4 MORE ROWS OF HEXES TO GO

Today when I was sewing more hex flowers on my flower quilt...I was thinking I only had 2 more rows to go and it will be time for the fill-in sections..but then I happen to do some figuring and I had forgotten that I had added 2 more flowers on the end of every row so that threw off the length f the quilt...soooo I have 4 rows to do before I get ready for the fill-ins....I have a lot more flowers to make lol....

I have been wondering what color to make the border on this quilt and I think its going to be an aqua color...there is a lot of that color in the quilt...It shouldn't overpower it being its only 1 hexie wide surrounded by the beige background...actually the way I see it it should help accent the aqua...beige and aqua always look good together...

Well I am extra tired tonight....I have been up all day not doing much and my headache is very bothersome but I tried to ignore it....Wednesday I go back to the doc...I lost my voice yesterday and so far today I cant talk either lol....so I have this bug yet....ok off to bed.....more later....

NO. 7 FLOWER GARDEN QUILT AND WONDERING ABOUT THE PIONEERS

Remember when i said i was working on another grandmothers flower garden quilt this time for me????...Well i am and its no.7...mine is beige background and all the others are white background...mine is also the small flower...i like them the best to work on...

I have seeen soo many ways to put one othese quilts together from gluing the basting (always wondered what happened it you didn't wash it out)..i baste mine by hand...some use papers if you read my blog you know i dont use papers and it works perfectly fine...i would recommend this method for any to use and you will have good results...

As i sit and work on this quilt i wonder if the pioneers made theirs without papers too...back then they were lucky to have a newspaper to read....there wasn't paper till the paper mills started up...i have a old quilt mag that says to take the template hold it next to the fabric and cut around it adding a 1/4 inch as you go and that is your hex to start...i suppose they cut up their old dresses and passed them around so each person at the quilting bee has some...I guess we will never know for sure..

Any way if you are interested in making one and haven't started with some other method...give mine a try if you have the time to devote to making it...

Well its getting late so its off to bed for now...more later....

MORE TIPS ON MAKING GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILT

Today i thought i would give you a couple hints for those who are interested in making the Grandmothers Flower Garden quilts, either the large ones or the small flowers...I was asked while back if i had any easy tips...i am not sure they are easy but they might make the work easier...

1. A good formula for planning a Grandmothers Quilt (small flower) is: Pick out at least 7 colors from the color wheel, such as purple, pink, green, blue, orange, brown and a mixed one that doesn't have a definite color plan (like multi color flower)...then the next part is out of EACH color category get at least 5 different prints...and the next part is out of EACH of those 5 make at least 5 blocks each...you should have about 175 blocks when finished...that is enough for a good size quilt...this is helpful when trying to see if you have enough fabric...

2.If you have started a quilt and have trouble getting in the right spot for adding the end block...start  with the block in second or third where those blocks would be and work back to the first one...Its much easier to do that than to try to rip out without tearing up your block...i know from experience.

3. If you are following my method of this quilt...you will be repeating row 1 and 2 throughout...so trying to figure out how big to make the length take the amount of blocks in these two rows and x by how many times you want to repeat and then add the last row extra to balance the quilt so it looks the same as the first row (the longer row)....

I hope these tips help...i have done things so automatic that i dont think of them as tips but i guess they are if you are getting started...this quilt isn't hard but if you dont want to devote the time to make it you may never finish it as it does take a lot of time....let me know if they help...more later...

TIP: WHEN SEWING GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILT...

While stitching on  my daughters border for her flower quilt this morning i thought about a tip for working on the Grandmothers flower garden quilts....As most of you know that follow my adventures working on these quilts i have added borders to them to make them have more personalities....

The tip is when making the zig zag end of the quilt you can make them in a row before you join them to the quilt....you wont have to worry about if you are getting the right zig in the right spot if you sew starting in the down position and make an odd amount of them such as 5,7 or 9 cause when you turn it one way the first one is either up or down then the opposite end will be the opposite of the first....i hope that makes sense...but it is very helpful believe me so you dont have to guess all the time which way you should start if you are sewing away from the quilt say in a dr. office...

GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN NO.5, 1 MORE TO GO!

Ok here is Grandmothers flower garden quilt top no. 5....I finished this over the winter of 14-15...Like all the others I've done it is hand sewn without the papers inside following the method other than English paper piecing...I am now working on No. 6 which I hope will be done by end of this summer then I can start to quilt all 6 of them....I chose to make all the quilt tops first so if I didn't make it each family member would have a top to get finished but I do hope I am around to quilt them all....

I had a busy holiday weekend...not socially but organizingly (is that a word) busy...I have been working on clearing off the 2 tables I have in the family room that I use for laying out quilts and quilting with my little portable machine....it has been piled high with new fabric ready to be washed and ironed which I spent most of the weekend doing....now to get it put away and the rest of the things off the table...its almost there...

Getting ready to work on my daughters scrappy quilt laying out and preparing it for hand quilting....maybe by the weekend coming I will be able to work on it...I can get a lot done on a weekend for some reason lol.....more later....

GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILT NO.4

Today I finally got a picture taken of grandmothers flower garden no.4...this is in the series of I think 6 will be made...I say 6 but I am afraid there may be some hexes leftover that I made need to use up after no. 6....On no. 3 I decided these quilt tops needed a personality lol...so I started adding borders to them...it wasn't all that hard to do...

On finishing  them after I quilt I will cut off the points and the zig that is sticking out on the ends so I can add binding on all of them...

My daughter came this afternoon and took her purse home...she was pleased that there was a zipper in it....that purse gave me a lesson I never thought of...a new way to put in a zipper that was recessed in a bag....hope I remember how it did it if I want to do it again.....more later....

QUICK LINK TO GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILTS

For those of you that are linking to the posts involving my Grandmothers Flower Garden quilts I have added a quick link on the side bar for the flower garden assembly of those quilts....earlier I noticed that both posts that I made showing how I put them together were not together so I put them in the Label section of the side bar for easier location to use...I hope this helps those that would like to make these quilts the way I do.....

Also the link for all posts involving the flower garden quilts is still there under the assembly link....more later....

DETAIL OF BORDERS ON MINI GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILT

I am almost done with the mini floral grandmothers flower garden quilt top....I finally have pictures to show you....I made sure I got some before I completely finished the top to show the border sequence I have been working on...

 

Those of you that have been following me may remember I am making several flower garden quilts for my family...here is the latest one

When I got toward the end of all the rows I thought it would look nicer to add a border around for a more finished look and this is the result...I don't have the closest end at the bottom of the picture finished but I have close ups of how I am doing the border...

In this picture 2 of the ends are tricky...the first thing was to make sure the back and forth of the design would be even...so that meant I had to add 1 white hex to fill in before I added the blue....on the right edge of picture a white hex has been added already...that made the see saw effect across the row...

In this picture you can see how I added the blue and the outer row of white...I sewed hexes together matching the see saw effect...I thought it would take me forever to do this but actually it went pretty fast...The points and 1/2 of the white hexes will be trimmed off to make straight when the binding goes on....

 

On the side rows all you do with them is fill in with a partial block which will make them even then sew hexes end to end with each other and sew to quilt....

 

When this part of the quilt is finished I will have to check the backside for Loopy-loops and take the basting out...then I can quilt....

 

Today I hope to get some more fabric washed and ironed to use right away in 2 small quilts and I want to make some mug rugs sometime this week....I am always doing something if not I get very bored lol.....more later....

HERE IS MY 2 GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILTS

Finally!!...i have had trouble trying to post this picture....here are my babies....these are my 2 Grandmothers Flower Garden quilts so far....the tops are done so the next step is to sandwich them and start hand quilting them....so it will probably be at least 6 months before they get done, maybe longer....they measure 74x92 inches and are all hand made and i didn't use any paper disks....as i dont like English paper piecing or any paper piecing for that matter lol

I am back on my laptop today...my new computer quit working....tech and i thought it was in the computer since he installed a new monitor and it still didn't work...but after he left....my mouse decided to die....so now i need to get a new one and hope that was the problem...to tired today to make the trip to get one....

I have been working in scraps most of last week and so far into today.....and this afternoon i worked on straightening up my work table....geez what a mess!!....i hope i can keep it cleaned off....FAT CHANCE!!...i did put some of the 'stuff' in bags sorted so that helped and maybe i wont be moving it around.....

Its been a long day so far and i need some food and i am tired, brain tired....hope you enjoy the gfg picture...the girls at the quilt meeting helped hold them up so pictures could be taken....they were a spectacular site seeing them both together.....so glad  i stuck with making them.....more later....

SLAVING ON THE FLOWER GARDEN QUILT

No i havent abandoned my blog...lol...i have been working steadily on the grandmothers flower garden...slaving away on first one part of it then another....first i went through all the clipped combos and re did the colors as i was getting too many different colors in a block....then i basted a lot of them and then proceeded to finish the blocks complete with half the white that i put around them ready to go in a row....

this picture is one i had before but some of the ones in the pic are ones i remade blocks of this week....i have 30 of them  ready now..i laid out the 2 quilts on the floor so i could see what colors are in both...i found that i needed to go back and cut out more of some of the kinds i already had....

1 strip makes a block and a third of the main color for each block so a strip doesn't go far....and i run out of them often....

tonight my fingers are so sore from holding and maneuvering the hexes around while i sew so i guess i better give them a rest....not to mention the hand that i use to hold the needle with....i havent been sewing anything else all week end or since the new week started....just slaving on the flower garden quilt.....

i havent even checked to see if my new quilting foot fits that i ordered....it looks like the old one did so i am pretty sure its ok....

got to take time out for groceries sometime this week.....the weather is even going to co operate....may get to the 40+ degrees too....that would be a big plus considering i hate getting out in the cold....

the quilt gals want to see the flower garden quilts for show and tell this week so i will pack it all up ready to take with me...i would rather wait till i have more rows done but then they might be too big to handle lol....

i remeasured and i have to have 13 rows across and 11 rows in length so i have a long way to go before they are done....i think i will miss my goal of March for them....so i will aim for next Christmas....lol....for now though i am going to grab some popcorn and watch tv ......more later....

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

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......

GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN TIP

i learned something about adding blocks on the ends of rows of the gfg quilt on the left today....it is hard to know where you are with the blocks unless you lay it out and pin where you want the block....if i hadn't double checked myself today i would have sewn at least2 blocks in the wrong places and would have had to rip out...

i have been working on these quilts this week...in various stages...cutting more white hexes, yes again....cutting a couple more flowered print hexes and sewing hexes into flowers and finally working on the rows sewing posies into place....i sure spent the hours working on these quilts....

when i wasn't doing that i was string block making....i found out from my youngest daughter that she likes quilts of a lot of colors, no matter the pattern....i didn't realize this but i should have being she likes primitive furniture...no wonder she grabbed the old 4 patch quilt i made a long long time ago i was going to trash...all made from scraps from the clothes sewing i did for the girls back in the 60's....i thought it got threw out lol....i am sure she will like the string quilt when it gets that far.....my other daughter said she wasn't too crazy about string blocks...talk about 2 girls and different personalities lol

i am still waiting for the thread order before i can work on the mug rugs and i have been getting the boxes ready that i am sending to friends in Texas and i hope to send one to Georgia also if i can find the right thing....and i have one to send right here in Il too...the dining table is a mess of boxes and rug mugs and no room to sew...ugh....that isn't good lol....

and to top it off i wasn't feeling good today for some reason....i had planned on going grocery shopping and looking around today but didn't trust my body to co operate....going to eat light for supper so maybe things will settle down...its the wrong time to be sick for sure with Thanksgiving just 2 days away lol....

well not a lot to talk about tonight....just sewing when i feel like it....going to lay down for a bit and watch the evening news...sure hope there is some good news for a change.....more later...

CUTTING HEXES TODAY

THIS IS WHAT I AM DOING TODAY

I am doing hexes again....i am running low on white ones after adding them to several blocks recently...while in the sewing room marking and cutting more hexes i decided to cut a couple batches of prints to add to my box for future ones....i also basted a whole block (lavender/ lavender print in pic) ready to start sewing together and to the right of those in the pic is  some of  the posies i have sewn the white half way around ready for adding to the row....

I know it doesn't look like a lot but it is a lot of patience sewing....that is the hardest thing about this grandmothers flower garden quilt...it seems if i dont work on it when i first get up and have my coffee the day gets by me and i cant seem to get to the hexes....

today is no different either....i got that much sewing done on them but i have laundry to do and i think i will throw in a larger yardage piece of fabric to do up for the cabinet...i hate doing the bigger ones as i really dont like to do ironing of anything....that is one of the memories of my childhood...mom thought she had to have everything ironed back then...ugh!....i was so glad when wash and wear came along when my kids were growing up so i didn't have to iron much....lol

dishes are in the sink soaking right now...need to do those up....i was thinking when i was drawing water ....'how does one person dirty so many dishes?' lol....but then it isn't just one day of dishes either lol....

well off i go to the kitchen...more coffee, maybe some toast ...it might be a long time to supper if i get busy and one good thing...i cooked yesterday so supper is in a casserole dish for me tonight ..yay! lol.....more later....

FLOWER GARDEN QUILT ASSEMBLY

The last post showed how i put my grandmothers flower garden quilt in rows by doing it a block at a time instead of making a row and adding it all the way across the quilt....

as i have stated i am making 2 of these quilts at a time...here is where i stand with both today...on the left it needs more blocks on the end and the quilt on the right needs more block across before i have them with even  amount of rows...

i will be trying to keep it fairly even working on these because i know me and i dont think when i would get done with one i would like going back and picking up another half done quilt and have to do it again...so this way when i go through each step i wont be going back again....that is my logic anyway....lol....ok now on to the next....

while working on the first quilt i noticed that  the side scollops were different shape than the up and down scollops so i had to stop and figure out just how i was going to finish the quilt...i have seen many ways and being i have no instructions on this i set out to see what i could do and this is what i decided...first i had to turn around my quilt so the prettier scollops would be on the side...that leaves me the option of letting them hang over the side of the quilt in case it is coverlet size when done otherwise i may fill in with triangles of white to even it out  for a straight edge....

this photo shows a fill in block on the up and down ends of the quilt...as you can tell i have more white hexies to add then i can sew this half block in to continue finishing off the end....

if you look at the picture of both quilts you will see that the rows are staggered so that leaves ends to fill in or you could just leave them as is...but i think i would want mine filled in at the top and bottom so that is what i am doing....

here is a pic with the layout of the blocks at the corner to give you an idea of the difference in the scollops you deal with when finishing the quilt....

this is where i have to end how i am making my quilt as i have not finished them yet lol....but i will keep this blog updated on how i am proceeding...unless i change my mind i think i have explained what will happen when i get 10 rows up and down and 11 rows  across each quilt....then i can finish them both....

i have given you the basic way i am working on these quilts and like i said it isn't hard to make one...it is just time consuming and lots of hand sewing...so if you are willing to devote your time you will end up with a beautiful quilt that you and everyone that sees it will admire....happy sewing.....more later

FLOWER GARDEN ASSEMBLY PT. 2

In the last post i wrote how i started out my quilt...in this phase doing it this way it is important to try to be as precise as possible because there is no paper piecing involved....that is why i mark my fabric then cut out the hexies making sure i cut off the marking lines.....

now you baste to the wrong side of the hexie using 1/4 inch...that first side is how i guage all the way around so i try to be right because i eyeball this....after a few you will find you are consistent..

moving on--start putting your flower together...however you decide...there are many ways to layout this block even diamond shape...i chose the traditional way...

as you can see here this one is complete....i finally found a way for me to almost complete the block before setting in a row....now most instructions tell you do a row at a time...i prefer to add a block at a time as i can contol the color of my quilt better....i may have just one block of a certain kind or i might have 6 blocks on one kind so by looking at the quilt before i add another i can space my blocks out better....

i use the same whip stitch in sewing the blocks to the main quilt using the same color thread as the fabric which in this case would be white for this row (for the posies you use co-ordinating thread for the colors)...and then move on to the next block till there is a row complete....

when adding your blocks to each other this is where being percise helps in the early steps....some days i for one can be tense when working on this and can sew tighter than maybe the day before so there may be a little variance in matching up block seams (basting may vary)...you may have to ease in a little here and there or even take basting out and add or subtract just a bit...hopefully not very often but it does happen...and after you do that you wont notice it if it isn't too drastic....

i am sure i will get some frowns on the last paragraph but we are all human....no one should be afraid of making a quilt like this as it isn't as hard as it looks but you need a lot of patience...if you try to hurry then i am sure mistakes will happen more.... more on gfg quilt next time.....