And the winner is......and another idea for quilting hexagons

And the winner is......you'll just have to wait to see. I've been working on the quilt show ribbons for the Half Square Triangle Challenge I organized for my quilt guild. The small quilts have now been judged and they will be on display this weekend at the quilt show. I'll be sure to take pictures and share them with you!

This is where I was with the ribbons earlier this week. I had made the hexagon stars and appliqued them to the background fabric.

I wanted to machine quilt these stars and I did. I don't need a backing on the stars because it will just add unnecessary bulk when I gather the edges so that the star can be stretched over an old CD. I just started at the point of the centre hexagon and quilted the football shape in the middle. I next quilted the plume to the right and backtracked on the football back to the starting point. I repeated the same process for the plume on the left. I stitched along the seam of the centre hexagon until I got to the next point. I quilted the same motif and continued in this way until all six motifs were quilted and I was back at the starting point. The last bit was to quilt the curves inside the centre hexagon. I'll have to remember this one for a bigger hexagon quilt! I think it is very pretty!

I quilted around the outside edge of the appliqued hexagon rosette and stippled the background. The blue line is the size of the CD. I traced the shape to be sure that the quilting went beyond the edge so that it would be fully quilted. Finally I stitched a line 3/4" away from the blue line. I cut away the excess fabric just outside this line.

Here's the little quilt ready to have a gathering stitch run around the edge so it can cover the CD.

I need four ribbons and this is what they look like so far. There will be off-white ribbons hung between but I'm having a hard time getting the lettering on them. I tried T-shirt transfer but my ribbon isn't cotton so it didn't work really well. I really need wide grosgrain ribbon but am having difficulty finding it. I've run out of ribbon so I'll go out and buy more and try running it through my printer. I've read that if it is attached to paper with double-sided tape that I can print directly on the ribbon. I'll let you know if it works!

The ribbons are based on a tutorial done by Nellie Durand. If you are interested you will find it here. They are lots of fun to make and I hope that those that win them will be pleased!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Grace's Soupcon and five days until the quilt show

I've finished quilting Grace's Soupcon quilt. I decided to quilt more feathers in the outer border. I can quilt them comfortably and there are little birds in Grace's quilt so it all dovetailed nicely. I used Superior's Rainbow thread for the feathers. It is variegated and the colours are fuschia, plum, red and orange. It is subtle but it gives a bit of a glow to the feathers.

This is what it looks like on the back. I chose to leave the diamonds in the border uquilted because I like the dimension.

So here is the entire quilt from the back. Don't you just love the look of a quilt from the back? I sure do!

Finally, the from of the quilt!

I have only five working days left until it is time to set-up for my Guild's quilt show. If you are in the Toronto area I hope you'll consider attending!

I organized a challenge for the Guild members. The objective was to make a quilt that is at least 50% half square triangles, has no applique or embellishment and it has a perimeter measurement of no more than 100". The quilts have been judged and I promised ribbons but I have no budget so I am making the ribbons. Nellie published a wonderful tutorial on her blog and you will find it here. This is the beginning of my ribbons. Hopefully they will be done by Tuesday!

Time for me to get cracking! Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H