Farewell to Yellow and More

 I finished up the last of the yellow lozenges and a few other rainbowish ones that I had also cut along the way so I now have a total of 320 done at the half way point.  My goal was 405 so with six colors left to go I will easily pass that by!  All my yelllow Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks are done too and I am ready for the next color!  Linking up with SoScrappy!  We are halfway through our rainbow and this week we will post the first half of the rainbow, so be looking for that!

I got the binding on my Ring around the Hexies quilt.  This is really one of my favorite quilts.  Hand sewing the hexies, piecing those gorgeous Bonnie blocks and the quilting is great!  Ros is so talented and knows just what I want even when I don't!  Thanks Ros!

 Here it is hanging above the bed (which wasn't made so it isn't in the picture!).

 Last night we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" while sewing a bit and I made these three little churn dashes.  I am getting quite the stack, they are really fun!  Today is our work "picnic" and we are all going to see part two of the movie and then to Oregano's to eat.  Tomorrow sewing with Becky and the other Kathy (and maybe Barb), the last two I haven't seen in forever, so should be fun.  No idea what I am going to bring to sew, thought maybe the long forgotten Hawaii Sunset

which I FINALLY got out.  I cut the remaining blue strips and attempted to figure out the angles needed for the cornerstones/side triangles.  GRR.  Not as easy for me as I would like.  I also discovered I didn't cut the remaining green squares (why of why didn't I?) so I have plenty more cutting to do!  I think it might be too frustrating to work on while gabbing so I may need to prep something else tonight or drag out a WIP that is easier!
Oh in WW news, I lost 1.8 this week so almost to 43 pounds.  People are actually stopping me and asking me what I am doing so it is noticeable finally! :)

Ring Around the Hexies!

Ros also quilted my Ring Around the Hexies wall hanging!  I cannot wait to hang this one above the bed so I can stare at it daily.  Not sure if I made binding already and if not, what color I should bind it in.  Love the scrappiness of this and think the combination designers of Bonnie Hunter and Mickey Depre cannot be beat!  I am happy with my first work with pieced hexies, I know there are more in my future!

Ros custom quilted it with Superior Art Studio's "Arabian Sand" thread and in the bobbin she used Superior Bottom Line thread. 

My backing.

Ros custom made me a label so I don't have to add one, I always number my quilts though so I may have to add that myself but I am tickled this label won't wash out--very sturdy! 
Lost one pound last week and .8 this week for a total of 33!  Pretty happy with that considering all the buffets on vacation.  :)

Finish Along

Lately I feel like I am always working on a BOM or RSC blocks and though I am making progress, I am not really getting anywhere!  I saw one of my regular blog reads (Fluffy Sheep Quilting) is participating in a quarter two finish along, so I had to follow her link and check it out!  I need a bit of a push to get some of these quilts finished!  So the first step is to post about projects that I will finish between now and July 6, 2014 and then link up!

I started Hawaii Sunset many sunsets ago, lol and have seen Andra's lovely finish and Amy's blocks come to life after our swap ages ago....I love this quilt and really just need to take the time to get it finished and quilted!  This goal might just help it see the light of day.  Maybe Amy will join in with me and put hers to the front of the line too! :)

I am so tickled with Ring Around the Hexies and need to get a backing and binding made for it and get it quilted too.  I want to hang this on the wall of the bedroom--I thought about hand quilting it, but I want to see it done sooner than that (and I have enough hand projects!) so I think I will get it out to my longarmer next time I see her and this one should be an easy finish this quarter!

I still have lots of star blocks to make and then I need to get My blue/PURPLE Heaven together and quilted and bound.  I was really enjoying this one but have been stalled out, so since it is purple month at the RSC I suspect I may get these blocks done and get to putting them together too!

After looking at many of the linked up posts, I have come to the conclusion that I need to add more to this post so I am adding in an eye spy or two.  I have a bin with lots of cut fabrics to make up this quilt again...

 And this quilt again....and one is always in need of eye spy quilts for baby gifts!  So I will play in these fabrics and try to get in a finish or two with these before the quarter two challenge ends!

 

So here is to my first FINISH ALONG goals!



We Interrupt Monica's Vacation with a Little Sewing!

 

Monica's oldest son is getting married in May so Monica helped me pick out which quilt Cory and Amber would like for their wedding.  Twist of Fate was the winner!  So tonight while she was packing up I made and attached the binding and label and it is now in her suitcase for the trip back to Wisconsin!

I also finally had a chance to hand sew up the last hexie flower so when Monica turned in for the night (she leaves tomorrow already!) I quickly sewed the rows together for Ring Around the Hexies.  I love this little quilt top!

Ring Around the Hexies!

 I can hardly wait to go see Bonnie Hunter tomorrow morning!  I worked today but came home and worked all afternoon (in between packing) on Ring Around the Hexies.  Here is the progression:

 

 

 

   Stitch Kitty likes it too!  These setting triangles are too big, I fixed them before the next step, had to reread the directions and got some help from Kathy, lol!

 I still have to hand sew the last hexie flower and then I need to hand tack all the hexies down before I will sew the rest of the rows...all is attached that can be at this point.  I am loving it and plan to hang it in our bedroom when it is done!
Now off to finish packing and try to get some sleep, I have to meet BJ, Ros, and Andrea at 7 AM at a truck stop nearby--WHOOT WHOOT!  Oh, Bonnie facebooked me that she is also at our hotel in Tuscon, providence is so very good to me!  It would only be better if Amy, Angela, Kevin, Alycia, Andra and all my other Bonnie blog friends were there too!  I will take pictures and have plenty to blog about when I get back!  I may try to blog from my Nook, but not sure I will figure it out...back on Friday night!

Ring Around the Hexies :)

 After work tonight I made four labels and attached three (don't have the Mickey quilt back yet) by machine.  I usually hand tack them, but they will stay longer by machine, so I went for it.  I also packed up a huge suitcase with all the Bonnie quilts and tops that live in my house for the Tuscon trip!  Talkin' Turkey is still on the design wall and the split nine patch leader/ender is also still in block form, but in my suitcase are three quilts and about five tops.  Packer Solstice didn't fit in the suitcase, but it is coming.  I was planning to take Randy's Orca Bay (asked if I could have it for a week, lol) but it is huge and will not fit either, so I might leave it behind.  I usually am not such a big show off at guild meetings, but I know Bonnie will enjoy seeing them, so they are coming!

I finally got the other nine blocks cut for Ring Around the Hexies.  All the four patches are made and one sample block as you can see.  Still have one more hexie to finish and they all need to be sewn onto the black blocks.  Bringing this with me to Tuscon too so Ros can see it and maybe Bonnie too!  There will be rows of hst's between the blocks, they are made but not sewn into sashing strips yet.  I maybe should have stuck with yellow instead of orange, but I forgot that I was switching it up and cut all the orange...my yellow in the hexies reads orangeish yellowish, but thinking I should have stuck with yellow?  I think I am just going to go for it as is, this will just be wallhanging size and may take its turn hanging over the bed.

Ring Around the Hexies Continues!

 While watching the Seahawks kick butt in the superbowl I did a little hand sewing on my pieced hexies.  And I am linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday!  I finished up these three, but then I needed to make enough for one more set.  I got right on it after the game.

 If you haven't made pieced hexies before, you can see in the lower left what the part you sew looks like, then top center is the hexie placed where it will be glued (or hand basted) on.  I just trim each side to a quarter inch and glue them so they look like they are supposed to.

I sewed up all four of the easy block that the hexies will be attached to.  These aren't attached yet, just laid out for effect.  I also made all the hst's for the alternate block (didn't take a picture of them) and cut some of the parts.  I am hoping to get a few of those blocks made now that this project is making progress!

Here is Bonnie's picture...this is what I am aiming for!  Ros how are you coming on yours?  It is really a fun little quilt!
Oh and I was flattered to get an email that my spools quilt is the cover photo for the Aurifil Thread Page on Flickr!  That made my day!

Collaboration Celebration of "Ring Around the Hexies" Anyone?

Ros finished quilting Packer Solstice in record time!  I stopped by to pick it up Saturday night since I was up that way for a Pampered Chef party anyway!  Today I went to Becky's to sew and got the binding done.  I have to bury some threads and get a picture in the sunshine, but I am tickled green and gold with it!  

Speaking of Ros, I convinced her that we should take on another Bonnie project for fun!  We can never get enough!  This one was designed by her and Mickey Depre.  I spent time today piecing the hexies so I can hand sew them together.  This will be a take my time project, I am in no rush to get it done, but just wanted to get it started.  Anyone else working on this or want to get going on it?  We can cheer each other on!

 The pattern is in this little book.  The hexie configuration is called "Boomer" and depending on the way you turn the pieced hexies you get different looks!  I am trying to decide which one I should go with!

It is really hard to decide which one to use, there are four in the wallhanging size (which is what I am going for at this point) and I suppose I can pick my four favorite if I want!