Hexagons.....a disease

I've been working on so many hexagon projects and want to start even more. It is a disease - I can't help myself! In addition to working on projects I'm dreaming up ideas for the next ones and already have a good idea of what I am going to do! So now that I know I am itching to get started but really need to focus on two or three works that are already in progress!

First off I've added another round to the third diamond for my hexagon quilt The Meadery. There will be three diamonds, two of which will be upright and will flank the centre medallion and a third diamond will be on its side below the medallion. These component will represent a Cornish ruin, Men-An-Tol. What you can't see in this picture is that there are two large stones on either side of the donut and there is a third stone which was once upright but is now laying flat in the ground.

I've almost finished the diamonds that will flank the medallion and I've just added a round to the diamond that will represent the stone on the ground. There is one more round to go and I'm considering a pea soup green to represent the grass.

Once I've finished the Men-An-Tol units I'll be on to the next Cornish landmark, Lanyon Quoit at near Madron! Originally there were four upright stones on which was placed a huge cap stone. The uprights are about 1.5 meters tall. In the early 1800s the quoit was damaged in a storm and it was subsequently re-erected with only three of the upright stones because the fourth was damaged. So my plan is to represent this megalith with hexagons and I already know how I am going to do it! In the distance you can see the engine house of a tin mine. I hope to incorporate this element in the quilt. Will have to ponder it a little more.

So the second project I've also been working on a class sample for my English Paper Piecing Workshops. I will be teaching all of the techniques, tricks and tips I used to make this medallion. I am also going to use these same techniques to border this block which can be used as a wall hanging or as the centre of a quilt.

The third project I've been working on are blocks for a Road 66 hexagon quilt. I had already shared this block back in January. The rosettes are made with 1 1/4" hexagons.

When I see a fabric I like I will cut either 6 hexagons for the first round or 12 for the second round. I put them together in a little bag and when I have a few minutes I'll baste a few or sew a few. So those few minutes here and there have added up and here is another block.

Time to get cracking. Until I post again I hope you can find the time to take a stitch or two. Happy sewing!
Karen H

The Meadery and Men-An-Tol

I've been working on The Meadery. I had a piece of cotton home decorator fabric that I planned on using for the centre medallion of the quilt.

Something about it wasn't working for me. First the grey background wasn't quite right for the honeycomb and the medallion was too "solid". By that I mean there was too much of one thing. As I was pondering what to do I recalled a megalith in Cornwall (the idea of this quilt is to reflect my Cornish heritage). The megalith is called Men-an-Tol which in the Cornish language means hole stone. You can read more this granite wonder about it here.

Many (many) years ago I visited Men-an-Tol with family members. They told me that in bygone days women would pass their children through the hole to prevent rickets. I was about to set off on a seven month back-packing trip with a friend so we decided to crawl through the hole ourselves. And guess what? Neither of us developed rickets! But I digress.

I thought that if I removed the middle of my medallion that the medallion would take on the appearance of the circular stone and it could represent Men-An-Tol in my quilt. Since the name of my quilt is The Meadery it seemed appropriate to reverse applique a bee skep in the middle.The next step is to trim away the outer fabric and applique the whole thing to a creamy background.

I continue to work on two large diamonds for this quilt and they will flank the medallion. Men-An-Tol has two upright stones and the diamonds will be a fine representation of those pillars.

Men-An-Tol also has a third stone that has fallen and is at the foot of one of the uprights. You can see it at the base of the upright stone on the right. So I've begun work on a third unit that will represent that fallen stone. There will be multiple rounds of hexagons but this is a start. And the bee is front and centre! My hope is that as I add the next rounds with darker fabrics that a pale cream wheel with spokes will appear.

I've been working on producing a pattern for my Value Proposition Hexagon Quilt. The block patterns are available free of charge on my blog but I am going to put them all together with detailed instructions for English paper piecing and a new and simplified method of putting the quilt top together. The pattern will be available on Craftsy. I was finally able to get a better pictures of the finished quilt top for the cover of my pattern.

Mind you I had some "help". Gump and Jinx decided it would be fun to get behind the quilt and wrestle! What is it with cats and quilt I ask you? It looks like the quilt has been caught by a breeze but in fact it is Gump's mighty tail that is holding up the quilt! Once the wrestling started the quilt fell down! Good think those cats are cute otherwise I would be clipping their tail feathers!

That's it for today. Until I post again, happy sewing!

Karen H