Hexie Pointers

I think because I have a "forever" hexie project (and I've made and sewn together thousands of hexies), people ask me things like the following:

• What thread do you like?
• How do you baste the hexies? 
• How do you sew the hexies together?

Well, here are the answers to those questions. First, I like Superior's 60-weight polyester thread. I have tried quilting thread, silk thread, and others. I like The Bottom Line thread because it is VERY thin, but it is easier to handle than silk thread. I most often use gray but have purchased it in other colors. In the samples you will see below, I have used a gray thread. If you sew the hexies together correctly, you won't see the thread anyway. Here is what the spool looks like.

I know that, when basting, some people do not stitch through the hexie papers. As you can see, I do. 

I have tried the other method (stitching just through the fabric), but I find it doesn't hold the fabric tight enough to the hexie papers for me to get really crisp points. I get much less shifting of the fabrics when I'm stitching the hexies together if I stitch through the paper. I put a knot in my quilting thread to start the basting. I always put my basting knot on the "good" side of my hexies for ease in removing the basting threads later on. (See white hexie on the right-hand side in the above picture.)

I work my way around each hexie making fairly large stitches (so they are easy to take out). I DO NOT knot the thread to end off. I stitch an "X" in the last corner and leave a short tail of thread on the "good" side of the hexie. I always stitch through the "corners" to hold the fabric down. You can see all that in the above picture. 

I used to hold the hexies--right sides together--and whip stitch them. I have found that holding the hexies side by side (flat) and stitching them together works much better. It is hard to get used to, but the thread shows much less on the "good" side. You can see how my needle is inserted in the picture below. That is how the hexies are situated when I stitch them together. Be sure to slide the tip of the needle off the hexie paper--DO NOT stitch into the paper at this point. If you do that, it will keep the stitches from showing on the front of the work.

Here is what the front of these same hexies looks like. The "connecting" stitches are virtually invisible from the front. The black and gray thread that you see are my basting threads.

Sacred Threads Traveling Exhibit

I got an email recently about the "progress" of the 2015 Sacred Threads Traveling Exhibit. My piece, Recurring Dream, was chosen to travel for two years with this exhibit. The email was to inform those of us who have pieces in the exhibit about where the exhibit has been shown and when our pieces might arrive home. (Once the exhibit returns from its final show in California in April 2017, it will be time for my quilt to return home.) I was pleased to see that the exhibit has been all around the country and has been well received. Here is a portion of the email.

"The exhibit has had rave reviews at every venue to which it has traveled, I hope you have been able to see from the Sacred Threads website the different places the exhibit has been shown. 

In case you have not, this is the list to date:

Flint Festival of Quilts, Flint MI - September 2015

Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta GA - November 2015 to January 2016

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena CA - February 2016

Empire Quiltfest, Clifton Park NY - April 2016

Grace Episcopal Church, Gainesville GA - April 2016

Good Shepard Episcopal Church, Hayesville NC - May 2016 (also served as the tour site for those at John C. Campbell Folk School)

Union Church, Berea KY - July 2016 (also served as the tour site for those at Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea College)

Upcoming exhibits:

The Rectory Cultural Arts Center, Norcross GA - November to December 2016

The Texas Quilt Museum, LaGrange TX, - January to March 2017

Best of the Valley Quilt Show, Lindsay CA - April 2017"

Just to refresh your memory, here is a picture of my piece.

For those of you who read my blog, you know this piece is about my Mom and the separation I felt from her because of Alzheimer's and, eventually, her death. I'm happy to share this quilt and my feelings about this quilt with others. (The story of the quilt is an important part of this exhibit--unlike many of the art exhibits in which quilts appear.) I hope Mom would be proud.

Some Hexie Work, a Prize, and Procrastination

Lately, I have had several people ask me about my progress on my "forever" hexie project. I, regrettably, had to say that there had been no progress for quite some time. The piece has gotten so large it is hard to work on (and impossible to work on when I travel). To refresh your memory, here is a picture of the project. (I HAVE added one more row to the bottom of this piece but haven't photographed that.)

I decided I would divide the remaining work into several (what I hope are) "doable" sections. I figure I can work on the sections while I'm on the go and add them to the BIG piece when I'm at home. In the last couple of days, I have completed two of those sections. (The basting stitches have not been removed yet.)

This piece will be added to the bottom--right in the middle to complete the red star points. The next piece will be added directly under that.

I know it doesn't look like much, but this represents several hours of work.

I received a prize from a drawing over at Alida's blog. I participated in her game board quilt project (Play with Me QAL) and was one of the winners in her final drawing. I won a free motion quilting CD, a pattern, and a binding tool. Thank you Alida! If you haven't checked out her blog, you should definitely do that. Check it out here.

Yesterday, I finished the quilting on my Scorched Earth art piece. Now, I have to square it up and face it. I'm really dreading that work and have been procrastinating. Maybe I'll get to it today or maybe not.

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Patoka Valley Fall Retreat 2016

This past weekend my local quilt guild (Patoka Valley Quilters Guild) had their Fall retreat at Saint Meinrad Archabbey. This was just a beautiful place to have a retreat--great views, rolling hills, impressive buildings, and a sparkling lake.

I got a few more blocks of my 365 Challenge Project done, a pillowcase made for a charity project (using some of my recently purchased bargain fabric from Ben Franklin), and 30+ blocks for my next children's charity quilt (which are not in the photograph). The first and third blocks in the second row took a LONG time to make. I worked on one of them for an ENTIRE afternoon. I'm hoping my pillowcase is considered "cheery/happy" and not considered something that would keep a child awake!!!

Our room was a large and well lit room with lots of windows. Everyone had a big table (some of us spread out over a bit more than our share).

There weren't many "tah dah" projects (finished projects that were shown), but everyone remained busy with their individual UFOs (unfinished objects). Here are a few of the pieces I managed to get a picture of.

Retreats are just the best. I don't have any more retreats until December (when I have two). I'm looking forward to them. Do you go to retreats?

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Quilting--Hand & Machine

I haven't had a lot to post lately, because I have been traveling and quilting. I've been working diligently but have little to show for it. Most of my projects take a LONG time to complete. Between my 365 Challenge (with TINY pieces) to my "forever" hexagon project (with LOTS and LOTS of 1/2" hexagons) and hand quilting in the meantime, my "art" quilts have taken a back seat.

I have been busy quilting two on-going projects. I really enjoy hand quilting when I have the time. It is VERY meditative for me. I love the slow rhythm of it; I love the feel of the needle and thread coming through the cloth. There is nothing that looks like hand quilting; I love the texture of a hand quilted piece--the "dimples" it makes in the cloth.

To date, I have hand quilted over 100 hours on my "Bouquets for a New Day" quilt (and have a long way to go). The Quilt Show hosted a BOM (block of the month) quilt awhile back; this is my version.

I wanted this one to have LOTS of quilting. Well, it does!

I'm also working on getting my latest "art" quilt (Scorched Earth) machine quilted. I have the main portion of the piece quilted and am now working to finish the background. I am quilting it on my Juki QVP sit-down quilting machine. I could not have quilted this one on my domestic machine. I tried that first--I thought I would use my walking foot to quilt straight lines on it., but that DID NOT work. The quilt is rather stiff (almost like leather), so getting this big quilt through the harp of my domestic machine was impossible. It turns out that I'm glad the domestic machine quilting didn't work. I am happy with the quilting I've done on my Juki, and it forced me to practice using that "new" machine. I get a bit more confident with every hour of quilting.

What are you up to? Do you like this cooler weather (if you have it)? Does the change in weather change what you work on? I know I do more quilting when the weather is cooler and more designing when it is warm. I am REALLY loving this fall weather--my favorite time of the year.

 

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MORE Fabric!

"Hello. My name is Beth Schnellenberger, and I am a fabric addict!" Yep, I said it. When you look at my stash, you would think I don't need any more fabric. Well, I bought some more fabric.

On the left, you can see the contents from two of the other baskets I bought at the live auction at the PUPs Retreat in Memphis. (They auction off baskets of goodies to raise money for their next big retreat. I always buys a basket or two to support their efforts. If you'd like to see my "Kiss Me Goodnight" basket, check it out here.) I bought a basket of mostly yellows ("Hello Sunshine") and a miscellaneous box ("This & That"). I did give away some of the fabric, a ruler, and a couple of patterns from the two that I didn't think I would use. Besides the fabric, the basket contained some hand-stitched coasters, ten cloth hankies, some thread, and a Curtis Boehringer pattern. I am a collector of Curtis Boehringer quilt patterns; I have all twelve months of his snowmen patterns. I was excited to see this one included in the box.

On the right you can see MORE fabric. Unfortunately, our local Ben Franklin store is closing. It is the last place in my town to purchase good quality quilting fabric. I stopped by before I went to my latest quilt retreat and found that the fabric had been marked down 80%. The fabric had a pretty good presale price, so 80% off made it irresistible. I bought all that was left on these bolts for $1.29 per yard. I figure I can use most of the fabric for charity quilts. I like the bright fabrics for the kid's quilts I make.

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to get another charity quilt top made at my next retreat. We'll see.

 

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