Treats and noodles

I got some treats in the mail. Sew Sisters is a Canadian quilt shop (both online and bricks & mortar). Last weekend was their Bundle Bonanza. There were bundles of fat quarters at very reasonable prices and I just couldn't resist. The three bundles I ordered arrived yesterday! I think some of the browns will work their way into my Birds in the Loft hexagon quilt  and I have another quilt in mind for the other two bundles!

I had promised to write a post about how I keep track of the pieces that are to be sew together for the noodle that surrounded the medallion of my Birds in the Loft hexagon quilt.

The first step is to select ten pairs of rosettes. In the following diagram the pairs of rosettes are opposite each other on what will become the noodle. The 57s are at the top and the bottom, the 100s at the sides and so on. I will prepare one half noodle first and the other half will be a mirror image. I divide the pairs of rosettes into two identical piles of ten.

I arranged one set of ten rosettes in a pleasing colour order and when  happy with the arrangement I wrote the number on the paper to indicate its position in the noodle. I also added "R" for right to identify the side of the medallion where the rosette will be positioned. I then took the other pile of ten rosettes and numbered the mate to each rosette with the same number but added "L" for left.

I took all of the rosettes for the right side and added the background hexagons based on the following diagram. I then added the background hexagons to the rosettes for the left side and then set them aside.

Now I am ready to assemble the noodle. In the following picture you see rosettes 78 and 85 from the right side along with the connector piece.

I pin the brown connector piece to rosette 78 so that the pin is parallel to the seam that is to be stitched.

Rosette 85 will be moved over and pinned to the connector piece.

Once again the pin is parallel to the seam that is to be stitched.

I continue in this way with the remaining 8 rosettes and connector pieces for the right side of the noodle and then use the same process to pin the left side of the noodle. Finally the two halves of the noodle are pinned together. Once the noodle is pinned I stitch the seams as in the following picture! Easy!

Before I say cheerio for today I thought I would share some more of my rosettes! The fabric is the middle of the first rosette is from Hyggeligt Fabrics. It is called shweshwe and is produced in South Africa. If you've never seen it before it is absolutely fascinating. The fabric is 36" wide and it is stiff as a board because it is heavily starched as was done hundreds of years ago in preparation for shipping. I quick rinse in water removes the starch and you are left with a lovely cotton with gorgeous designs!

This is the second rosette. I'm not crazy about the centre hexagon but may learn to live with it! Time will tell.

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That's it for today so until I post again, happy sewing and cheerio!
Karen H

A noodle for the birds and a eureka fabric!

I shared my diagram of the first round of hexagon rosettes for my Birds in the Loft hexagon quilt. This is it and you can read my post here.

Since that time I stitched the hexagons and backgrounds together into one long "noodle". Here you can see the round of rosettes pinned to the design wall.

I stitched the "noodle" but didn't stitch it into a ring because it would make it more difficult to attach to the medallion. The "noodle" was sewn to centre medallion and here it is! At this point it is measuring roughly 51" by 69". If you are new to my blog I'm using 1" hexagons to make my quilt.

Birds in the Loft Medallion by Karen H

The next step is to finish sewing the remaining 180 pairs of hexagons and add five backgrounds to each. All of the rosettes are cut out and in various stages of basting and sewing but the background hexagons have to be cut and basted so I've got lots of work to do. Where I thought I had enough fabric I'm now not so sure so I might have to add a third background fabric!

Once all of the rosettes are all made I'll be sewing them into larger chunks that can be stitched to the medallion. When I have my diagram ready I'll share it with you. Until then I thought I would share my latest completed rosettes!

The design of Birds in the Loft calls for pairs of rosettes but sometimes you just don't have enough fabric to make a pair. I had only enough taupe fabric to make the top rosette and the hexagon in the middle was a 2 1/2" charm square so what I did was make a second hexagon rosette from similar fabrics. The hexagons will be in opposite sections of the quilt so the slightly different rosettes will work just fine! You can see the layout plan for the rosette pairs here.

I have a small piece of fabric that I've had for years. I put it somewhere safe but for the life of me couldn't remember where that safe spot was. I had a pretty good idea but couldn't find it and I've been searching for weeks. Finally the other day I was looking for something else and there it was....neatly folded and tucked away in the general area of where I thought I had stashed it! Eureka!!! I just love this print and wish I knew who made it. I have long since lost the selvage and have only a small piece of fabric left. If anyone knows what it is called and who made please do tell!

My eureka fabric - who manufactured it and what is it called?

I carefully cut out two of the rosehips and used them for centres in the following pair of rosettes. Once again I didn't have enough fabric to make two rosettes so I added a second fabric to make the second one.

There's snow in the forecast today so it will be a good day for sewing and I've got lots to do so it is time for one more cup of tea and the I shall sew, sew, sew!

If you are looking for some inspiration check out The Needle and Thread Network where Canadian bloggers share with others.

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H
p.s. I reply to every comment so if you don't hear back from me it means you are a no reply blogger and I have no way to contact you.