Milestone

It is horribly dull and cold today, so the picture doesn't do my EPP top justice: 3829 random hexagons. It won't be quilted yet as I am working on another hand quilting project. The last stitch went in to this yesterday evening. It has taken about six years on and off. 

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I finished a table runner from orphan blocks that has been hanging around for over a year waiting for quilting. I free motion quilted this in a spiderweb design to go with the twelve table mats I made over a year ago.

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I sewed the ends in on this small blanket, modelled by grandpup Archie. It will go in my granddaughters play tent. 

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Archie had an early start today, he went to work with my son to meet the team, he is now curled up in his scrap shirt quilt blanket having forty winks, whilst my son puts his bonsai trees to sleep for the winter in the poly tunnel in my garden. 

Currently reading:

Linky

quiltingismorefunthanhousework.

emsscrapbag

Hexies

The Random Hexie has about 30 more to go and the top is done! 

I did a lot last week whilst watching the snooker. 

I haven't counted yet, but I recon there are about 4000 hexies. 

Finished pic soon! 

I won!

I have had a sumo contest with this beast and my 440, quilting in the ditch, 100  x 100".  Too big to do any free motion, so I had to go for stitching round the dark star borders in the ditch. Still hard work turning the quilt round!

 

Sisters Square Dance

Checking the back to see if I missed any ......all OK. 

I used this thread, it was very good, no breakages. 

One final round of ditch stitch on the border.......

Binding on. I feel a film coming on this afternoon.....

This is some of the work I have been doing in the last three months, in an effort to tidy and consolidate:

Enough of these for two king size projects, one of which will be combined with geese, all prepped and ready to go after Xmas.

170 scrappy Box Kite blocks, enough for two quilts. 

A few more of these to add to the stock

And a couple of hundred four patches  from a box of 2" random squares I found.

All the crumbs string pieced to make hexies, I have about two hundred to trim down.

Some random hexie and teeny diamond paper piecing whilst out and about 

Clue one of Bonnie Hunters mystery done,  'Allietare'. Cutting for clue two tomorrow. 

And I pieced the backing for nine quilt tops that are ready to go!

Crummy

Stripping over. This is all I have left in the bottom of an 80 litre bin-I had three of these, stuffed full.

 All the 3/4" strings have been put aside for the Spirit Level cross quilt. 

                

Life is crummy today.

If I don't tackle these now they won't get  done. 

 

Lots of angles pieces at 2 1/4" from cutting diamonds and hexies to piece into 10 1/2" strips.  These will add motion to the quilt.

 

Half hexies are being pieced to go into Random Hexie quilt, that I am still working on as my busy bag project. I can't just sit and visit these days, I have to sew or I end up fidgeting with my hair or drumming my fingers!

Outed.

OK, time to come clean, I'm a serial piecer. 

I sit at the machine and tune out the world. I have done this for several years and the result is I'm not yet a competent machine quilter! As I'm not so good (yet) I go on to the next piecing job.  

This is the year I get good.  I have 11 more small charity quilts to do, these will be practice before I try and stuff a king size quilt under my machine.  In addition to the flimsies below, I have four  more in progress and enough nine patches probably for another three.  And three  four English paper pieced ones on the go.

Thats 22 plus those below............MUFFLED help!

SO, NO NEW STARTERS UNTIL I HAVE DONE THESE.

However many great ideas I have (a lot).

And the next handquilted project will be...........

The rainbow hexie: these are old pictures, it is in a more advanced state of completion now.

I'm moving my machine to a bedroom, then I will be working on machine quilting

four charity quilts.  

A lot to finish this year, last year I did very little sewing

Quick pictorial update from my mobile

I have done a lot of hand sewing in the last few weeks.......a whole pile of random hexie units completed

and about 20 more sewn into strip sets ready to go (yes, it's organised!).

I cut more hexies as I needed some for the rainbow hexie, one large section complete now......

 More strips ready to go.... (excuse the bare feet!)

The bins were refilled, much cutting (I did a fabric swap with a Bookcrosser friend): this is the random bin...........

Hundreds more sewn up already

This weekend I looked at all the offcuts from the hexie cutting and decided as they were all the same size they should be sewn into strips NOW for the next crumb quilt-it took about 7 hours but at least it's manageable this way, crumbs from one cutting project are the same size-last time I had a giant unmanageable bin of mixed sizes.  I like the fact that every piece is angled.

I had cut more strips for the new leader-ender project, Bonnie's Perkiomen Daydreams; I sewed these into pairs today, that took a couple of hours.  A few weeks of pressing and cutting ahead into 1 1/2" pair units. 

I tried a few out to see how bulky the seams would be on 1" finished patches-seams OK!

I have almost finished the bow ties!  There will be about 1200. This was supposed to be a leader-ender project but it didn't work out that way.  Last few pairs waiting to go......

I sewed the badly cut hexies into units of the right size, these will go into the random hexie bin.  It's going to be fun finding these in the finished quilt. I tried for contrast.

I am all nine-patched out!  I think I have enough for a double with some sashing now; I haven't decided on the setting yet.  I have hundreds more 2" squares cut, its hardly touched the surface. 

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All the black and white nine patches are complete for 'Morphie'.  I need to decide on the next block pattern and cut more black and whites, triangles this time.   No planning, this is a decide as I go project.

As this little project will NEVER get done at home, I have taken the 1/2" diamonds to work to do in my lunch break. All the chaps I work with have asked with varying levels of puzzlement, 'What....': they haven't seen paper piecing before.  When I explain it will take about 10 years and need 14,000 pieces they just shake their heads!

This weeks read

Chosen from Mount 'To Be Read' because of 'A Good Read' on Radio 4 this week.