Gardening and hexagon fun

I've been working away on my Gardens of a King quilt and the centre is now stitched together. All of the blocks were made using English paper piecing and some applique. At this point it measures 40.5". The next step is a narrow shark tooth border. I've started preparing the teeth to be appliqued to the background and then they'll be stitched to the quilt.

As you may know Missie asked if I would be willing to test the pattern for her and I agreed. While I'm still working on my quilt I've done enough that I was able to send her my notes. The pattern is now available in her shop, Traditional Primitives, and the cost  is $36US. If you are interested you will find the pattern here.  Below is a picture of Missie's finished quilt. The centre block and the fruits and flowers in the outer border are done in wool applique buy I am making mine with quilting cottons. Just so you know, I have no financial or other interest in the pattern or Missie's company. She asked me to test her pattern. I thought it would be a fun thing to do and it was!

I continue to work on the floral and fruit appliques for the next border. The cherries were so much fun to make. I decided to make each one a different red and I think it worked out well! I also used a variety of small brown scraps for the branches and stems. I think the cherries are one of my favourite blocks so far!

The next block is hazelnuts. They resemble acorns in the pattern but I had no idea what real hazelnuts look like so I searched for pictures and all showed green nuts so who am I to argue! Green nuts it is!

Both blocks were made using back basting applique.  I really enjoy this method because I always get good results!

I also completed one more Lozagons hexagon block. The fabric in the first round of hexagons is from he bag of old scraps and partial Dresden plates that I bought at a church white elephant sale. The turquoise looks goofy but when you see the quilt you will understand why it is in my blocks!

The inspiration for this quilt is an old quilt that I saw on Lorraine's blog, Granny Loz.  It is also the source of the name, Loz + Hexagons = Lozagons! Lorraine posted a picture of some hexagon quilt tops that her friend got at an auction. This one caught my eye! I still have to figure out a design for the border but there's time yet!

Lorraine had a great post yesterday about a workshop she took with Marg Sampson George. It looks like they spent a lot of time drafting blocks. It is amazing how a hexagon block can be broken down so many ways and then depending on the fabric used, interesting designs can be created. I wrote a little tutorial about constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing hexagons!  In the following block you can see a hexagon divided into twelve diamonds. I chose to create a star but depending on the placement of the light, medium and dark fabrics you could also create tumbling blocks!

Close-up of Hexagreens by Karen H

I'll give some thought to expanding that tutorial in the future!

I think that's enough blogging for today, Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H