Getting to the bottom of it

I am ready to get working on the top and bottom sections of my Green Parrot quilt and will reuse the two sets of two rows of rosettes that I removed from my Birds in the Loft hexagon quilt. There were 25 rosettes in each set, 13 in one row and 12 in the other. I split this section so that there were 9 rows in the top row and 8 in the second row. The remaining 7 rosettes (4 in one row and 3 in the other) were stitched to one of the stars that were removed from the sides of Birds in the Loft. I  had added a round of dark cream and pink hexagons around the stars which will fit into the top and bottom of the medallion.

Stars removed from Birds in the Loft

Once the star was stitched to the remaining rosettes, the unit was added to the left side of the two large rows of rosettes.The red arrow shows where the rosettes were removed and where they were moved to. This will be the bottom edge of the quilt so the unit is hung upside down!

I've been working on extra rosettes that will be needed to fill the area to the right the star. I also need to add a row of cream hexagons to the top of the quilt so it has a nice finished edge. The parrot will attached to the star. The parrot unit is almost sewn together so there will be a picture of it in my next post.

I had used a cream fabric for the path (the area between the rosettes) my Birds in the Loft quilt but during the making of it I ran short so I added another similar cream fabric. I thought I would have enough of it to complete Green Parrot however I will be just a little short. So what's a quilt maker to do? I will add a third fabric. Unfortunately I don't have a cream that is the same value but I do have one that is just slightly darker so I will place it strategically on the sides of the quilt. This will make it appear that the addition of this fabric was intentional and it will create a design element. Interesting things can happen when you run short of fabric. That's exactly what happened when I made Stars in the Loft. I thought I had enough path fabric but was very wrong. I ended up have to add five or six fabrics. It is impossible to tell from this picture but the extra fabrics add depth and interest.

Stars in the Loft by Karen H

So my tip for today is this: if you are planning on making a hexagon quilt why not consider using several fabrics of the same value and colour for your path? I think rosettes surrounded by assorted black prints would be very dramatic!

Before I go I'll leave you with a close-up shot of another one of my very old works-in-progress that I recently pulled out. I so enjoyed making the rosettes for Stars in the Loft (see my page English Paper Piecing Instructions & Hexagon Fun for tutorials on making those rosettes) that I decided to create another quilt. My starting point was the print fabric in the very centre. I thought it would be great for a star centre so I fussy cut it and then made the star points. I thought another round of star points would be even more exciting so I added the darker pink star points. As I worked I sketched it out on paper and the design slowly emerged. I'll share more pictures in the near future! And I'll work out the design to finish this top because I think it deserves a fine finish!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H