WIP Wednesday: Machine Quilting

It's not uncommon for me to make a quilt top and leave it unfinished for a decent amount of time. Hoping to break that habit a bit, I decided to piece the back and begin quilting my Mod Hex 2 quilt.

And after the spiral quilting I did on my Sunrise Delight quilt, I knew I wanted to do the same quilting on this quilt.

The center is the hardest part because you practically take one or two stitches before turning the quilt. That's the one part that I could really use some additional practice at.  The rest of the quilting, I think, looks really good.

Once you get going, and out of the very center, it starts to quilt up pretty quick.

But then it slows down a bit when you get to the outside of the quilt, when it takes longer to make a full circle.  This is how far I got after two hours of quilting.  I'd estimate I have another two to three hours left to go on this baby.  

BMQG Quilt Retreat

Last weekend was the annual BMQG quilt retreat. Like last year, this year was a total blast and I managed to get quite a bit done.

To start, I finished my Mod Hex 2 quilt top.

Next, I finished my Sew-vivor project, which I'll reveal later this week.

After finishing two big projects,  I decided to tackle something a bit smaller, a bag. This will be a gift for a friend.

It was a super easy pattern and I see myself making more of these in the future.

I also managed to get a sample bee block for the Simply Solids bee since next month is my month.  I'll do a separate post about that tomorrow.

I worked here and there on a few other projects, but not enough to really show any of it.  All in all, I'd say it was a very productive long weekend and an even better time hanging out with some really awesome people.  A big thank you to Aimee and Alice for helping to organize everything!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Modern Hexagon Class & Winner of QuiltCon Goodies

Yesterday I taught a Modern Hexagon class at Quilter's Way.

I made this quilt as I was designing the class. Students were able to make this exact quilt or make one similar to their specifications - changing the size of the hexagons and the sashing if they so pleased.

I decided to use a fat quarter bundle I received for Christmas for my class sampler.

This is the after - after I showed the class how to cut their hexagons, how to cut and sew their sashing, how to cut their background, and how to sew it together.  I came to the class with all of this pre-cut and a bunch of it already sewn together to show exactly how I constructed my top.

Here's what some of the folks pulled together.

Alison decided to take the technique we learned and make something completely different, which I LOVE! I might have to do something similar at some point.  The wheels in my head are a churnin'.

The rest follow the same pattern I made in my class sample, but each with their own unique spin.

This one uses all batiks.  I like the use of a light blue background here - it feels like a rainbow in the sky.

This one used a deep blue/purple for the background and it worked really well.

I didn't grab a picture of KK's quilt, but I'll be sure to grab one at retreat this weekend and share that with you as well.

Now, for the winner of the QuiltCon goodie bag.  The random number generator selected #17, Tricia who is a follower and is loving aqua and red as well as gray and purple. Congratulations Tricia. 

Modern Hexagon Quilt Class

For those of you in the Massachusetts area, I'll be teaching my Modern Hexagon quilt at Quilter's Way in Acton, MA on March 10th.

Using Jaybird's Hex N More ruler, you can make this quilt top your own by changing the size of the hexagons and even changing the size of the white sashing.  You could make a small wall hanging or a larger quilt.  The one you see here measures 40" square.

I hope you'll join me if you're in the area.  Several spots have already been taken, so if you want a spot in the class, sign up here.

Finish Friday: Modern Hexagon Quilt

This week I put the finishing touches on my Modern Hexagon quilt.  The quilting took a while, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's one of my favorite quilts right now, but that's often the case when I finish a labor of love.

I used the Hex N More ruler to make the quilt top.

I echo quilted in the grey, at varying widths in the center and 1/4" apart on the outside.  Why I quilted 1/4" apart on the biggest part of the quilt, I'm not sure.  Sometimes I get ideas in my head and don't really think them through.  This was one of them.  It probably took me a good 15 hours to quilt this quilt over several weeks.

The back looks awesome and almost as good as the front.  I love how the hexagons stand out and you can see the rainbow effect from the different color threads in each hexagon.

I stitched in the ditch around the hexagons and did some dense quilting to highlight the hexagons.  The way it's quilted makes it look like the hexagons are made of six pieces of fabric when in fact they are just two pieces (for the colored parts that is).

The quilt finishes at 40" square.  I used various So Fine! and Aurifil threads for the quilting.  The solids are Kona cottons - white and Iron.  The prints are from various lines including Simply Color, Quilt Blocks, Cuzco, Good Fortune and more.

I will be teaching this quilt and the technique I used at Quilter's Way in Acton sometime soon.  I'll let everyone know when we have set a date for the class.