Grandmother's Flower Garden Tablerunner

The grandmother's flower garden table runner made with 3/4" hexies is finished! I'm sharing this with you today because it is machine quilted, it doesn't qualify for slow stitching Sunday.

Most of you said you couldn't see the mistake I made when sewing the hexie flowers together. You can clearly see it here. The side edges are supposed to be even, not zag over every two blocks! It's not perfect but I'm using it anyway.

The finished tablerunner measures 35" by 57" and it fit the blanket chest just fine, no more scratched lid!

Machine quilting is not my thing but I wanted this project finished so I could start working on Hearts & Wreaths again. I decided to use this stencil for quilting and quilt vertically. I sketched lines where there weren't any, I thought it would make a nice crisscross design. I also decided to stitch in between these marks so the stitching would be approximately 1/2" apart. The straight line in the center would not be stitched. That was the plan anyway.

The inside of the curves were too sharp for my skill level. Since I do so little machine quilt, my curved lines had zags in them and weren't that smooth. Fortunately you can't see most of them since the darker colors of the hexies make them hard to see.

Quilting the way I originally planned meant there were 4 lines that needed to be stitched each pass, with the space of 1/2" in between them. It was taking forever and I really began to dislike this table runner! I decided to just quilt the outer design and it went faster. I made myself quilt for an hour a day, I was always glad when that hour was past. 😓 

I will admit though, my curves became smoother the more the quilting happened.

It was finally finished and quickly bound. 

When I laid it on the blanket chest, the borders stuck out straight because it was stiff, sigh 😞. So I washed it, the corners were better but not draping like I had wanted. I'm finished with this tablerunner though, it's done, I'm done and I'm moving on!

One thing I am pleased with though is the machine buttonhole stitching I used to attach the hexie center to the background fabric.

At this year's November Jane Stickle retreat, I want to work on the Dresden Stars that I started at the November 2022 retreat. If I can get them sewn into the stars, I plan to use the buttonhole stitch to attach them to the background fabric. This tablerunner was good practice and I was very happy with the stitching.

I used a spool of a brown variegated thread for the quilting and I am happy to say that I won at thread chicken! There was an 18" thread left on the spool after I was finished!! I didn't do so well at bobbin chicken but oh well, it's finished.

Muslin was used for the backing fabric. I didn't measure the runner after washing so I don't know if it shrank or not. Pieces of batting were used, not a whole piece.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down

3/4" Grandmother's Flower Garden Tablerunner

I'm finished with the 3/4" hexies for the Grandmother's Flower Garden table runner. As of now, the runner measures 24" by 50".

For a change, I decided to take some pictures outside. First the right side of the runner.

This what the backside looks like. Only the outer edge papers are still basted into the runner.

Last week several people commented they couldn't see the mistake in the placement of the blocks. I think it's more clear in these pictures. If I don't make a disclaimer, some well intentioned person will comment that the outer edge isn't lined up correctly. I know that but I refuse to take it apart!

Then I decided to take a picture inside the house.

Next step for this project is to applique it to a border fabric. I had bought fabric several months ago but I've decided I don't like it. I'm going to need to do some shopping! 

Several people have commented on the quilt hanging beside the blanket chest. That quilt is Floral Triangles and you can read about it here.

I was in Wakarusa last week to have my hair trimmed so I took a picture of the quilt garden. I think the flowers in the center of the quilt are growing but those little begonias along the outer edge aren't doing much. 

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday Musings

Grandma's Flower Garden

I'm slowly getting the hexie flower sewn together for the grandmother's flower garden table runner that's supposed to go on the top of the old blanket chest.

There are papers pinned to the center of the flowers so it gets sewn into the correct place.

This is what the backside of the flowers look like. The papers have been taken out of the centers of the flowers.

It's not quite halfway finished yet.

The farmer sold most of the cows last year but he still has a heifer and two milking cows on the farm. Since spring is finally here, it's time for them to head down into the pasture.

Allie was the first one to start down into the field.

Then Maryn decided to go.

Katniss picked up the pace a little when she saw the other two were down in the field!

The whole field for just three head!

They don't seem to know what to do. Normally the group runs to the the east side of the field, turn the corner then start running back. They also like to kick up their heels.

Really, you've got the whole field and you're going to eat grass in the rocky spot?

After I put my phone away, they did start running and kicking up their heels a little.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This N That, Monday Musings

3/4" Grandmother's Flower Garden Hexies

I needed three more flowers for the Grandmother's Flower Garden table runner, they're finished!

This first one uses random blue hexies. Most of the centers of these flowers were stitched years ago. This was one that was recently stitched and I used a blue center. This center hexie was leftover from a previous flower.

This flower has a center pieced years ago. It's the only one with a completely beige center.

And the last hexie flower. For some reason the center looks blue, it's not. It's the same cream fabric I've used in most of the flowers.

I've arranged the flowers on the chest. I'm not certain if this background fabric will be the final fabric or not. I have removed the inner papers on the backside of the flower. 

The next step is to sew these flowers together then I'll need to piece partial flowers to fill in the side spaces.

Once all that has been completed, I'll applique the flowers onto the border fabric. I could cut the fabric and sew it on the sides but to me, that would be more work than the applique. 

I'm leaving the flowers on the chest until I decide this is how I want them placed. You know how it goes, you move one block then you end up moving 4 or 5!

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This 'N That,  Monday Musings

You know the old saying about March, in like a lion, out like a lamb? Not this year, we had hail Friday evening, big hail, the biggest I've ever seen!

It became foggy after the hail finished because the air was warmer than the ground.

3/4" Hexies

Here are more hexie flowers to show you. They're made with 3/4" hexie papers.

This first one is my favorite, I love the blues with those purples! Doesn't this look old?

These medium blues seem to mix with any fabric color!

This block isn't as pretty as the others. I'll set it next to the pink block, they'll work together.

I've been asked how big are the flowers? Measuring across the center, they are 9.25".

These fabrics are from the civil war fabrics box, I'm not making a dent at all!

The white amaryllis has started blooming. I always think these flowers look like Easter lilies.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This 'N That,  Monday Musings

3/4" Grandmother's Flower Garden Hexies

EPP is going slower since Lady Jane is in the frame but I do have three flowers to show you today.

I like all of these flowers.

I can't decide which one I like best.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This 'N That,  Monday Musings

Another Hexie Flower

Another flower completed made with 3/4" hexie papers.

I'm trying to use fabrics that haven't been used in the flowers before. That said, there were a lot of basted black hexies so I'm using them because they are ready to use. I really like this pink fabric but the fabric piece wasn't very large and I could only get these 6 hexies.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This 'N That,  Monday Musings

A New Year, A New Hexie Flower!

Another hexie flower was completed the last week of 2022 using 3/4" hexies. Only the light fabric center was EPP'd before.

I don't know why the light fabrics look stained. They aren't in real life. Maybe the brown in the quartz throws off the color?

Here's a picture of the old blanket chest with 8 completed flowers on top. I need at least 8 more flowers. 

I had added a few light hexies to the edge of one block but I didn't think they looked right so I removed them. This table runner is going to be rather dark. I'm trying to brighten the flowers up by adding some lighter fabrics.

Years ago I had pieced centers for the flowers, there are 8 centers left.

You can see in above picture how beat up the lid of the chest is. It's really old, the date on the front of the chest says 1874. It also says E. Miller who was a great-aunt of my mother. I assume the E. stands for Elizabeth which is also my mother's name but I don't know for sure. That's a story lost to time.

Here are links to prior posts about the 3/4" Hexie quilt. Post 1, Post 2.

I'm enjoying working on these hexies but I make a mess with all the fabrics I'm auditioning. 

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday Musings

3/4" Grandmother's Flower Garden

I'm making progress with the hexie table runner using 3/4" hexies. Last week I finished 2 flowers that the center and middle row were completed before.

I selected this teal floral fabric because I thought those pink flowers worked well with the pink row.

The orange and pink row of the next flower is rather weird. I apparently only had 4 of those brownish/pink hexies prepped so I added them this way. That row looks rather off balance when you look closely at it. 

If this table runner survives 100 years, that's the flower people will look at and make comments about the originality of the sewest.

Have a blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Sew & Tell, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings

EPPing Again

 The decision to finish older projects is still happening. This time it's an EPP project using 3/4" hexies. I have no idea when I started working on these blocks, I do know it is since I finished my grandmother's flower garden quilt which used 1" hexies. That was back in 2014.

This flower garden is using civil war fabrics. There were 3 completed flowers in the box when I opened. it.

There were several partially completed blocks. I added the outer red hexies which had already been basted.

And there were 7 or 8 centers with no outer hexies added. I'm using hexies that were already basted but I'll be adding more.

This is a flower that only had the light center. I had been making the flowers with a dark outside row. I want to mix those up by using lighter rows on the outside. This blocks is my favorite one so far.

The plan is to make a table runner for the top of an old blanket chest I inherited from my mother. The lid is in rather tough shape so the runner will cover all the dings it has accumulated over the  years. The lid measures 24" by 50". This won't be sewn in a hurry but it's fun to EPP again.

This is the flower I'm working on now. The pink hexies had been already added to the center cream fabrics.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday This 'N That,  Monday Musings

Blooms Quilt

I thought about starting an EPP (English paper piecing) project last fall but just couldn't decide what design. I thought about making some random hexie flowers but I didn't want to just start something without know where it was going to go.

Years ago I had made a grandmother's flower garden quilt. I enjoyed the process but I didn't want to make another one. 

While perusing quilt blogs one day, I came across A Quilting Life hosted by Sherri. Her February 1st post was titled January 2022 Favorites and more. When I saw the picture of her Bouquet Quilt, I knew what my next EPP project was going to be, hexie flowers but also piecing! This was very doable so I immediately ordered the pattern.

I decided hexies would be perfect for a traveling project. I prepped squares and took them along to Phoenix. Here are the flowers that were EPP'd.

And yes, I do baste right through the paper on the back of the hexies. That's fine if you don't baste your hexies this way, just don't Quilt Police on me!

I didn't buy special fabrics for Blooms, I'm just pulling from my stash, the backgrounds fabrics too. Right now I'm planning on this quilt being a red and white wall hanging with 12 blocks.

In Sherri's post, she calls the quilt Bouquet but the pattern title is Blooms so that is why I'm calling my wall quilt Blooms.

I'm not in a hurry for this project to be finished. I do have a quilt I'm appliqueing (Hearts & Wreaths) and a quilt in the hand quilting frame (Welsh Beauty) besides other quilts to be pieced. This project was not on my list of Challenges for 2022.

I also took along a skein of cotton yarn and knitted a dish cloth which I left it with my daughter.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday

Lucy Finish

My Patchwork of the Crosses designed by Lucy Boston is finished! I had to force myself to finish this project. I did NOT hand quilt, I actually machine quilted the little quilt with my sewing machine. She's not perfect but she is finished!!

I'm not a table runner sort of person, for now this is hanging on the wall. It is pretty and I do like it now that it's finished, but I never want to make another one.

My original plan was to quilt around the flowers which is the way the white connecting fabric was quilted.

But I didn't like the way that fabric puckered so all the rest of the blocks are stitch inside each elongated hexie. The addition stitching made the hexies lie flat which is what I wanted.

Colored thread was used for the quilting. You don't really see it on the front but the back of the quilt looks very interesting.

For the outside border, I quilted a Baptist Fan design. This little quilt measures 29" by 40-1/2".

Linking to Free Motion Mavericks, Peacock Party, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Brag About Your Beauties, Finished Or Not Friday, Oh Scrap