This one runs for 6 months and there are two duplicate blocks each month.  The fabric used is Etchings by 3 Sisters for Moda.  I really love the colors.  I think I am a fan of 3 Sisters fabric lines; I seem to be drawn to them and not even realize it until after they are purchased.

While I love to piece complicated blocks, I think this one “took the cake”.  I worked on the two blocks for three days.  It wasn’t all day, but several hours each day.  Between pressing, cutting, drawing diagonal lines on the backs of tons of fabric squares, it was tedious.  The result is beautiful and worth it though.

The plaid fabric is a woven.  I have never worked with wovens before.  I treated it just like a regular cotton fabric, just starched the heck out of it with my Mary Ellen’s Best Press before cutting. 

You can’t just make just one!

I have heard that before and couldn’t believe it.  But then I have not really been interested in hand projects. 

Last month at my guild meeting, our program was hexagons and how to English Paper Piece.  I have, of course, seen tutorials and such for a while and resisted.  This seemed appropriate to take along with me each afternoon while I am waiting for my kids to get out of school – I usually have to wait an hour each day because of my kids being in two different schools with twenty minutes between release times.

I purchased 600 hexagon papers (1-inch leg size).  I then was trying to decide what fabric to use.  I really didn’t want a “Grandmother’s Flower Garden”.  I decided to cut up my Moda Grace Jelly Roll for this.  I will probably place this in a random order since each jelly roll strip yields 18 hexagons.  I then purchased three charm packs that will yield 12 more for a total of 30 per fabric.  I will have a total of 1200 hexagons.

The last two days that I have been working on them to baste the fabric to the papers, I have done 55 of them.  I will have to admit though I have been a bit under the weather and on the couch  a lot.  This is a perfect project for this.  I can rest on the couch and work on basting hexagons to the paper.

So… for an official hexagon count:

55/1200

Though I can’t wait to chop into the fabrics and start the project, I promised myself I would complete two tops before I would do so. Hmmmm… I can’t wait!

Here it is, even though you have probably been seeing it all over blogland like I have:

It is kinda cute! 

I put each month in a plastic baggie that I will put with each month’s directions so that when I am ready to work on it, it will be ready. 

As I was cutting the months out, I also cut out 1 1/2” squares from the fabric’s odd pieces.  Here it is:

I thought it looked really cool all stacked up.  I used the super macro setting on my new camera to get really close.  Even my old “bridge” camera couldn’t take a picture this good!

I started a new project this week – Giddy With Change.

I got all the blocks done and probably would have finished the top, but I ran out of the Moda Solid – I made the pattern a bit bigger than the pattern called for.  I also am waiting on fabric that I decided I will do for the outer border.

I am loving the fabric – Giddy by Sandy Gervais.  The dark brown, red, pink and teal all play together very nicely.

I got these fabrics this morning from Patchwork Gracie.

The blue is called “Shaved Ice” and the Brown is called “Coconut”.

It is the same place I got the purples & pinks for my daughter’s quilt.

I am going to make the same pattern with the blues and browns for my son’s quilt.

Woohoo.  I got my Paris in the Fall month one blocks done today.  They came on Saturday.  This is only a six-month block-of-the-month, so maybe I can stay caught up.

I used my Superior bottom line thread and super bob bobbins.  I also got my Superior titanium needles in the 70/10 size and oh my!  Together they sewed like a hot knife going through melted butter!  My piecing was so accurate!

1.  Bind my Emma’s Legacy Quilt (it is back from the quilter’s) – Done!  It is on my bed too!

2.  Work on arrowheads – Done – I made one more block. 

3.  Work on pink & purple batik – The top is done

4.  Sandwich hand-dyed pineapples. Done!  And it is quilted and bound as well.

I also got two other quilts that were previously sandwiched quilted and bound – my Halloween table topper and “Home for the Holidays” quilt.

This Week’s goals

1.  Catch up on “Hearth and Home” BOM

2.  Work on Arrowheads

Not too much on my “to-do” list because it is Thanksgiving this week (I can’t believe it!!)  Hubby also wants to go to the beach this weekend, so we will probably go on Saturday.

I want to get the pink and purple quilt done because I plan it being a Christmas gift for my daughter.  I had already been working on this since retreat weekend when I bought these beautiful fat quarters:

The other day, I was showing the quilts I finished and my daughter asks “Mom, can you make me a quilt that is pink and purple with polka dots?”  Well, I have the pink and purple covered – she isn’t going to get polka dots though – sorry.

I made a test block last night.  I have been wanting to do something with the indigo fabrics I purchased last year, so I cut a small block off of one and tested the block with a hand-dye that I did in class.  Good thing it was a “test” block.  The fabric bled onto the indigo when I sprayed it with starch – also my piecing was not that great.  It still turned out pretty enough that I put a 3-yard hunk of Moda PFD in the bucket of soda ash last night at 9pm.

I figured I would let it soak all night, and after I took the kids to school I would dye it red – Fire Red.

Fast forward to about 12:30 after I was laying in bed trying to go over the amount of red dye that I would need to make three yards of fabric.  I couldn’t stand it any more so I got up and thought I would make a quick batch of dye and let it cure over night – so that when I got back from taking the kids to school I could start washing it out. It wasn’t like I was creating a recipe – just taking pre-mixed dye and mixing it and pouring it over the fabric.

My first mistake was that I didn’t put my bag in my dishpan.  My second mistake was not prepping my surface before I started working.  My third mistake (and now I know  WHY you put your bags in your dishpan prior to filling them) – was not checking my big ziploc bag for leaks.

Yep.  You guessed it.  FIRE RED dye ALL over the counter, down the side of the painted wall, and onto the floor.  Half of my dye was gone – not that I had made a whole bunch of it to begin with – I guess I believe in ULTRA-low water immersion dyeing.

After transferring the dyed fabric and what liquid I had left into a new bag and placing it in the dishpan in case THAT one leaked, I set out to clean the floor and counter.  Out came my handy-dandy clorox-clean-up cleaner with bleach.  LOVE that stuff for when I dye.  Mess cleaned up – except one bit of the wall is now pink.  That is ok.  I can get some touch-up paint from self-help and need to for other parts of the house anyway.  Now I am WIDE AWAKE.  It takes me about two hours to calm down from that.

Later after taking the kids to school, I wash out  the reds, make sure there is no more dye coming out of the fabric. Then I dry it.  There is a big splotch of red/pink/white area.  NOT good.  And I am out of Fire Red dye.  So what do I do?  I go back and put the fabric in the bag, put about 5 cups of soda ash water in there and then over-dye it with what I have left of Chinese red dye.  It is on its final wash, so we shall see how it turns out…

All this because I think I might run out of projects to work on at the bee tomorrow that is an all-day one (from 8:30 am to 10:30pm).

I have Quilter’s ADD and Quilter’s OCD.  Not a good combination, I tell you!