Hexie hairband

I made this headband for Sammy after seeing the idea on hugsarefun.com, via the Sew Can She tutorial website. Oh no, I thought I was so over making hexagons, but their recent popularity has hooked me back in. Just for a bit, then I'll quit. (Spoken like an addict)

These were 1/4" hexagons, a new size for me. You can copy off sheets of any size hexagon for free on various websites. I think I used www.incompetech.com

Hexie Challenge, First Friday Artists

The First Friday Artists had a hexie challenge. It was Stacy's idea; we made some hexagons, put them in a sack along with some other optional things such as buttons, more fabric, etc. Then each of us selected a sack. The plan was to create something with the items in the sack and give it to the person who made the original hexagons.

I will admit I was not 100% enthusiastic about this challenge at first. I have already made a few hexagon quilts in my day, LOL, and was so over them. But the sack that I chose had other interesting items in it, such as vintage fabric and lace from the Prom Dress Swap at the last Camp Watchapatcher, sequins, rick rack, etc., so I quickly started putting something together. Thanks, Peggy, for giving me an interesting sack of things to put on the quilt. I challenged myself to use most of them. The colors were mostly blue, purple and pink, so I expanded the palette, i.e. added more colors: lots of green, pips of orange, red, black, etc. Enough talking - here are the photos!

This is the one that I made.


I hope Peggy likes it!
 
I sure like the one Stacy made for me!







I love it. I already have it hung up in the family room near my chair. The quilting is beautiful! Can you see the hexagon shapes she quilted?

I almost forgot to say that photos of all the quilts in our hexie challenge are on the First Friday blog. I think the link is http://firstfridayartists.blogspot.com

photo journal

I didn't bring my camera last week while our son was in the hospital in Encinitas. I just didn't think I'd want to use it. You probably don't want to see a photo of his 1 1/2" scar on the side of his head! But as it turned out, some things were worth photographing, and so these were taken after we returned.

During a break, I went to the Visions Quilt Museum in San Diego. They had a few great exhibits there: Art Meets Science was wonderful. I also loved a wall of 12" x 12" saqa auction quilts from Del Thomas's collection. Also there was a nice group of mini quilts inspired by Beatles songs.

They had marvelous gallon-sized bags of kimono scraps in the Visions gift shop, for only ten bucks. I chose this one - yummy!

During another break, I took a wonderful walk along the beach in Carlsbad. I gathered some of these stones - not sure what I will do with them yet.

One small stone had a hole in it that went all the way through. It goes really well with this necklace I had, with a photo of my son surfing. (can't see it here)

My two kumquat trees are groaning with ripe fruit. I intend to make kumquat marmalade, I just need a block of time to pick, slice, cook, and can. Soon.

You will probably think I'm nuts, but I found the distorted image of the hexagon floor on the waste basket interesting.

hexagon ball class

I will be teaching how to make a ball out of hexagons and pentagons on Saturday, February 11 from 1:30 to 4:30, at Flying Geese Fabrics in Tustin. Technically it's called the Flannel Baby Ball class, but I can teach whatever style interests people - crazy, contemporary, etc. If interested, call Flying Geese to sign up at 714-544-9349.

Margrit's hexagon ball

I hadn't heard from my friend Margrit in ages, and it was so nice to hear from her the other day. She sent me this photo of the Dr. Seuss ball that she made for a grandchild. She lives in Utah, and she used the same English paper piecing method that I use. Cute, huh? You can really see which patches are pentagons and which are hexagons.

More classes coming up

I am teaching a class on how to make this flannel baby ball at Flying Geese Fabrics on Tuesday, October 18, from 2 to 5. If you don't want to make the ball but just want to learn basic English paper piecing, I can teach that, too. Better sign up quick, it's coming up fast.

I am scheduled to teach how to make this Holiday Cookie stocking, also at Flying Geese Fabrics, on October 26th, from 4to 6. The phone number for the shop is on the right under "Coming Events." Thanks!

flannel baby ball



A friend of mine loved my flannel baby ball but will be out of town when I teach the class at Flying Geese Fabrics. I am amazed that she figured it out all by herself! Cute, huh? Wendy made the cute quilt, too.

If you are interested, I still have openings in this and other classes. Look on the right to my new "Coming Events" section to see my schedule.

I still have photos in my camera from the NY/Chicago trip. One of these days I will bring them out, I promise.

what I'm working on quilt-wise

I have begun a quilt with a winter theme. Here is some of the fabric that I've been dyeing for it.

This is the quilt currently being exhibited in THe ArT QuILT ExPERIENCE in NY.


I'm also working hard on teaching plans for my three classes at Flying Geese Fabrics in Tustin. Here is more info:

July 6, Wednesday - "Bringing Home the Trees" from 3 to 7

August 6, Saturday - "Baby Hexagon Ball" from 1:30 to 5

August 18, Thursday - "Holiday Cookie Stocking" from 3 to 7


Flying Geese Fabric
307 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA
714/544-9349
http://www.flyinggeesefabric.com/

Teaching at Flying Geese Fabrics in Tustin

Woo hoo, I am set to teach three classes (count 'em) at Flying Geese Fabrics in nearby Tustin! The first one is July 6, and I'm teaching "Bringing Home the Trees." (seen above) This quilt is a spinoff of my "Road Trip" quilt. In August I'm teaching a flannel hexagon ball with tags, like the one I made  for Samantha. Then I'm teaching my Christmas cookie stocking. I'm excited! These aren't art, but they are all my original designs and I had a lot of fun making each and every one.

lots going on

I'm pretty busy this month. Gave a presentation to a small local group last week. Later in April I'm giving a trunk show at the Orange Blossom Quilters Guild meeting in Visalia. And on May 7 from 1 to 3 I'm giving a mini workshop on English paper piecing at Flying Geese Quilt Shop in Tustin, through my guild, Flying Geese Quilters. The photo shows the techniques I will teach. There are a few openings left, so if you're interested, let me know.

hearts in the mail

I received a sort of valentine in the mail on February 14th: two complimentary copies of Simply Mini Quilts by Lark books. That's my heart quilt on the cover.

Directions for this quilt and many others are included in this soft-cover book.

My "Flora del Coronado" is in the book, too, but I think they call it something else.

Samantha, super model

Samantha is modelling some of the things I have made for her. Here is the blue sweater I had been working on while we were visiting there (late Sept-earlyOct), with the buttons from Mood/Manhattan. The sweater pattern came from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. This is the same book I've been using so much for fingerless gloves and other items I can't talk about just now. (Shhhh)

This is another sweater I made, from Natural Knits for Babies and Toddlers by Tina Barrett. She looks like she's about to whisper a secret.

Now she's wearing the matching hat, too!

She seems to really enjoy that ball!  (Be sure to watch the video, on a recent post in case you missed it) This is an original design made by yours truly with flannel, some hand embroidery and ribbon tags.

weekend at the Bowers

This past Saturday and Sunday were spent at the Quilt Faire at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. Stacy, Peggy and I shared a table. It was fun spending time with old friends and making some new ones, too.  I sold patterns, note cards, pincushions, and business card holders.

They put our names and examples of our work on twin screens above the crowd. Nice touch! Thanks to Stacy for taking these photos, which I have shamelessly borrowed from her blog.

Peggy convinced me to give a demonstration on English paper piecing on Sunday. I brought all my hexagon quilts, large and small, handed out sheets of hexagons, gave a little demo, etc. I'm happy there was a nice turnout, and people seemed interested and asked good questions. I feel pretty good about it. If I'd been smart I would have announced this event ahead of time, but I was being lazy. Anyway, it went well. There is an ongoing quilt exhibit at the Bowers, featuring some of the quilts from their collection.

mille fiore going to PIQF

I just learned that my "Mille Fiore" quilt was accepted into the Pacific International Quilt Festival main exhibit. Woohoo! Here is a sneak peak.  And here's a cute pic of Matilda sitting on the quilt in progress.

Also, I believe the "Summer" exhibit will also be there, and my "Summertime Cat" is in that. I'm still looking for a photo of the finished quilt - this one is not the final cut (I changed the face).

what I'm working on, and Long Beach

I was happy to see that  the "Through the Eyes of the Quilter" photography exhibit was at the Long Beach Quilt Festival. My cat Matilda is part of this exhibit, which debuted in Houston last fall.

My visit to Long Beach was short and sweet this year. I was only there on Friday, but I managed to rampage through the entire show, plus work at the SAQA booth, go to the SAQA/Quilt Art reception hosted by Karey, and have dinner with many of the other "Beneath the Surface" artists. What fun!

It's been a while since I've been able to show any quilt activity. This is a little something I'm working on to donate to the Flying Geese Quilters auction in October. I'm mixing tie dyes (from Ghana) and dyed ties. There will be more to it. I am also going to make a small house quilt for a Habitat for Humanity house.

I made a second sundress for Samantha. It's the same pattern as the green one, except a little bigger. Hope it fits.

I finished up this cute little green knit cap just a few days ago. First time I've worked with circular needles. I got the pattern at a little yarn shop in Telluride. Sorry I forget its name, but if you go there it's the only yarn shop in town. It's a delightful little place with a whole room for children's patterns, plus lots of exotic yarns and local products, too.... I like this cap, it's kind of simple and unconstructed. Notice that the ends are tied into a topknot on the top.

 This is how the cap looks with the ends untied. I'm smitten with knittin', I must confess. I'm enjoying refining my knitting skills and learning new things. I have learned how to knit continental style, which is great for lefties and faster than the throw-over style. There are tons of little videos all over the internet that show you how to do all manner of knitting techniques - what a wonderful world.... Besides, it's really cold in winter where my daughter and her family live, so I'm compelled to knit warm things to keep little Samantha warm.

Any other knitters out there? I'd love to hear from you.

yet another hexagon project

Just when I think I'm all done with hexagons, here I am making a hexagon ball for my grandchild-to-be. Maybe I'm being subliminally inflluenced by the World Cup soccer games going on in South Africa, but I've noticed that their game balls no longer include any hexagons.

I've used mostly flannels, and I'm trying to hang in there with the gender neutral agenda. It's getting hard, and the baby is almost here! He or she could arrive any day now. I slipped a bit of magenta pink into the ball, and if it's a boy he's just going to have to live with it. For a rainbow-colored ball, a bit of pink is okay, right?

(I should add that it works both ways. I knitted a baby sweater that turned out very boyish. If it's a girl, I'm concerned about whether an embroidered flower or heart will save the day. It's a delicate balance, making things that will work for both a boy and a girl!)

I have noticed baby quilts and baby toys with the little ribbon loops on them, I think they call them tags, and they say that babies love to suck on them and play with them. So I added some of those, and embroidered on some of the solid-colored hexagons. It's turning out pretty cute. After I made all those high falutin' art balls with silks, beads and embellishments, I'm finally making one that's just a cuddly toy.