Quilts, Hexagons. Cross Stitch and Shopping

Hello   I hope you are all doing well.  I've been busy with physical therapy and exercises, and in between I've managed to squeeze in some other fun things.  

This is my latest little quilt from the Simple Whatnots group.  Our group meeting was last week on Tuesday.  This one is called Prairie Pretties.  I just did some simple quilting on this one.  This stitch is made by choosing the zig-zag option on your machine and setting the stitch width and length wide.   

I sewed the binding on by machine and then I stitched it by hand on the back.  I think hand sewing the binding to do the last part of a quilt is kind of relaxing.  I know everyone doesn't agree with that.  

I've watched several videos on You Tube about crocheting an edge on a quilt.   I decided this little quilt was small enough that it wouldn't be a huge time investment to give it a try.  The video I watched used a backstitch on the edge of the binding,  I started out that way, but my backstitching on the quilt looked like my backstitching on an embroidery piece.   So I used a buttonhole stitch instead.  I'm kind of glad I did because it seemed like it gave the quilt edging more stability.  The buttonhole stitch is a bit tricky to put on the edge of the binding.  I kept trying different needles until I found one with a large enough eye to get the thread through and one that was sharp enough to get the thread through the binding.  I have no idea what kind of needle it was.  I'd guess a chenille needle????   I used Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread Fashion 3 (100% cotton) that I bought at Michaels.  I started with 2 rounds of single crochet to give the next round a good foundation.  Then I did a 4 double crochets, skip 1 chain, 1 single crochet, skip a chain then another 4 double crochets.  You continue that all the way around the quilt.  If you crochet, that's a pretty simple shell stitch.  

I've also made a few more 5/8" hexagon arches for my Avignon quilt.

I found a little zipper bag and had no idea what was in it.  There were more hexagons.  I think they just keep multiplying.  I pulled out sets of 6 and sewed them into a ring so I can put centers in them sometime later.  These are 3/4" which is the size I use most often.  

I make the ring leaving one side open, and then I find a hexagon from my box of centers and clip them together.  

Here's the pencil box full of odd 3/4" hexagons that I use to choose my centers.  

                                                   

I also found some time to meet a friend in Rushville at Mystic Fabrics.  We shop first then head over to Pizza Hut to eat and then we sit there and stitch.  The girl working there always comes over and says she loves that we're getting together to stitch.  Here's a few photos from inside Mystic.  There's lot of cross stitch patterns, floss, and some yarn.  

They have a lot more fabric than this.  Somehow I only took photos of the wide backing fabrics.  

I've made quite bit of progress on America the Beautiful by Stitching with the Housewives.  I'm working on the flag now.  I kind of like repetitive stitching so I'm enjoying this part.  

That's all for now.   Until next time.......

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

A Weekend Getaway

 We had a weekend getaway to Ohio at Hueston Woods Lodge in the state park there.  The room had a lake view, and the Lodge has a restaurant in house so it's just a nice place to walk around and relax.  And......

The Real Story:    We went for the hot water.   Yep.   Last Thursday I did a lot of laundry, and I noticed that the washer sounded like there was air in the pipes.  Then later on in the day I noticed that the same noise was coming from the sink.  Friday morning we showered and my husband drained the hot water heater tank thinking that if he drained it and turned the circuit breaker off and back on that would take care of the problem.   Well no.  The circuit breaker wouldn't turn back on so there we were with no hot water.  We called a plumber, and he came out on Friday.  He couldn't fix the old water heater......and he couldn't come back until Tuesday morning with a new one.  That's a long time without hot water from Friday to Tuesday.  Besides not being able to shower, your brain automatically makes your hand go to the hot water faucet whenever you wash your hands or do anything at the sink.  And then nothing comes out.  My son said we were welcome to go to his house to shower, but after thinking about it we'd have to take clean clothes, towels, shampoo and conditioner.  So I had the idea to go to a hotel for a couple of days.  We checked a few places, and decided to go over to Ohio to Hueston Lodge.  We stayed until Monday afternoon.  The plumber was here at 8 this morning, and after 3 1/2 hours, he had the new water heater installed.  When he left he said we'd have hot water in about an hour.  No.  My husband went downstairs to check the temperature on the new water heater, and one of the pipes was leaking.  The plumber just left (after his second visit today), and again said we'd have hot water in about an hour.  We'll see.  

Here are a couple more photos I took of Hueston Woods.  This was taken with the panorama setting on my phone.  It looks like everything is squished.  

This is the lobby where you check in.  For some reason I didn't take a picture of where the rooms are.  They are off to the right of the photo.  This is where I've gone in January 2024 and 2025 for the Keepsakes Stitch Away retreat.   It's especially nice in the winter because sleeping, stitching and the restaurant are all right there so we don't need to go outside in the winter weather until we're ready to head home.

The lobby is actually on the second floor.  Here is the big spiral staircase leading from the first floor up to the lobby.  

Of course I took along a hexagon project.  This is the layout for the Avignon quilt I'm working on.  The pattern is in the Feathering the Nest 4 book by Brigette Giblin.  This quilt will be totally scrappy using some new fabrics I've purchased and some of my old repro fabrics that I love.  That cheddar one down toward the bottom of that photo might not make the cut.  It kind of stands out too much from the rest.  I'll see when I add these to the others I have stitched.  These are 5/8" hexagons.  

I've also started a new counted cross stitch project with a couple stitching friends.  We take turns picking a project on our birthdays for all of us to do.   Some years we send each other a kit to stitch.  Other times we just pick a project.  I didn't pick a project on my birthday in April, but another friend picked this one for her August birthday.  This is America the Beautiful by Stitching with the Housewives.  This is a pattern that I've had for quite awhile and have always wanted to do.   Priscilla and Chelsea did their model stitch on black fabric.  They stitch on 28 count over 2 threads.  I decided to do something different so mine is on 18 count dirty Aida cloth.  The word America looks like it's stitched in black, but it's actually a dark navy.  It shows up better in person.  It's actually kind of fun to get back into cross stitch again.  

That's it for now.   I've got more stitching to show but I'll save it for next time.  If you're still reading, thanks for listening to my tale of woe about having no hot water.  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you're finding some time to stitch today!!

Stonefield's Hexagons and How I Sew Them

Here are the hexagons that I have finished for the outer border of my Stonefield's quilt.  These are made from fabrics that are brighter than I usually sew with, but I think they will look nice on the outside border of the quilt.  Stonefield's is a pattern by Susan Smith, and I think the blocks kind of lend themselves to brighter, fun fabrics. 

I've had people ask how I can sew hexagons together so quickly.  I've tried different methods of sewing my hexagon flowers together.  This one seems to work best for me, and I feel like it's the fastest method.  (I'm not an expert.  I'm just sharing how I sew mine together. ) 

 

First I glue baste my english paper piecing.  I'm not doing heirloom sewing.  I'm just making quilts for my own enjoyment.  I use the Sewline glue pen, and I buy my refills from Amazon here.  

These are glue basted.  I cut a 3/8" seam allowance on my hexagons so if I've fussy cut a fabric I've got some wiggle room to center it.  I sew my hexagons using the flat back/ladder method.  There are a lot of good videos out there showing this method.  You can see by the position of my needle how this works.  I can start my hexagons this way, but if you have trouble getting started you can put the right sides of the hexagons together and take the first couple of stitches that way.  Then you can hold them flat like you see in the photo below.  Most every quilt with hexagons has 2 hexagons sewn together like you see in the photo below.  So I start by sewing a lot of sets of 2 hexagons together.

 

A hexagon flower has 3 sets of 2 hexagons sewn together so I start by sewing them in pairs.  

Now sew them into a ring leaving an opening.  

Now you can choose a center hexagon and finish sewing the hexagon together with just one thread.  This avoids the starting and stopping, and I think it goes so much faster because after you make the ring, you only have to thread your needle once to add the center and finish closing the hexagon flower.  I start at the arrow, go around and out where I left the opening.  

I keep a container of odd hexagons made from scraps or something that I think would make a good fussy cut center.  

Here are a few centers that I've auditioned from my container above for the center of this hexagon.  

And, here's the finished hexagon flower ready for my Stonefield's quilt.  

Here are a few more that I've sewn.  I know there are a lot of ways to sew these little flowers together.  This is just the way that I do it.  

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

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