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Friday, March 20, 2015

It is Spring!

It is Spring....or so they say! With the temperature sitting at freezing it doesn't feel that way but the arrival of the robins and red-wing blackbirds is a sure fire indication that Spring is indeed here.

This is a little Spring time quilt that I made as part of my Guild's Paint Pot Challenge. The organizers got a bunch of paint chips from the home improvement store and put them in an empty paint pot. We each reached into the pot and pulled out a chip. The challenge was to make a small quilt that featured the paint chip colour and the name of our quilt had to be the name of the paint chip! It was great fun and challenged us to work with colours we might not have ordinarily used. That was the case for me but imagine my surprise when I discovered I did had that colour in my stash! The name of my paint chip and my quilt is Rosy Outlook!

Rosy Outlook by Karen H  2012
14 1/2" x 17 1/2"

I used my Sakura Pigma pens to add details to the birch tree trunks, veins to the leaves and  feathers to the fabrics that I used to make the bird. It's legs were drawn on the quilt after the bird was attached.


Today I thought I would answer a reader question about the path and share a few more rosettes for my Birds in the Loft quilt. I love both of these rosettes! The green middle in the first is another treasured fabric; there isn't much left!


The blue fabric has been in my stash a long time and I think I have enough for a couple of individual hexagons and then it will be gone, gone, gone!


Now for the reader question/ I was asked why I am adding path hexagons to only one side of the rosette and not the other.


I want the hexagons to fit together with a single round of path hexagons. If I add them on both sides there will be a double row of path hexagons. Think of it like sashing between square blocks. There is only one sash between two blocks and this holds true with hexagon rosettes (and diamonds). It is important to understand that if you have two hexagons between rosettes they will not line up. Instead a slope will develop. I wrote about it here. If there is a full round of path hexagons around each rosette they would look like the rosettes on the left.


A picture speaks a thousand words so here are a few pictures to explain what happens. In this picture two rosettes have the five path hexagons stitched to them. When I put them together notice how they fit nicely and will stay in a nice straight line.


If I add path hexagons to both sides this is what would happen when I try to put them together. Notice the slope has developed!



If you want your blocks to be in a straight line the path must be an odd number. Birds in the Loft will have a single path. My Value Proposition quilt has a triple path.


Another way to straighten rosettes is to add a small diamond between. The diamond is simply on third of a hexagon. I wrote about constructing, deconstruction and reconstructing hexagons here.


I used the diamond method of connecting the units in my quilt Butterscotch Ripple. It is another option for joining hexagon units!


I hope you enjoyed this blog entry. Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

14 comments:

  1. You should consider submitting your paint chip quilt to the "Pantone Color of the Year" quilt contest. I think it has enough marsala to qualify!

    Check out either On the Windy Side or Play-Crafts for more info!

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  2. Your bird quilt is wonderful....i love the quilted leaves! The effect is amazing!

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  3. Thanks so much for the tips on how to get the hexagons just as we want them, very useful. x

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  4. Beautiful challenge quilt. You know when I received the email looking for teachers at Canada quilt 2016 I thought you should apply. Go for it girl.
    Bunny

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  5. Your Rosy outlook is beautiful KAren. Loved the outcome of that challenge. Great details and explanation with the paper piecing too. I've been watching but more limited with time that wasn't able to say Hi, but have been enjoying your posts and creativity from afar. Thanks and Happy Spring!

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  6. Rosy Outlook -- at least the name was fun! And your quilt is really beautiful, I love the quilted leaves around the border. Great job!

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  7. your quilt is just lovely and I love your tutorials-I always save them for future reference Happy Spring!

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  8. I often send friends here, as you are so generous with your tutorials. I had 2 quilty friends here on Thursday and I was showing them a bit of EPP. They got quite excited when I explained a little about deconstructing the hexy and how to combine foundation piecing with EPP (learned from you of course) . They went away buzzing and I heard today that they went straight home to start playing, so you will be happy to hear your ideas and techniques have been felt and enjoyed in our little bit of England.
    Thankyou for sharing your beautiful bird quilt, I adore your little bird!

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  9. Rosey Outlook is very pretty Karen. You are truly an artist! I so often don't consider the diamond connection when I think about piecing hexagons together. It's a striking alternative. Thanks for the reminder.

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  10. What a great idea using paint chips and your creation is brilliant - love that bird. When did you do your C&G?

    ukcitycrafter@live.co.uk

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  11. yes - excellent !
    love the Rosy outlook quilt as well :) the simple yet powerful addition of the pen accents is wonderful

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  12. yes I agree with above, that's a great idea and way to challenge yourself and others.
    You have to wonder how much it costs the DIY stores to supply us all with paintchips LOL
    love that spring quilt, its inspired Karen ~

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  13. Love your Rosey Outlook - what a neat idea for a challenge. I like your hexies as always, and thanks for the spatial geometry lesson. Good things to know.

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