Late Night Sewing

You know you’ve stayed up too late sewing when you start time traveling.

This label was my first attempt at machine embroidery.

I had to redo it several times before it came out right.

All's well that ends well, right?

Everywhere, Hexagons!

Everywhere I look lately, I see hexagons! Part of my morning routine is to visit Bing to enjoy the new day’s picture. This morning, I was thrilled to see hexagons on the Bing homepage! The picture is actually of honey pots, but the colors would make a great quilt.

A few weeks ago, I was playing around in PowerPoint when I noticed that one of the slide transitions is rotating hexagons! I haven’t used it in a real presentation yet, but am looking forward to it. There is a similar transition with diamonds that I also want to use. (Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft, but I would like Bing and PowerPoint even if I didn't.)

More recently, I saw these hexagon mirrors at Ikea. Brown’s not really my color, but I might have to get these for my sewing space. I can’t seem to get enough of hexagons these days. I think that’s an indication that I should start another English paper pieced hexagon project. I wonder where I’ll encounter hexagons next.

Hexagons in the Wild

Recently, I was walking around downtown Seattle when I spotted some hexagons in the wild. These weren’t just any hexagons. They were giant hexagons! These hexies were the backdrop of an empty window display. The business that put them up looked to be long gone, so I don’t know what they were supposed to be a backdrop for. No matter. I could imagine a quilt made out of fussy cut giant hexagons like these. Just goes to show you – quilting inspiration can be found in the strangest places sometimes.

Twelfth Finish of 2011: Hexagon Mug Rug

I can’t seem to get enough of English paper pieced hexagons. I haven’t made a large project with them yet, but the small projects just keep on coming. Whenever I make hexies, I make more than I need for that particular project. I had quite a few left over from a hexagon pillow I made earlier this year, so it seemed natural to make a mug rug. I pieced the top a while ago, but only recently finished it. I gave it to my mom, who liked it. This is my first mug rug, and it's just big enough for a cup of espresso.

Fifth Finish of 2011: Floralgraphix Pillows

I don’t know why it took me so long to get up the courage to make pillows! After making a few, I find them to be quick and easy projects. For me, the most challenging part is making sure the cover fits the pillow form. For some reason, the pillows forms that I buy are not true to size.

After making a hexagon pillow for a friend, I knew I had to make one for myself. I’ve heard of people getting burnt out on English paper pieced hexagons, but this is my third (small) hexagon project and I still love them. To go with the hexagon pillow, I chose to make a plus pillow. I have long admired the plus quilts I have seen on the blogosphere, but have been intimidated by them. I thought that I couldn’t make one for myself since I don’t have a design wall where I can plan the fabric placement. I am very happy with how my pillow turned out, but am not sure that I would make a plus quilt, still due to the lack of design wall.

The fabric for both these fabrics is one of Jason Yenter’s Floralgraphix lines, for In the Beginning Fabrics, plus one Tula Pink fabric that coordinates well. My mom made me a diamond quilt and then gave me the scraps. It lives on the banister in our living room and I felt it needed a couple pillows to keep it company. I still have a ton of scraps left over, so maybe one day I will make a table runner to match.

First Finish of 2011: Blue Pillows

My first finish of 2011 was a gift that I wanted to keep for myself. When one of my dearest friends moved into her own apartment, I wanted to make something for her new place. Like so many others, I love working with English paper pieced hexagons. I thought they would be the perfect project for my third trimester when I couldn’t use my sewing machine and could only sew by hand. I underestimated how time-consuming hexagons can be. I started the hexagon pillow in October of 2010, gave birth in November 2010 and didn’t finish the hexagon pillow until January 2011. The smaller pillow I started and finished in one day.

One reason I wanted to keep these pillows is that blue is my favorite color. Also, I used scraps from three different quilts, in addition to a fat quarter from my stash. One of my favorite things about quilting is using the same fabric in multiple projects. I love how quilts are connected that way. The scraps used in these pillows came from my first large quilt, the only wedding quilt I’ve made, and a quilt that I recently gifted to a co-worker. I still have some scraps let over, too!

Neither of these pillows is from a pattern. I just made it up as I went along. I ran into a little bit of trouble because the 14” and 16” pillow forms actually measured 13” and 15” respectively. Luckily I had added borders that were wide enough to trim down, so it buffed out. My mom let me use her sewing room and mad babysitting skills so that I could finish this project sooner rather than later. Thanks, Mom!