Easier Than Pie is in rows and an expanded sneak peek

It is cold today and it is only going to get colder; I do love this kind of weather because it is perfect for sewing! The forecast for tonight is -23C and I expect there will be some wind which will only make it feel colder. Brrrr! As a result of the cold temperatures frost/ice quake warnings have been issued. Frost quakes are caused by ground water freezing and expanding until the pressure is to great. The the earth cracks and there is a loud explosion caused by the release of the build up pressure. We had several last winter but there was no damage. They are a very strange phenomenon.

Back to sewing matters. This is the third row made of my Easier Than Pie & Beyond quilt made with hexagon rosettes from my booklets. For those who are interested the patterns are available in my Craftsy Store.

The first three rows are stitched together and I think that the effect is quite pleasing and there was a little unexpected surprise! More on that it a minute. You will notice that there are voids on the sides. My plan is to fill those with half rosettes and I will use the same rosette pattern and fabrics for each of them. What those fabrics will be will be decided after the rows are all stitched together. I will want to use something subtle to keep the eye in the body of the quilt. If I use a dramatic fabric/design my worry would be that the eye would be drawn to the edges.

So what was the little surprise that I mentioned? When I was cutting my two fabrics for the hexagons that surround the pieced blocks I used the print to line up my paper hexagons. This rosette is called Barn Swallows and it is from Book 5. If you look at the hexagons in the 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 o'clock positions you will notice that there are little brown circles at the outside edges. When I was cutting I was more focused on the brown "crowns" that are along the inside edges so I didn't realize that those little brown dots would create a secondary design when they were stitched to the beige triangles in the path.

Below is a picture of what happened. It isn't a big deal but it is a little detail that adds some extra visual interest as well as another design feature. The point I want to make here is that no matter how much you plan you never really know what a quilt will look like until you start stitching it together! There are always little surprises that emerge as you stitch it all together.

Thank you for all of the positive feedback on the sneak peek of my 2016 Quilt Along. I showed you the head of one of the applique birds in the quilt. Want to see what the birdie looks like? Well here she is, my little strawberry thief! I showed her to someone and he his comment was "a strawberry tree?" Listen buddy, it is my quilt, my bird, my strawberries and I'll do them my way! If I want a strawberry tree or strawberries clustered like grapes, that is what I will have. It is artistic license!

Time to make a nice warm drink and settle down for some cold weather sewing on my QAL quilt top. Until I post again keep warm, happy sewing and listen for those frost quakes!
Karen H