TOO MANY COLORS IN HEXES MAKES BLOCK PLACEMENT HARDER

Lately i have been working on the 2 grandmothers flower garden quilts i am making for my girls...but i have been having trouble with placement of the blocks because of color combos....after i analyzed the problem i have decided that it is because i am incorporating too many colors into the block....

most of the main color hexes in the blocks have more than one color in them...and lately i seem to be putting 2 other contrasting colors as part of the the block with it....in the picture above a good example is the bottom hex combo and the top hex combo the colors should be a little more mono chromatic .....it makes it easier to place blocks in the row so that not the same contrasting colors are not close to each other....

In my box of hex combos that i have ready for working on i am going to go through them and make them more user friendly....i have more solid colors in my stash and quite a variety of colors so it should not be a problem, just more cutting lol....from the looks of the contents in the box it could use some better organization too lol....

By using floral prints most have 2 or colors in the flowers so i will have to watch that i dont add too many colors or each block will end up with the same colors...and we cant have that lol....

Later today i am going to quilt the 3 runners i have ready on the table and get them ready to bind then be done with them...maybe get pics ready for the rest of the week....i spent last evening for a couple hours going through quilt mags hunting ideas for small things...didn't find much...i did find an idea for string blocks i want to try....more on this later....

I have been working on the 4sq-4patch quilt...putting sashes around the ones done and hunting fabric combos for more....i have 45 and if i make the top the size i want i need 70 sooo i have a few more to do....more on this too later....

Its very cold this week so good time to be inside...weather man says warmer next week up in the 30's....good by then i will need supplies so i should start my list now....

My energy for sewing has waned some this past week so i am hoping that quilting those runners will get me going again......more later

LAST OF THE COURTHOUSE STEPS? MAYBE FISHING IS NEXT!

Well yesterday i did get to wally world for a bit....i got my lunch at a fast food place and wrote out a small list so i wouldn't forget what i wanted in case i got into a conversation with anyone and my thoughts went out of my head lol...i got there at a good time too, the parking spaces were up close but the wind was sooooo strong, glad i wasn't wearing a wig! lol....

here is the yellow background, courthouse steps quilt i fnished the other day....

AND i sure hope this is the last of those pesky courthouse steps blocks that i have had for the last 30 years....why o why i made so many of them is beyond me....but  i think they are all made up now....i know i said that before but i have looked in every nook and cranny and dont see anymore...i have made a lot of smaller baby type quilts with them for sure....and i am ahead and ready for the next new babies in the family...

this morning i got out all the fabric for my sons quilt....i found FISH fabric about 2 years ago for his but couldn't make up my mind on how to make it...not only that but i finally washed up the last of what i got for it so its all ready to work on now....i measured and decided on how i was going to make it today....in fact i might go in and work on it later today while everything is fresh in my mind...at least get the top done....and today i feel confident enough to machine quilt it....hah! have to see how i feel when i actually go to quilt it...that might all change lol.

yesterday i got enough goodies to make a veggie soup and i think i have a chunk of roast that i cut off some time ago in the freezer for the beef part....then later i can make ground up meat sandwiches with mayo,celery, onion and pickle relish to go with the soup...i never add the meat to the soup as it get old faster than the veggies do so this is a good trade off for nutrition......lol, my idea is simple, i wont have to cook for a few days and that leaves the door open to sew lol....plus the weather is going to get close to 10F daytime and i wont go out in that if i can help it lol....

i want to play around wih those new modern blocks i am creating....maybe add another element to them or make the bigger one smaller...they look too plain at the moment...more on this later as i stated...but they will be on my mind till i get them worked out  so i am sure i will pick up where i left off yesterday....

hmm...i left a coffee cup somewhere and i need to find it and warm it up again...cold coffee isn't bad either...i get a lot of that when i am sewing and too lazy to go warm it back up lol ...lets see where was i last?.....more later......

FLOWER GARDEN QUILT IS GETTING MORE BLOCKS

Today i am on my laptop...it sure is different to use....i should use it more often i guess...i make too many mistakes on it compared to the other one lol though....

this is what i am working on today and most of the week...at the top you see the blocks into place...i have to add some white to one of them before i can add it and some to the other one also i see...i will have the row complete when they are sewn into place....but lately i am thinking i may need to make both of the quilts  longer...that will mean ripping out the end pieces...i should decide before i add more rows across....the last time i talked to the girls they expressed how they would like it long enough for their bedspreads....that is something to think about considering they both have king size beds...i will think about this...but i doubt i will make each one that big or i might not ever get done with them....

this is what this one looks like today so far....i have the other one on the almost done with the 6th row across...i need to work a little feverishly on these...i had put them away for awhile while i got my granddaughters quilt done...so now it the grandmothers flower garden time again....

i also have the courthouse steps quilt with the yellow background pinned and ready for quilting....i havent decided for sure if i am going to hand quilt or machine quilt it...will do that later...dragging my feet again lol....i would like to find a new design for machine quilting that would be easy for me to try so i might do some practicing also this week and see what comes from it...

the weather is to be lousy for the next few days with lots of rain....we need the rain bad and i am glad its not snow and the ground is not froze so it should soak in...peoples wells will suffer soon if we dont get the needed rain....i dont like the dreary weather but i can avoid it by sewing up a storm inside instead of looking at the one outside lol....

well i gotta get to the kitchen and find out what is going to be for supper...so far not a clue and i have to cook whatever pops up fish and chips would taste good...and oh yes some fresh strawberries , yum yum lol so more later......

ITS A STRING DAY

I have done nothing but think about the color variation in the 'asian garden' quilt that i showed in the last post...my first plan was to take it all apart and try to get the green blocks the same color....but 'holy cow' that is a lot of work, work i am not sure i want to do right now....

So today i had to quit thinking about that quilt and got out the bin of scraps and started with the string blocks again....

i made 18 this morning , some cut ready to go and others on the right have to be trimmed up but now on a break from them...not sure if i will make more this afternoon or not....i will make that decision later....i have 3 different yardages of fabric in the washer right now, one of them is the blue for the yellow &courthouse steps quilt border...i may work on that instead....

It seems like a nice day so far and after checking the forcast last night for today i just might get in the car and get out of the house for abit...i have been thinking quilts too long and need to clear my head....that might help me make a decision about the 'asian garden' quilt...

i still have to put all that fabric away and what did i do yesterday but i got out some more...grrrr...lol...today i looked up what i thought i was going to use for the back of the asian garden quilt but 'no go' its only 2 yards and i need at least 3+ sooo...i am going to have to look deeper in the green stack of stash...i do believe i have 1 piece that might be big enough....i sure dont want to go out and buy more at this point...

i am hunting for a new runner pattern to make another one...i was asked what i was going to do with all the runners i am making....well i am using them for practice with my machine quilting and when it becomes our family turn to host our reunion i will gather them all up and hope the family will want something i made...hopefully i will get better and better at machine quilting......well gotta either cook something or get ready and leave to find a late lunch or early supper....i like the last idea better lol...more later....

NEW QUILT TOP

I just finished the contemporary quilt top i mentioned in previous post....i am disappointed in the picture as it makes the colors look different but it all came off the same piece of fabric...

it is hard to see the print inside the boxes...its an asian wood block by Hoffman that i have had for about 17 years and have been moving it around long enough lol...only scraps left now

the close up doesn't show it justice either ...its one of those that is hard to define....i am hoping i have enough of a teal green to use as a back...it should blend well with it as it was bought at the same time back then...i would have liked to use the print as the back but only had 2 yards when i started....i think i am making this one for me...i know both daughters would turn up their noses at this ...they both like more traditional scrappy looks...one daughter is really into the primitive folk art ....

maybe later today i will go back in the sewing room and start putting things away...i have just kept getting out fabric for the last month and not putting any back....

and now i will be ready to get more out..i am not sure i want to put the golds, rusts and browns away yet as i am still working on the fall color quilt, another original block i made....i could really get into doing a lot of that....but i will control myself lol...

another project that i have been gathering fabric for is pillowcases for family members...i have 2 made in sports...trying to make them for things people are interested in or colors that co ordinate with their furnishing....i have all but one persons lined up...so that will be coming up soon i think...

i have a lot that will keep me occupied for the winter months this year and i will TRY not to order more fabric...and i think it might be interesting to keep track of how much i use when i sew up into projects so hopefully i can remember to tally that each time i sew....

well i am getting hungry and i didn't have any Saturday donuts this week, bummer....missed them too....so i better go find some lunch...got laundry to do too...ugh....more later.....