Class Hexies

 I have just realized I have never shared my class hexies.

 As many of you may or may not know, I ran a crazy quilting and embroidery class at Gathering Fabrics Quilt shop in Woodinville  Washington, at least I did in the before times.

And if you didn't know already I like color.

The back

 

                                   Lots of it!

    I try to teach the intimidated to love their colors! 

     This is the little bit of CQ I use to demonstrate.

  Every Hexie is self contained and different

 

 

So here is a simple one of mostly pinks, 

which I tried to balance through out the block

Especially tamping down the impact of that bright saturated pink on the right, by making a lot of light blue strait stitch stars

And making a spray of pink vines in the lower quadrant and a big pink flower opposite

Here is another big balancing act

I used a lot of dark blue accents and spread them around to balance the dark blue patch on the right.

The flowers on the yellow patch are beaded

And the spray of leaves are silk ribbon on fly stitch

Here again, I balance the the patch 

By sewing a motif or seam opposite or tangential to the color of the main patches in the block 

Going in a clockwise direction around the block, to keep the eye moving around the block

 

So keeping the first few patches in mind 

 

I repeat this concept through out all the blocks on this quilt

 

 

 

I Teach out of Jennifer Clouston's Foolproof Crazy Quilting book

And I try to follow the patterns she shows in her book

So I can demonstrate them to my students in class 

 

I also tried to use as many readily available items on the quilts as possible to take the 

"It's too expensive" quotient out of it.

All the threads are DMC size 8 twist and the sequins are a plastic set I got at joannes

Many of the buttons are those from off coats or the extras you get with a new blouse

 

or plain ones I have in my stash

Which I glamour up with beads

Like the bug I made here in the upper green patch,

with layered buttons and beads to hold them together.

Notice also the plastic flower beads in the bottom patch, where no two are alike.

 

I have found you can do this when the pieces are of a like enough color, 

They don't have to be matchie-matchie to work together

It's also a good place to use a bunch of "Leftover" or extra beads.

 

As long as the beads are of like color or hue they all play nice together on the block

I have used a lot of my leftover bits and pieces on this quilt, 

To show you can make something beautiful no matter what you have to hand.

 

More button stacking and saturated color balancing here

 

The three big white buttons are of the same color and size but are different patterns to one another

 

The beads anchoring the big pearls at the bottom 

and the beaded butterflies at the top 

are from my "It fell on the floor" box and are all different

 

I have also used about 180 different fabrics 

230 beads, buttons, sequins, lace, 

                                  ribbon bits and doo-dahs

 And 30 different stitches in DMC and Silk ribbon embroidery

On this little quilt so far, I had been keeping a record

 but I lost track somewhere around the penguins.

I have a few more blocks, leftover from classes, that I haven't quite finished yet.

I was hoping to get back to them but got sidetracked by the plague.

Jacobin embroidery

I have fallen into this hole

 

 

 

 

This Jacobin embroidery hole

That goes on

Satin, weaving and buttonhole

And on

Stem stitch roses

  

And on

Satin, woven filling, lazy daisy

Oh my god it goes on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I am having so much fun with the different techniques

 

 

 Which makes this a fun hole to be stuck in

and as it it is sunny here for a few days, till it goes back to the usual seasonal gloom and incessant rain, 

I am doing this outside on the back deck, getting a pink glow two hours at a time.

 

 With my constant companion, Violet

 

 

 

 

 Molly is less impressed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am working out of Tatiana Popova's book but drafted my own version of her design

The snail

 So my DD#2 has requested a quilt to cover her new king size bed (!)

 So we started by picking colors and fabrics

Equilter is really handy for this

I told her to pick 2-4 of every color she wanted 

and we would narrow it down from there

 

 

 

then we had to pick a pattern that she liked

 

 

 

This was the pattern I made for her first "big girl" quilt when she was 8

she also picked the pattern for this one

This was the first Quilt I ever made (not actual) Its crib size and was originally made of clothing scraps and the most hideous purple polyester geometric for the back because it was bargain basement cheep and all I could afford at the time.

It was wonky, barely square and I was really proud of it.

It was originally intended for her older brother 

but he received a quilt from my maternal grandmother that he fell in love with so this was handed down to the next child in line DD1 who rejected it in favor of a sunbonnet Sue & Sam

When DD2 came along this poor old quilt had been neglected rejected and sad but she fell for it and still loves it as a cuddle quilt.

It has been repaired to several layers of backing and many repairs of the diamonds as they shredded over time

So now to choose a new pattern

 There were several choices 

That I already had on hand in books and magazines

                                  They were nice buuuuut

 

                                               Until this one caught her eye but it needed 

something                                                                     

 

 more 

 

 

 

 

 

OOOOH!

 

This one!

 

Allrightythen

 

Now I need to plug all those colors in.

Remember those?   Pink, Grey and yellow? 

I ended up adding a turquoise for a contrasting pop because otherwise the colors blended and were rather distressingly boring to look at

 

With an emphasis on the yellow swirly pattern which was her favorite

so not my colorway

or my comfort zone

But Baby girl gets what Baby girl requests 

when she actually asks for something, so here it goes.

 

First I needed to make sense of the  pattern. That only took a week to design

 

 This pattern combines snails trail with Ocean waves and is definitely NOT for beginners!

What you see here is the final draft, of about 5 or 6 drawings, to plug in the colors the right way round.

I also made myself a chart for each block to keep them straght because the snail block needs 2 different directions to make the swirls go the right way!

Advice if you are trying this at home; charts and labels, are a godsend!

Problem one, I miscalculated the yardage I needed and was constantly having to go back and order just one more yard of something. *Ugh*

Problem two, I miscalculated the size of the triangles for the long diamond squares AFTER I cut out all bazillion of them *Ack!*

 Lesson; Make samples of everything so you can sus out the mistakes and correct them BEFORE you waste a yard and a half of fabric cutting it the wrong size. *Smackhead* 

I should know this by now after quilting for 30+ years bUt nOOOOO........ -.-     *sigh*

For this pattern there is a cutting ruler that saves multo time and ageta getting the long diamond triangles right, It's the creative grids 2 peaks in 1 6" triangle #CGR2P1. This makes life SOOOO much easier!

Also cutting the diamond triangles a quarter inch bigger so you can cut it down to the right size, helps to keep from loosing your corners, which you really do need to make this pattern look right

Here is one whole block of 4 snails, 4 diamonds and the corner block that make up one panel

 

And here is the whole shebang.

 

After much backing and forthing, ordering just one more yarding and changing this color for that oneing, because yikes that one is just eeew! 

 

The flimsy is done!

 

You can see the secondary swirlies here^

 

 Its definitely big enough though!

Big enough to hit the floor on both sides of my queen size bed and drape over the end!

 I made it big enough that I had to add the last 2 feet onto my quilting table to accommodate it and its still a bit big! by a foot. foo! -.-

 

Next step the back and then on to quilt the sucker!  I need Wine first.

SRE Embellished Cabachon Tutorial

 So now that it has been published, I get to share this with you all! 

It's in the latest CQ Magazine on sale now at magic cloud!

My thanks to Lisa Plooster Boni for inviting me to be a part of her lovely magazine,

 So exciting! I love being able to say "I've been published!" Tee-Hee!

 

 

I Have reprinted most of it here with a few extra pictures

Materials

A large cabochon, button, or piece of jewelry for a centerpiece   

Silk ribbon
Glass seed beads
Beading needle
Nymo beading thread 

Felt or the piece you are currently working on 

E6000 glue 

Sandpaper
Clover water soluble blue marking pen

First gather your treasures. I like to “audition” several different items before I sew it all down.

Choose your focal piece (cabochon/ button/etc.) first.

For a focal piece that has no hole or place to sew it down, sand the bottom first with some heavy grit sandpaper. Then use a small amount of E-6000 to glue it down to the felt. You may then sew the item to the project or the felt backing by running your needle and thread through the felt.

Note: It is better to glue the item to the felt and then sew it to the project rather than gluing directly to the project.

Then decide how the design should progress. Do I want it round, offset, or shaped?

Mark this line using the blue pen.

There are two ways to do this type of embellishment. This tutorial shows how to do it on a piece of felt for later application. You may also do it directly on the piece in progress. 

 

 

 

 

 Stitch the smaller focus beads down around the marked line. For this project, I choose flat polished horn beads and #11 seed beads.

 

Now add the lines of beading between the main focal item and the smaller focal items. Fill your needle with enough beads to fill the space between. Don’t worry if it is not a symmetrical number of beads, this will vary, depending on that space and the size of your beads.

Secure the line of beads by coming back up and tacking the thread down between every 3 beads to secure the line. If your line is wobbly after this,

pull the thread through your line of beads again once or twice more, this should straighten everything out.

Now for the silk ribbon crown. Choose your colors for top and bottom row and start on the top (outer) row first.

Secure the ribbon on the back by pulling through the ribbon.

The outer crown complete.

To stitch the loop, come up through the felt/fabric and loop the ribbon around a paper blending stick aka smudge stick, keeping ribbon flat with no twists. Stitch down through the felt/fabric as for a simple Japanese ribbon stitch.

Do the same stitch in front of your first  circle to complete your crown.

 

 

 

You can add as many rows as you like.

I leave the stick in the loop, until I have taken the next starting stitch, so I don’t pull the preceding loop out. You may leave the stick in for several loops if desired.

 [Note: You can find paper blending sticks with the sketching materials, they come in several diameters.]

 

 

Lastly I trim the excess felt being careful not to snip any of the ribbon on the front or the back. It is now ready to place on anything you like.

.

 just so you don't think I'm perfect or anything

  I put the Brass filigree circle under this glass button so I didn't have to cut a hole in the CQ piece so it lays flat. 

 
If you do cut a hole to accommodate the shank of the button make sure you take a few buttonhole stitches around the hole so the fabric doesn't fray over time

This is the original Cabochon From another piece that will be featured in  a future CQ Magazine so I will leave that till later.

 

Go get your copy of Crazy Quilt Magazine if you love CQ like I do, 

it has so much more eyecandy in it to enjoy!

 

 

 

I have worked on nothing

 I have worked on nothing

                                                For months

It's been a full week since the mango menace was replaced by calmer and saner governing but I am Still mentally exhausted. 

I have started a quilt project that I will finish but it is frustrating that it is taking me so long to get it together. Gathering the fabric took a month, design took another 2 weeks, I cut some of the fabric but now I need just a little more fabric and one more ruler (fuck) to finish cutting so I have started assembling what I have so far and I only seem to be able to concentrate on it for a few hours at a time.

I don't know about you all but this is pissing me off. Except that I really have nothing to be pissed off about. Which then confuses me and leads to hours of binge watching Mrs. Mazel and now I've run out of Mrs. Mazel. *Sigh*

Then I remember this is how I felt after I divorced my first husband. Well damn. 

If any of you are having this kind of reaction to life, You are not broken. Take a breath. 

Talking it all out helps. I know it makes you feel stupid because, really, just how much did the administration change our lives? I mean aside from the pandemic.

Find your quiet happy place and stop beating yourself up for not being productive.

You are feeling the after effects of having been in an abusive relationship. 

How's that? 

the last 4 years were an ever escalating circus of badness that none of us was able to get away from. Everywhere you turned, there it was, Breaking news of "Ohgodwhathashedonenow?" And it was all over the place, tv, radio, news feeds facebook, instagram, music radio, the corner store, word of mouth. You couldn't get away from it, It followed you, even if you unplugged! 

Ever increasing levels of anxiety, no matter what they are and how they affect one personally, raise the levels of hormones in the brain/body and when that stimuli is gone, tend to leave one in a state of exhaustion. When this pattern goes on for a sustained period of time, The brain/body gets used to that level of hormones. When something is removed and the level of hormones is dropped, it leaves one feeling fatigued for a period of time and recovery is required to return to a state of new normal.

No wonder some of us still feel fatigued.

So I take it out on myself, well I need to stop that and so do you all, if you are feeling the same way.

Please. 

 

Squirrel!

Seriously? How does this work? What is wrong with my brain, that this is the convoluted backwards way, that I think? This then take me hours to unravel. How did I get there? What triggered my need to understand this thing? This small random thing, that I ran across doing something totally else, but I then diverted my whole morning to trying to figure out. Not that it was a big loss, my morning consisted of coffee, email and browsing my various feeds.

Have you ever understood something deeply before you have even translated it?

This happens to me every once in a while. It's one of the things that frustrates me about my thought processes. How does my brain do this? How do I feel so drawn to something, I can't yet understand?

I think it comes from growing up in a trilingual house, mother spoke both german and french to me with some yiddish thrown in because why not? I also grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago where you soak up enough of the language by osmosis but not enough to speak or totally understand it.

All this informs how I think and speaks to an enduring inability to concentrate on just one thing. That is my story and I am sticking to it. Its better than the alternative, which is, that I am an idiot.

Anyway,

I found this phrase scrolling through Instagram and immediately felt the need to translate it.

 "Warum ist das Naheliegende machmal so weit weg?"

                                                                            translation; "Why is the obvious sometimes so far away?"

Which then prompted this;

 

 

Trying to think coherent thoughts is sometimes difficult. 

they get splintered,  

                                they fly off like started birds,   

                                                                                    they skitter under the sink,

                                                                                                                                To get lost for days

Weeks, 

                                        Months, 

                                                                                                        Years...........

I try to think in a linear fashion, about a thing.

I try to thing deep thoughtful things, Analyzing them, how I feel, how........

.............

                                ...........

                                                        ..............nope,

                                                                                            it's gone.

I am easily distracted by the squirrels in my brain.

no words

I have no words, for any of this, I have plenty of feelings ranging from anger to deep despair. but no words