It all started here. I bought the book Material Obsession 2 and there was one quilt called jazz hands made from one simple kite shaped template . It required hand piecing and I decided I needed a project to sit and do in the evenings while my husband was watching television, to keep me occupied. One thing lead to another and....
then I decided to try for more contrast. By the second block I had quit trying to piece the entire thing by hand. The triangle units were still hand pieced but they were sewn together into the hexagon shape by machine. Frankly I was astonished that the points matched as well as they did. Pressing the back correctly was a major factor.
By the time I got to this block I started looking online for inspiration. I found Marti Mitchell's blog and started reading it from the beginning.
By the time I got to this block I had ordered Marti Mitchell's template "H" for the Kite and Crown which makes a larger hexagon and lead to.....
(By the way, this is my favorite block.)
The good news is that block number 5 was made with the templates I ordered and were rotary cut and completely pieced by machine. The bad news was that I had five blocks laying on the table in two different sizes. The next day my husband had a doctor appointment in Franklin, NC. We stopped at W**M*** to pick up our vitamins and such and I went to the fabric department to see what kind of quilt batting they may have. I spotted this grey/brown polka dot and thought it might be an interesting way to set these hexagons and without any real plan I bought a couple of yards to bring home for an audition. The next day I calculated the difference in size of the smaller units to the larger one and started cutting strips. I surrounded the small hexagons and without any real plan I just laid them on the table and started making up partial blocks to fill in the edges. Once I had a rectangle sewn together I ran upstairs and threw it over my husband and discovered it was way too small to cover up the big guy.
I just started cutting strips for borders and sewing them on. I'd stop and see how they fit my husband. He was laid out on the couch watching a movie at the time. when I finally had him covered with room to spare I pressed the top and set it aside.
While hunting for flannel to put on the back I came across a bag of batting scraps so I sewed together enough to do the job. Then I basted it together and machine quilted it in a sort of wavy line across the quilt because I didn't think I was capable of sewing straight lines. Then I gathered up the rest of the fabric scraps on the table that I could cut
2 1/2" strips and machine sewed on a scrappy binding. Except for the original five experimental blocks, the time to put this together and finish was about 2 days. the fastest quilt I ever made.
Just in time! It's getting cold and my husband has already enjoyed a snuggle under it.
So there it is. I was having trouble getting a picture so I took it to work and asked my friend Bonnie to hold it for me. She was doing a great job until I told her to smile.
The next thing I knew the whole quilt was bouncing up and down and jiggling back and forth as she had a giggle fit. If it's blurry, it's her fault!
Just kidding, dear Bonnie. See her little shoes, isn't she cute.......
Enjoy this blessed day! Sue
