Tug Of War

You've all been there -- in a "tug of war" between what you want to do and what you need to do.  It's tough because you are the only person on both teams -- how will either "side" ever be able to declare a win??

Do you stay at the sewing machine even though it's a beautiful day so you don't fall behind?

 I haven't fallen behind (but I haven't finished anything either)!!  I've moved that lovely nosegay UFO forward by using the piecing of the little flower blocks and the diamond borders as my "leaders and enders" while piecing hexagons together for part 19 of Homage to Grandmother's Flower Garden (pattern by Katja Marek).  This weekend when it's raining I need to double down and focus on the fiddly border attachment.

I pulled out another small UFO (maybe it could be a finish for May?)  Thank goodness I left placement notes on the blocks or I never would have figured out what my intention was several years ago when I started it.

It's a rather weird piece for me and I'll show it to you another time.

Yard-sitting arrived early this spring for Northeast Ohio so of course that requires a new easy to carry outside project -- another Musselburgh hat (designed by Ysolda) -- it's such a versatile pattern.  It's set up so you can knit with any yarn, any needle size, and get predictable results without doing a gauge swatch or math.  Doesn't get better than that!!  

 The yarn is a Merino/cashmere blend and I'm thinking it will be a cozy hat for a friend who is going through cancer treatment.

Or do you go outside and do all the stuff????

The weather along the south shore of Lake Erie has made for excellent bird migration over the past week and even though I've seen most of the birds that will come through, I must see them again.  One morning found me perched in my lawn chair under some big oak trees at a local park -- 2 hours later, I had listed over 40 species including 12 warbler and 4 vireo species without any exertion.  The day is fast coming when that will be my primary birding style!

I joined a local native plant group this spring and they are hosting weekly flower walks.

Isn't this wild columbine lovely?  Only comes in this color and will tolerate shade.  

I have one plant in my wildflower bed but there need to be more!

And this was a new to me violet this past week -- common dog-violet.  It is such a delicate shade of blue.  

There are little seedlings all over the house waiting to be big enough to set out

and the front porch is loaded with plants I overwintered getting use to fresh air and natural sunshine.

I transplanted some brassicas into the garden beds and washed some windows today.  My sewing side might lose the tug of war this month again.

I take comfort in knowing that I'm not alone -- we are all pulled in opposite directions because we are dynamic interesting folks who want to do it all.

So carry on!!

Mary

 

Hexie Mania

In my Instagram world, English Paper Piecing and hexies are really hot right now. 

There are so many interesting new designs coming out and I know of at least four sew alongs that are centered on EPP and/or hexies. 

I certainly enjoy the process!  I'm a hand baster and find that stage of it quite soothing.  

However, I need to remain practical and not cave into any of the sew alongs right now.  I have two large unfinished hexie/EPP quilts in progress and starting another project would only take time away from each of them.  So I've held back and held back and held back.  

But when I saw the #100days100hexies2017 hashtag pop up in my Instagram feed, I decided to use the daily posts and prompts to motivate myself to produce the 1700 or so hexies I'm going to need to complete the setting I've organized for my Dodecagon blocks.

This is my working diagram (generated in Electric Quilt) and the tally sheet for how many hexies I need and how many I have finished basting.

I had a good start on the scrappy black ones, but still needed 236 -- that took 20 days.

Now I'm working on the yellow ones.

I'm going through hexie papers like they are M&M's!?!

So I was glad to come across this package of light weight cardstock in my office.

Not sure what weight it is, but it's light enough to work well.

Everyday, I punch another 20 papers from a sheet.

And I cut a stack of hexies -- 12 to 16 so they are ready for basting when the opportunity presents!

This weekend, I was able to finish 27 while serving as welcome hostess during a local event.

Don't you love hand stitching out in public?

It's such a great conversation starter -- everyone in curious and wants to know what I'm doing!

The rows of yellow hexies are growing.

(Apparently my blacks have a lot of blue in them since they always photograph navy?)

I'll tackle the green ones next.

And then the pink ones.

If I have stitching time once the day's hexies are basted (trying to do at least 10 a day),

I've started to add the black ones to the dodecagons -- I make two "chains" of hexies.

Once those are complete, I add them to the dodecagon.

Removing the dodecagon papers as I go makes it easier to manipulate the edges and keep them aligned. 

I'm pleased with the progress I'm making though I don't expect I'll get all the needed hexies basted by the end of the 100 days.  Most of the participants are doing a single hexie every day and using a lot of cute prints so it's fun to browse the hashtag once a day and see what's new!

If you are on Instagram, you can check it out by visiting @sewfoxymama or the hashtag #100hexies100days2017.

Mary