Harvest of Hexagonia

Yesterday I woke up with the muse upon me to play with some bits of fabrics that have been accumulating in my space, starting with the sample six-minute circle that I made last week.

This was my first try with the six-minute circle technique. I used fabrics that might be pretty if it came out halfway decent, so this became my starting point for a little art piece.

From there, I pulled out strips of orangey-golds and olives and a big stack of triangles cut off from my forest floor Lotus and Scrapophenia projects. I used half a dozen rulers, including my precious little mini Hex n More, to tame the bits into usable shapes, then just started piecing one segment at a time without a specific endpoint in mind. This kind of shape assembly is my preferred middle ground between completely (right-brain?) loosey-goosey freeform work and linear (left-brain?) hardline geometric patterns. I think that's why I'm so fanatical about the 60° shape family: there are a whole bunch of different choices that all work together, even at different scales. 

Once I started sewing the tiny hexies together, the project took on its own momentum and I couldn't stop working on it. I even came home early from the monthly First Friday gathering at Lisa's Clover Hill Quilts and spent a few more late-night hours (literally quilting after dark!) to finish it up. 

Looking at it in the light of morning, I see summery fields with lines of golden grains, rows of cabbages and other delicious greens, and patches of pastureland carved out of the landscape. The hex field reminds me of the baskets overflowing with crops that our farmers conjure from their soil. (If there's one part of summer that I'm looking forward to, it's the CSA shares from Sub Edge Farm starting back up!!)

Summer harvest piece, unquilted (~16x28")

Honeycomb finished

A week or so ago, while fishing a tennis ball out from under the couch (a fun game my dog plays with me, where she rolls and I fetch the ball), I found a wadded up heap of cotton that turned out to be my unfinished honeycomb project from my Modern Minis class earlier this year. Yikes! I let it hang for a few days to get rid of most of the wrinkles, then I spent a little time quilting it up. I started with curved flower of life lines using the walking foot. It felt unfinished, so I did a little freemotion filler within the "petals", then switched to a gold thread for the loopy quilting, inspired by the bee's waggle dance, in the background.

Finished honeycomb wallhanging. Pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

Close-up of embroidery on honeycomb project. Design by Urban Threads.

Close-up of quilting on honeycomb quilt.

Close-up of quilting on honeycomb project.

 I finished the project with a sewn-in label featuring a Rilke quote:

We are continually overflowing toward those who preceded us, toward our origin, and toward those who seemingly come after us. ... It is our task to imprint this temporary, perishable earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully and passionately, that its essence can rise again "invisibly," inside us. We are the bees of the invisible. We wildly collect the honey of the visible, to store it in the great golden hive of the invisible.

Words by Rilke. Quilt by me.

Seahorses...in hexagons!

An original design BY ME, using the cutest little fussy cut seahorses. I used the swiss-cheese leftovers from the same print as the blue segments, and a coordinate for the striped pinwheels. I had planned to leave the top and bottom edges hex-shaped, but the shape looked weird on this baby-size quilt, so I filled in the pink in the middle, but I left the corners angled. The quilting is a simple meander with pink variegated Sulky.

Hexagonal seahorses!

Now I don't have to think about what to do with this cute panel -- it was the perfect size for the back of this cute little quilt!

Lotus samples

In June I'm going to be teaching a class on the Lotus quilt, so I made a Mini version to drum up some interest, and because I just can't stop playing with that cute little Mini Hex n More ruler. If you follow along here, you have probably noticed that I don't often work in such a flowery pastel palette (this is as "pastel" as it gets in my Strategic Fabric Reserves)...but even I, diehard lover of the wintriest of winters, was ready for a little spring color this month. This is a really fun pattern to make, and there are lots of possibilities with just these two simple shapes.

Mini Lotus -- 20 x 23"

Sochi-inspired quilt

Was there a quilter anywhere who was not impressed by the patchwork-themed design work at the Sochi Olympics?

There is something especially beautiful about the irony of the rainbow spectrum of this gorgeous artwork, in light of the human-rights violations that are the reality in modern Russia. As soon as I saw the design, I started piling up fabrics that I wanted to use for my version. I even have all those nifty 60-degree diamond rulers all warmed up! And, lucky me, just before the closing ceremonies, as I was tracking down my isometric graph paper to get to design work, the Hoffman fabric company saved me the effort by publishing a free pattern called When Bali Met Sochi.

This is the batik version of the "When Bali Met Sochi" quilt shown with the Hoffman pattern.

They planned it out for their new line of batiks, which is terrific, but I didn't want to buy anything (much) when I already own a really nice collection of bright mostly-solid geometric prints. The pattern called for 29 (!) fabrics, but I added a few more to make the pattern a little bigger and because I couldn't decide which to omit. I hit the scrap stash pretty hard with this project, so there are a few prints that are only represented in one or two diamonds. I will confess to purchasing a few quarter-yard cuts to round out some blanks in the spectrum -- mostly in the blue range, because I just don't buy those. I could have used a little more color variety within the prints to better approximate the many varied Olympics motifs, but the mostly monotones or analogous prints work well too.

I started cutting the day after I printed the pattern. Cutting all the edge and half-diamond pieces with those skinny 30-degree angles required attention to detail, but it was worth the effort in the end. Interesting tidbit: I didn't even use the 60-degree rulers for the initial cutting (although they were useful for trimming up the pieced diamonds); the ruler I used most was the 2.5 x 18" Omni ruler with the angle lines printed on it -- this was a great opportunity to practice using those angle lines instead of just the straight edges!

The sewing itself was a snap, so the top is already finished and waiting to be quilted!

This is my version of "When Angelina Saw Sochi" - approx. 71 x 77

I have the perfect length of the perfect fabric for the back, which I just washed this morning. I'm planning to iron and piece it this evening, because this project has catapulted to the front of the To-Quilt-Next line!

"Clover Sunshine Favorites" by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics

And, happy bonus, I am now left with a gorgeous pile of well-pressed, nicely angled, coordinating scraps, all ready for the playing! I cut a bunch of 1" diamond pieces with my Sidekick ruler and whipped up this little beauty:

A mini version of Jaybird's Rock Candy pattern; it's only 10" across the short distance of this hex!

And I'm also working on some freeform piecing with nothing particular in mind...placemats? A table runner? Who knows what will result! Tune in later to find out!

T-shirt progress

I mentioned that a friend of mine has asked me to make a t-shirt quilt; I thought I'd try something a little different than other t-shirt quilts that I've made and seen by using...wait for it...hexagons (there it is again!). Okay, technically the pieces won't all be hexagons, but variations on the 60-degree angle shapes nonetheless.

On Friday night I decided to start by ironing the stabilizer onto the shirts that she gave me back on October. But that's a boring job to do all at once, so once the first shirt was ready I decided just to give it a whirl and start cutting the shapes. The largest size on the hex-and-more ruler was perfect. I added matching triangles to end up with 12" triangle units (thanks again for the Christmas present, boys!), which will be the building block for the whole project.

First unit from Aimee's triangle t-shirt quilt

Two of the pieces were so small (and obviously from one shirt) that I combined them into a single triangle: I cut the upper piece using the Hex n More "Jewel" shape, then added a thin wide strip with the eyes as the bottom of the triangle unit.

Combination unit from Aimee's triangle t-shirt quilt

Once I had the first few pieces worked up, momentum kept me going. By the time the boys' movie was finished, I had cut all of the background triangles (from a pretty jewel-colored print that coordinates perfectly with this collection of shirts), and trimmed & pieced 11 of the 17 shirts. For the pieces that were much larger, I squared (or angled) them off as large as possible, then added coordinating fabrics to get them to a usable shape. So far I have one 12" hexagon -- I don't have a ruler for that, but I know how to cut it with my regular 12.5" ruler -- a 24" hexagon that runs off the upper-right corner, a 24" diamond, and a mid-size parallelogram shape. Another evening of work and I should be able to finish the remaining few shirt segments, then the huge pieces will go together in no time. This is a really fun process, and I think it's shaping up nicely!

Aimee's triangle t-shirt quilt, shaping up!

Farm fresh veggies

We are looking forward to getting bags of fresh vegetables next summer from our friends Isabelle and Rodger, who are starting a new CSA at their new Sub Edge Farm! It is incredibly inspiring to see people working to live their dreams. If anyone's interested, there are still shares in the farm available -- I'm certain it will be a terrific venture!! I can hardly wait for the harvest to begin next June!

Modern veggies for modern farmers!

Congratulation to Isabelle and Rodger -- best of luck with Sub Edge Farm!

Hex finishes

Three hexagonal finishes this week, plus another photo from last week's Honey Mini class.

First, I used a few cute macaroni prints to try out this technique. I like the ring of hexes so much that I sketched out what this would look like expanded to a larger size, and figured out the fabric requirements. It would be a cute use for hex charms, or for a group of theme fabrics like the Mardi Gras prints that I've had kicking around for a few years. I did the tight quilting around the edges because it reminded me of a fork-sealed ravioli; I quilted the words in the middle because (a) I wanted to brush up on my cursive quilting skills and (b) the words seemed to fit, both physically and conceptually.

 Merry-Go-Round pattern (Atkinson Designs)

 Next, I had to try out the new Sidekick ruler from Jaybird Quilts.

The ruler is great, the pattern was a snap to follow, and the whole thing took no time at all. I used the scraps of the project I made from last year's Kendra Cousin California Quilting Challenge. I'm down to really tiny bits of those fabrics now, but I will savor them because I still love love love them! The flower-of-life quilting doesn't even need marking with this pattern, since the lines are all part of the piecing. This is my favorite way to quilt 60-degree angles -- it looks spectacular, it uses the walking foot, AND it's entirely one continuous line!

Rock Candy pattern (Jaybird Quilts)

Third, I finished one of my class samples to make a pillow. I didn't do anything particularly fancy for the quilting, just some gentle (flower-of-life) walking foot curves surrounded by straight-line echoing. I love the clothesline fabric on the back.

Honey pattern (from Elizabeth Hartman's "Modern Patchwork" book)

Since this post is a tribute to all things hexagonal, I'll also share a photo of Tina's class project. Last year when I made my sister's quilt, I used the same accent print in shades of teal and brown last year, but it looks 100% different in the hot colors. I love how she arranged the prints in the same position; it evokes a sense of comets or rocketry.

Tina's Honey project. 3 - 2 - 1...blast off!

Knitting!?!

Among the fifty trillion stitchery-related emails that fill my Inbox, a knitting pattern (of all things!) drew my eye this week. As my Faithful Readers have no doubt noticed, I've been triangle-focused, so the Ojo de Dios shawl jumped right off the screen into my neurons.

Ojo de Dios shawl

The Newington Library carries Interweave Knits, so I graciously offered to take the boys there, then popped into the magazine room while they scavenged for whatever vampire- and zombie-filled fiction they're into these days. I already had the perfect ombre yarn, which I bought for a different project that just wasn't exciting me once it got started.

Jojoland Rhythm yarn

Last night, in an effort to politely let the boys watch a show without sewing machine noise (Mother of the Year nominations, anyone?), I swatched for a bit then dove right in to make the first two triangles. The pattern is just basic mosaic knitting, which I've done before (though not in triangles); obviously it's going to go together quickly.

First two triangles blocked out.

It's fun to get out the knitting supplies again...like getting the band back together, relivin' some old times, you know? Dude.

This will be a good TV project for the rest of the winter, and I'm super happy to have found a good home for this lovely yarn. Depending on how deeply I dive back into the knitting closet, I could also see expanding this triangle technique to make -- wait for it -- hexagons (there it is).

Honey Mini class (busy as a bee)

The monthly mini class that I've been teaching all year finally got to my favorite one in the book, the hexagon Honey pattern. In addition to the sample that I made last year, I also made both a full-size quilt and two more minis in preparing for yesterday's class.

This one will be a pillow in the newly painted family/sewing room.

Honeycomb!! 

I recently acquired the Urban Threads "Mini Menagerie" collection, and this seemed like the perfect setting for the bee. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this turned out!

The five students in the class made some pretty spectacular projects. Sara C used a musical instrument novelty as her print with rich wood-colored fabrics, Sara F used a beautiful combination of batiks and Asian prints, Nancy worked in some (for her) muted colors and was on her way to a lovely little autumnal project, Tina used fiery brights and a gorgeous print for the insets, and Liz made this:

Awesome use of Beatles fabric!

I'm getting down to the last cherished scraps of the Beatles prints that I have had in my Strategic Fabric Reserves, but this might be a good way to make the most of what's left in there.

Honeycomb!

Despite my plans of leaving some of this undone, I couldn't stop myself from finishing the Honeycomb quilt. (Now I'm going to have to prep another mini, which I'll use as a pillow in my new pink & turquoise room.) The yellow from the Nuance fabric is a little bright -- it comes across lemony in the photo, but it reads as neon in person -- but since the contrasting prints aren't too contrast-y, I like the effect. I think I am going to leave the edges zig-zaggy rather than squaring them off as she suggests in the book; I'll leave the upper-right corner square just for a nifty "something-different" effect.

From outside (my husband tells me) it looks like we have been invaded by giant bees.

Honeycomb close-up: the orange architextures fabric is a perfect background. I finished this whole project with a single 2.5" strip leftover.

Honeycomb prep

This Sunday in the Modern Minis class that I've been teaching all year, we're finally getting to the hexagon honeycomb project that's on the book cover. This pattern uses six solids and six prints, so I'm using a length of a fruity-bright P&B Nuances fabric that I bought just for this project:

This fabric is printed with six strips of color running lengthwise, so it's absolutely perfect for this pattern. Instead of buying six separate one-yard cuts, I cut the four yards of my single fabric into six separate 5-1/2" strips. For the skinny background sashing strips, I'm using the rest of my orange squiggly Architextures fabric:

The pattern for the quilt calls for sixty one-inch strips, but I have found that Hartman's patterns tend to be a little on the wasteful side and, since I will have no use for a bunch of leftover one-inch strips, I have decided to cut just 32 strips to get started. I'm sure I'll need a few more, but not 28 more.

After I finished the Week 5 mystery units, I got a nice start on sewing the sashing strips onto the solids and cutting triangles:

The second-darkest segments are all cut (center), and the sashing strips are added to the other four colors. Time to cut triangles!

I worked through the entire set of the darkest shade, along with the coordinating print, and even assembled those half hexagons:

The violet half-hex units are pieced and ready for final assembly.

By the time Sunday rolls around, I should have most of this finished up and ready to assemble. I'm planning to leave just enough of the work unfinished so I can use it as class samples. Still loving all these 60-degree angles!!

Color Journals: Harpa for Sue

I have Sue's color journal this month, and she has selected the theme of travel for her book, using rich golds and teals as her base palette. She asked us each to create a page of a place we have been to, or a place we dream of visiting, or even a mode of transportation.

For about two years (and two months) I have been wanting to make a quilt project inspired by the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik. The entire building is constructed of hexagonal and diamond-shaped panes of glass, build right on the sea to reflect the waters swirling around it. The inside was also breathtaking, with light bouncing everywhere in 16.9 million different colors and heavy black (hexagonal!) columns as interior walls, designed to look like the basaltic columns created by the volcanic geology. Before I saw this incredible structure, I hadn't ever really paid much attention to architectural design, but this building...it just sang to my heart!

Harpa Concert Hall (Reykjavik, Iceland), interior view

So, for Sue, I am making a tiny version of Harpa. I drafted and cut the paper shapes this afternoon. Time for more fabric wrapping!

English paper-piecing units for Sue's Harpa Concert Hall journal page.

Revisiting hexagons

Using a nifty little Fiskars paper punch that makes a hex with a 1" side, I have started wrapping yet another set of hexes, this time using only batiks. It's a great little project to take in the car or to swim meets. I'm just getting started, so this is all I have so far.

1" batik hexes...such a pretty little rainbow!

Dance the Orange!

After the successful River project, our journal art quilting group has begun a new project that will take over a year to complete. Each one of us has chosen a color (and some have added a theme as well); using that color, we each created the covers of a journal that will be passed around for the others to make the pages.

I considered a few other options, but ended up with my best beloved after all...Orange. I decided to create the entire book as a big hexagon, which meant custom cutting some art boards to the right shape for the covers. The whole thing is about 14" wide and 15-16" high. I couldn't resist doing a little more micro-(not nano-)hexie piecing for the spiral on the front cover...but these are about twice the size of the river hexies so it felt like it went very fast. The tiny gold beads at the hex intersections gave just the right amount of glitz, and the bee just looked at home there in the middle of the honeycomb spiral. Plus, bees do something called a waggle dance when they get back to their hives, and that seemed like yet another layer of meaning for this project that I have entitled "Dance the Orange" after one of Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus.

Front cover of my "Dance the Orange" journal.

Inside front cover, with complete text (different translation than the link above) of the "Dance the Orange" passage from Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus.

For my sample page, I used a few of the Renaissance drawings that my friend Deb gave me, covered with sheer orange organza to warm them up for this project. The adoring look on the woman's face seemed perfect with the poem. The six-petaled "frame" shape around her picture is based on the shape of the symbol for the orange chakra Svadhisthana. To make the tabs that hold the page into the book, I cut up a little orange leather swatch that I got at Crate and Barrel when we were considering some new chairs a few years back. Perfect use for a 4" swatch! Finally, I added the leaf on the right just because I loved how the warm copper reflected the orange glow of the page. 

Sample page

My nine-year-old let me use his typewriter to type Alicante (in the original French!) on a pretty packaging ribbon.

Alicante, by Jacques Prevert

I sewed a tiny booklet and stitched it into the inside back cover for signatures and comments. (I can't wait to read this at the end of the project!)

Inside back cover

Isn't this notebook paper fabric perfect as a booklet?? A single fat quarter makes an eight-page 5x7" booklet. I had a tiny bronze D-ring of just the right scale to make a closure tab with this little piece of ribbon.

Inside back cover, booklet opened.

Again, the boy let me use his typewriter to add the typed text (on orange typewriter fabric! how delightfully meta!):

Inside back cover (close-up)

Our meeting of this project was on September 17, so I have already passed this along to someone else to make the first page. I haven't decided yet if I want to see each page as they are completed, or wait a year and a half to see it again -- what a wonderful and difficult choice!

In the meantime, I currently have Polly's purple journal to work on...the first of many challenges over the next year or two!