Quilting back to hexies

[Faroe]

Was asked to sew a patch on a damaged throw pillow. Dug everything needed out of stored boxes, and found some decent light, and got to work. After it was done, sort of missed all the hand sewing I used to do. Thought about the recent quilting scrap posts (you know who you are), and dug more stuff out of deep Connex box storage.

When I first started hand quilting, I only wanted to make small art quilts. Some were big enough to cover a table, but many were just place mat sized (not that I would use them for that). For some reason, I felt that the only *real* quilting would be a bed sized cover. I have one 95% finished, but it has serious problems due to cheap WM fabric, and I don't want to finish it. There are boxes of assembled cheerie hexies that I never finished into quilts, because.... well, I am not capable of the will power required to hand sew a gazillion hexies (no matter how cheerie) together into a finished bed spread. Furthermore, we have three dogs, and yes, the bed is their space too, so....REALLY - what is the point? I can't use one on the bed.

My little art quilts look good on tables, and on top of the vivs. I want some more. Plenty of backing fabric and batting in the stash. Been floor sitting for a year, so things need to be set-up so that works. Previously, I always quilted at a desk.

 

[summerthyme]

I like "throw sized" quilts. Maybe 50"x60"? Small enough to finish hand quilting before you get sick of it, big enough to actually be a blanket, ot to toss on a bed as a decoration. I kind of liked the idea of the bed runners that were popular in the pattern books for awhile (still could be, for all I know- I haven't bought a quilting magazine in years). We have similar issues with dogs on the bed, so I use a heavy WindBloc fabric throw cover I made as a "bedspread". It's waterproof and washable, and doesn't look that bad. But a pretty bed runner draped on the bottom would be nicer. I figure if I made it in darker colors and quilted it fairly intensively , it could be washed and dried as needed.

Summerthyme

 

[Faroe]

Deep in hexies, boxes of them. Some sewn together in little groups, and big groups. and many ....many starched, de-papered, and top stitched around the edges - because that is my favorite way of working with them. Got to a point the other day, where I never want to see another hexi again.

Had another look at quilt-as-you-go techniques. There are numerous new videos, and better ways of doing that. Many projects look like they were quilted traditionally. So, made a stack of blocks for one of those. Then, I found another video with a method I prefer even more than the pieced shash ones, but the blocks have to be cut differently, with one fabric panel an inch larger around all four edges (assuming rectangle/square). At this point, I'm running out of batting. Been using an 80/20 thin cotton bat purchased about 12 years ago, back in TX. No label left, but I *think* I remember.

The QAG tutorials got me back into hand quilting (the actual stitch through all three layers part), and I think my work looks good. Had some minor trouble with the layers shifting (even with lots of hand basting), but switched to little dots of Roxanne's glue baste (since I don't have a spray baste), and that was very effective. I hate hoops (the 10" layer-cake blocks are too small for any of my hoops anyway), and I generally ditch the thimble too. A good callus works well. Forgot how much I like just stitching on the lines. I can get one 10" square assembled, and quilted in a day. You'd think it wouldn't take THAT long, it's not particularly dense quilting (nor the tiniest stitches), but it does.

Anyway, I'll sew up some more hexi groups after I run out of batting. Not a shape that lends itself to quilt-as-you-go (as far as I can figure - and yeah, I've tried a few ways), but they will work well as inserts in blocks, or as applique.