SMITTEN is Finished!!!

What a delight in the midst of a busy teaching schedule to finish a quilt!!

The laundry was hung out so I can repack for the next leg of my schedule.

The sun was shining on a pleasant fall morning

and so I adjourned to the circle of chairs for an hour of hand stitching to put the final stitches in the binding! 

My main squeeze, Willie, showed up to supervise and enjoy my company in his domain. 

It's so relaxing to just hang out together!

A first look at the finished quilt, spread out on the grass 

demanded closer inspection before final approval could be granted! 

"Nice job, Mary!" 

The blocks that feature some vintage textiles are my favorites -- Instagram inspiration from @treehousetextiles!!

I think the pink pearl cotton big stitch quilting is perfect! 

I hung it on the clothesline for some beauty shots but the sun was so bright it washed out much of the color. 

So I moved it to the side of the "cowshed" -- right profile. 

Sexy pic?! 

Straight on -- the breeze kept moving the bottom edge and I hope it's straighter than it looks here!! 

This is my fourth finish from my list of six goals for the third quarter of the 2016 Finish Along!!

It's headed for the Mutton Hill Quilt Show in Akron, Ohio, October 22 and 23, 2016.

And it's one of the teaching samples for my new Six-Pointed Sampler Workshops!

Next??

 

Linking up to the third quarter 2016 Finish Along party HERE!!

Mary Huey

Quilting Smitten!!

One of my teaching goals for the past several years is to be better prepared to discuss "how to quilt" projects with my students.  In order to accomplish that, it's important for me to quilt most of my own work because experience is such a reliable method of instruction.

The machine quilting of Smitten is well underway -- I've adhered to my schedule by and large and am at the halfway point. I turned to Instagram for quilting inspiration and am so grateful to Kaye Hoffman of Australia who shared a number of photos of her finished version of the quilt five months ago on Instagram -- you can check some of them out for yourself by heading over HERE. 

Her quilt was quilted by Judy Simcock (you can see more of Judy's work HERE) who is not only a professional machine quilter, but she organizes stitching retreats that look like lots of fun!  The designs she used on Kaye's quilt inspired me as I began to work on my quilt.   While I didn't copy her designs and placement, you can see the impact she had on the designs I've created for my own quilt.

I thought I'd share the specifics of two of the simpler motifs as it might be helpful to you.

The first I've used in most of the hexagons that are the centers of a block.

It is made up of two arced "triangular" passes around the hexagon.

I begin in the first corner, using a "Fine Line" continuous curve tool.  (Click HERE for their website.)  The tool is aligned with the outside edge of my edge following presser foot and aligned 1/4" to the left of the third corner.

The tool is repositioned for two more arcs and I return to the first corner.  If you don't have a ruler, you can draw an arc or freehand it (which is what I did before I discovered the tool).

As I stitched the arcs along the inside of the pink triangles, I "interrupted" that trail and stitched a second arced triangle in the hexagon connecting the three remaining corners and completing the star shape.

Upon returning the last corner, I continue with the design of the shapes around the hexagon.

In the center of this large hexagon, you see a third set of arcs that travel from the tip of a green plaid diamond to the next green plaid diamond -- these are actually my "traveling" lines but they also add more interest to the quilting of the large yellow hexagon (and eliminate lots of thread tie-offs spots).

Here's the same treatment of a smaller hexagon in the center of this star block.

To quilt the background diamonds in this block, I used a "polka dot" motif to fill the center of the diamonds.  To begin, I marked the center of each diamond.  I lined up my straight "Fine Line" tool and stitched a straight line from the point of the diamond,

stopping when my presser foot reached the center mark. 

Now I (very slowly) stitched a circle and re-traced around the left side of the circle  

before completing the straight line to the opposite end of the diamond.  You can still see my "stop" point marking in this picture.  I added arcs around the four sides of each diamond to finish them up!

Once I figure out how to quilt a block, I repeat that quilting design in the rest of those same blocks.  Saves time and mental energy and unifies the quilt!

As you can see, Willie approves of my progress so far!  He was on that quilt in a flash when I took it outside to take advantage of the sunshine for the photo session.

I hope these ideas give you inspiration for quilting your hexagonal blocks -- I know I'm going to bookmark this post so I can refer to it for future 6-pointed star quilts because there are more of them in my future!!

And if you want to start your own version of this delightful pattern, HERE is a link to a seller!

I hope you get all the stitching time you want this weekend!!

Mary

Busy Weekend!!

As a rule, I haven't enjoyed holiday weekends since my husband passed and my children moved out on their own so it's important to go into those weekends with a plan.

This past weekend was Labor Day here in the USA and the plan revolved around getting this quilt (Smitten by Lucy Carson Kingwell) ready to layer.

Mission accomplished!! 

Wahoo!! 

Today it gets layered and then the hemming and hawing about how to quilt it can begin!?!

I love looking at it, so I left it hanging out on the clothesline with the sheets for a bit just to enjoy the view.

I even contemplated mounting it on the side of the newly painted garage for some photos.

That was one of my other weekend goals -- to get this side of the garage painted before the weather turned hot and rainy this week as is forecast. 

Definitely out of my comfort zone -- the painting part is okay but there was lots of self-talk going on concerning that ladder stretched out into the peak of the wall.

The building is reputed to have started life as the cow shed circa 1915 when the "neighborhood" was likely a pasture behind us.  There's a door at the back corner, long nailed shut, which would have given easy access to a pasture and an old diagonal "scar" along the front corner where a small structure was removed -- chicken coop or wood shed?

I've had the rest of the building sided with vinyl to make it easier to maintain and improve the neighbors' views but I love the visual history of this side and so will continue to keep it painted -- though I won't be the one painting it next time!!

I like the idea of organizing a photo backdrop there -- have to think about that!!

And just to keep things interesting, I'm working on making the transition from tri-focals (which I've worn for 30 years to two pairs of bi-focals?!?  I can see the targets better with both pairs of glasses and I think the challenge of keeping track of both pair will be a good mental workout for me -- memory improvement -- where did I leave the reading pair?

Such a goofy selfie!!

Time to layer!!  Think I might do a couple of them while I'm in the mode!!

Mary

Progress!!

Earlier this week, I shared my renewed efforts to finish my version of Lucy Carson Kingwell's Smitten quilt.

The work continues and I'm very close to getting the top completed.  In this photo, the upper left corner is assembled and the next diagonal row is set together.  Since these are y-seams, the seams stop at the 1/4" seam and don't go all the way to the raw edge of the blocks.  I find it's better to leave the seams between the hexagon blocks unpressed for now.  It's easier to move them out of the way if they haven't been pressed.

I'm working from the left side diagonally towards the upper right side.  For those of you who have invested in my DVD workshop, Set-In Piecing Simplified (order it HERE) this is another look at the approach I take for setting hexagonal blocks together (this is covered in the second half of the DVD).

Half triangles are used to straighten the left and right sides of the quilt and it's easiest to add those to the hexagon block before you begin to attach the blocks together.

Of course, each seam is a stop and start process but it is greatly simplified by using the chain-piecing process featured in the DVD. 

It's also more accurate and more secure than any y-seam technique I've tried.

Here is the first seam stitched together between two rows.

I have discovered (and perhaps others have as well) that after completing the first seam, if I skip the next seam and go to the third one, this process is half as challenging.  So in the picture below, I have the third seam pinned and am holding open the second seam so you can see it easier. 

This is the result after stitching the third seam pair. 

Now you can fold the entire piece matching the second pair of seams and all the rest of the quilt top falls out of your way easily.  For me, this simplifies the process a great deal!

I continue to hop over a pair of seams, stitch a pair of seams, and then return to close up the gap.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Two rows joined!  Everything is flat and secure!! 

Here it is with three rows joined!  I still have to cut and piece about 10 small hexagon blocks which will be assembled into clusters of three to match the size of the large blocks plus the half blocks for the lower edge.

This is going to be an exciting workshop to teach!! 

 I love the combination of teaching a great technique (Set-In Piecing Simplified) and helping students discover all the possibilities of experimenting with value and color.  The two-day format will enable students to leave with a working plan well underway! 

If you can't get to Northeast Ohio, I travel!! 

 Give me a shout at maryhueyquilts@hotmail.com if you like to discuss having me come to teach for your guild/shop/group!

 

There's still some summer to be enjoyed up here, so get out there this weekend and do it!!

 

Mary Huey

Another UFQ Adventure and Some Ideas on Getting Unstuck!

Once again, there is nothing like a deadline to motivate me!

I started piecing Lucy Carson Kingwell's Smitten over a year ago and as is so often the case with me, other projects pushed in and took priority.

This year, I listed it as one of my "goal" projects for the APQ Resolution challenge which helped me get back at it briefly earlier in the year.  Then a student asked me to consider using the pattern for a future workshop and the idea formed to follow through on that for my 2017 Farmpark Workshop.

 

It's too early to book for it at this point, but I can tell you it's

Friday and Saturday, March 17 and 18

at Lake Metroparks Farmpark Quilt Show!

 

So back out everything came and the finished blocks took over the design wall.

Now I have a deadline to motivate me but I need stimulation to actually do the work!

I find that a good place to start is to sort through all that fabric pulled for the project and reorganize it.

Nothing gets my juices moving like sorting fabric into color and value piles!

Another useful strategy for me is to start cutting pieces without making "matching" decisions.  For this set of small blocks I needed a central hexagon.  Cutting some that I thought were pretty is the quickest way to move forward. 

The "visual" of the shape laying there suggests what to use more quickly than other approaches.

And as I was handling a piece of fabric, I cut some extra pieces -- large diamonds for fillers I would need, a set of background diamonds for a small star, triangle wedges.

(A good pot of tea and a lovely teacup help stimulate creativity.)

Soon I was back in the groove and piecing blocks at a productive rate! 

By adding the newly pieced units to the design wall as they were finished, I can evaluate where I need more of the three main color families -- pink, green, and yellow.  If you don't have a design wall, it is such a helpful resource you might want to give it some thought.

Even though I haven't finished all the interior blocks, I stared to create the half blocks needed for the upper and lower edges.  I have a photo deadline I'm trying to meet!!

I've also begun to incorporate ideas from other sources to build my enthusiasm and maintain momentum -- sometimes I get bored with doing what someone else has done and just need to give it a twist!  Treehouse Textiles is a shop in Australia that I follow on Instagram and they often post ideas for using vintage textiles in their quilted projects (such as this). 

I had three of these tea towels too precious to "use" but if I didn't do something with them, they were doomed for a donation box someday -- now they will always be fondled and appreciated!

I've started to assemble the upper left side working in diagonal rows. 

Friday, I'll share some tips on how I manage this part of the process.

Must head back to the studio for now and stitch, stitch, stitch!!

 

Mary Huey