Hexagons for Genevieve

Here they are! I enjoyed learning how to do these hexagons. It was especially helpful that Genevieve could give us Waterloo girls a tutorial in person. I was able to stitch these hex's together and play with my kids at the same time. This would be a fun way to use up scraps and a great project to take on the road. Hmmm. Thanks Genevieve. Hope you enjoy.   Shauna :)

Waterloo Hex Night!

A few snapshots of the local Waterloo-area girls from International Stashes getting together last night to try our hands at flannel hexagons!! We were lucky enough to have Genevieve in person, so she helped guide us and teach us...and I think we all have the hang of it now. Proof of that? I'm watching tv and hand stitching the rest of my hexagons!

Meg's Block for Genevieve

Hi Everybody!

I had a lot of fun putting Genevieve's block together.  As I posted earlier in a comment, the first time I tried English paper piecing, I really did not like it.  Way too fiddly and (the real reason, even though I hate to admit this about myself) -- too hard to make perfect!  The second project was tolerable -- and by the end of it, I grudgingly admitted that I had gained a new skill.  This third time, I loved it, and found it absolutely true that I could sit in front of the TV and zip those hexagons together:)

Finally, I had a lot of fun with the flannel, which I previously hadn't used.  I will say that the colours are much more vibrant than they appear here -- and the solid-looking bits have a small print to them.  Although this block looks a bit 'cool', I remember lots of warm bursts in the original photo, so hopefully it will be a nice balance.

Can't wait to see the other blocks, and good luck to everybody who's trying this out for the first time.  xo Meg

Hand stitching...

Hi everyone,
I've sewn together some of my hexagons but was suspicious my stitching was too loose. I took them to my local quilting shop and the lady kindly told me to sew my stitches closer together and pull them tighter. Has anyone found a helpful video regarding slip stitch, or is it a skill I will improve with practise?!!
Happy sewing and weekend!

Hexagon Help Needed!

Hi everybody --

I have been trying to print the hexagon template for the October block and I'm not having much luck getting the right size.  My printed hexagons are 4.5" across.  The label to the template says "2.5 inch hexagon" -- but the sides are only about 2 and 3/8".

Anybody having any luck yet?  I could get out my son's geometry set soon and draw my own -- but given that they need to fit with other blocks, I'd feel much better using a template that everyone else is using.

Please post if you have any solutions.  Thanks!  Meg

Catching Up

 Hello Hello! I am back at my machine and excited to share my two new blocks. Linsay and Chris, thanks for your patience.

The snowballs came together quite nicely. The top left fabric was leftover from a dress I made for Megan when she was 2. The bottom right owl fabric came from a pair of boxers. The middle green and blue fabric was a piece from Katy (thank you) and I noticed that Katy and I have included the same fabric (this was not planned). Can you find it? The middle right fabric came from a quilt I made for a girlfriend when she got married around 14 years ago. Hope you enjoy, Linsay :)

I loved the freedom of putting these two blocks together. I love "freeform sewing".  I had all the reds in my stash and thanks to Micaela acquired some lovely aquas to match. The lighter blue an old fabric that I received from my neighbours mothers stash. This blue is one of my favourites and shows up in a lot of random projects of mine. Hope you enjoy, Chris :)

February blocks coming together...

Girls! Here's a peek at the February quilt top coming together. I ran out of white, so am waiting to finish three of the edges, and I need more of my backing fabric, but it is slowly taking shape! I will machine quilt this one...stitching in the ditch along the block edges to start, and then I saw a really neat design that looks like 'half moons' in each of the small blocks within blocks. We'll see how well the machine sewing goes, and how much stamina I have. Amy and I met yesterday at our local quilting shop (um...that is a generous word to describe the store... it is a hodgepodge of weird offerings and odd deals, and a huge selection of fabric at the back of the warehouse). We decided on a polyester batting but now I'm waffling and wonder if I should splurge on the 'quilter's dream'... I've used warm and natural before for all of my flannel quilts and know it sews really smoothly. I will let you know what I end up doing!

So, here's the top! My 'design wall' is the bookshelf in our family room...

And here's the backing fabric... It is from the 'piece o cake' line from Robert Kaufman, and has a very vintage 50s feel to it. I love the yellow and blue on white. The quilt feels like it will be at home in a cottage bedroom. Fresh and cheerful and smelling like summer.

And now for your advice, what do you think would look good as the binding? I was leaning towards a bright blue to match the blue in the back. Solid? Striped? I welcome your artistic ideas.