Easter eggs.

They just take a lot longer to make

than unwrapping a piece of chocolate.

If the weather stays warm,

I'll call them flowers.

If not,

 they'll be snowflakes for

a little while longer.

We'll have to wait and see.
Oh, oh,
did I just see a snowflake
drift by the window?

 Until Next Time-

A New Route to Travel

 Should I?

or Shouldn't I?

I've been wanting to start something new!

 But...

I've got so many other projects that need 

to be finished!

This isn't the time of year to

be adding things to the list!

Yaaugh!

What's a quilter to do?

 Well.....

 I've been wanting to start Di Ford's

"Route 66"

from her book, Primarily Quilts.

Her book has been around for awhile

and I know others have already made this lovely quilt,

but I've been waiting until I 

could really enjoy every moment of sewing.

I've been collecting some different border options,

interesting fabrics for hexagons and diamonds,

precut paper pieces,

and a big set of Clover binding clips.

I'm sure I learned to use these

from someone's blog,

but, boy, do these clips work great

holding the "fussy cut" fabric exactly in place

while you baste.

It's great to feel excited about the new challenges,

new fabrics, new skills.

Most of my works in progress, WIP's,

are closer to being finished.

(Notice I didn't say done, just closer!)

I know this isn't a "hurry up" and 

"get it done fast" kind of a quilt,  

but today is a  good day to start something new!

Until Next Time-