Hexies #16 and #17

I didn't get to quilt today because I was helping a couple of new EQ owners learn the program, and when I got home my husband wanted me to go to Home Depot with him (we're renovating a bathroom). By the time we got back, the rest of the day was gone, so I cut out another hexie kit for this week and called it a day.

Good thing I finished this week's hexagon block this morning. The brown and cream one is from last week, and I just never got around to posting it. I'm looking forward to working with blues for a while.

Double Hourglass

I discovered this Double Hourglass pattern on Pat's blog, and she found a tutorial for it here. Subsequently I found a couple other tutorials for the same block, but Cluck Cluck Sew had the fastest, easiest method.

I played around with a few blocks, then decided they would work fine as a gift for an expectant mother I know. The mother likes bright colors, and I really wanted to get rid of these calicos, most of which are 10 or more years old, so it worked out perfectly. All the fabric for this little quilt came from my stash, about 4 yards I'd say. Yay!

The quilt has a six-inch wide white border, which really doesn't show up well in the photo, but that little narrow green strip is at the edge of the border and will be the binding.

I found some butter colored yarn that was pretty close to the same yellow in the quilt, so I'm knitting a layette to go with the quilt. I have not yet sewn the seams on the booties or turned the edge on the bonnet (it has a scalloped edge), and I haven't even started the sweater yet. But the mother is not due 'til August, so I have plenty of time.

I have been working hard on four quilts, and I'm close to finishing a couple within the next several days. I just finished the Double Hourglass top tonight and hope to quilt it tomorrow, and I am handstitching the binding down on the September Sun. I'll be really happy to get that one off my plate!

Hexie #15

Last week was really busy, and I was gone four out of the five weekdays, either touring the countryside or sewing with friends. By Friday night I was so tired I could hardly get out of my own way. Consequently I didn't get a chance to finish the hexagon block for the week, but it's done now.

Even though I didn't finish the block on time doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about hexagon blocks. I did a little shopping last week too and found a bunch of civil war fabrics that I liked for my quilt. I spent the weekend washing and pressing them, and I can't wait to make up some blocks with the blues and browns. I'm getting a little tired of red and tan right now.

I also found a few more batiks for the Star Crazy blocks, two gorgeous Jinny Beyer border fabrics, a sweet little floral for a couple of pillowcases, and a few other little odds and ends.

My niece and my son's friend are both expecting this summer, and I wanted to make little sweaters for the babies. I have a pair of booties and a bonnet already made up in a butter colored acrylic for the friend but still have to make the sweater.

I also found a couple balls of Cotton Kisses, a cotton blend that makes up into either a cardigan or a pullover. Each ball of yarn is a complete kit with the pattern instructions and little ducky buttons tucked inside the ball of yarn, which I thought was a cute idea. I'll be using this textured yarn for a little button up hoodie for my niece.

Hexies #12, #13, and #14

These are the hexagon blocks I finished for the last three-week period. The red, pink, and blue one is a departure from the geometric prints used in so many of the other blocks, but I liked the fabrics. We'll see how it works out.

Star Crazy BOM -- February

The February installment for Star Crazy is done now too. I actually had it finished by about 2:00 this afternoon, posted it on the Star Crazy blog, then realized I turned two of the corner four-patch units the wrong way in one of the Irish Chain blocks. Frogging it had to wait until after a dinner engagement. I was too lazy to take another photo, but it's fixed now. I like these blocks!

Star Crazy BOM -- January

These are most of the fabrics I am using for the Star Crazy BOM. Luscious, aren't they? I'm using batiks, and I'll be throwing in some scraps here and there if they'll work in my color palette.

Here are the January blocks all done, plus some of the half square triangle units that go in the borders. There are a boatload of these units in the quilt, and I think we will probably make 30 or 40 of them every month. These little jewels finish at 1-1/2".

I have two of the four blocks for February done and hope to have the rest of that installment done by the end of the weekend.

I'm Back

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted, huh? Three weeks ago right when I was really on a roll, I had a bout of sciatica, an inflammation of the sciatic nerve which begins in the lower spine and runs down the back of each leg. The pain radiates over the buttock and rear thigh and can extend into the calf and foot. For me I suppose it is another first in the inexorable march towards old(er) age.

Anyway, I was out of commission for a full week and had to take it pretty easy for another week before I felt like myself again. Sitting down was especially painful, so there was no sewing, no blogging, no computer. You can't keep a good quilter down for long though, and I stood for hours and handpieced. I finished a couple more hexagon blocks and will post those tomorrow, along with the block for this week.

I finished more pillowcases before the sciatica, and last week I was back in the sewing room going full bore. I have two projects with a May 1 deadline, a baby quilt to be finished by August, and the Star Crazy BOM to get caught up with, and I'll be dedicating myself to those in the upcoming weeks. Oh yes, in another burst of enthusiasm I started three more knitting projects!