Sunday, February 28, 2016

Let there be hexagons

I've mentioned that there will be hexagons in my 2016 Quilt Along quilt which I call The Empire Quilt. Today I thought I would share a picture of one of the eight hexagon blocks that are to come. This design reminds me of a wagon wheel. I chose to use variegated shades of teal for the six spokes but they would be equally nice were they made from a single fabric (maybe fussy cut for extra zip)!


The bird blocks that I've shared seem to be very popular so here is yet another. These three little birds are kookaburras, need eyes and feet. Kookaburras are a type of kingfisher native to Australia; I know that the colours are wrong but I used the scraps of fabric that I had on hand so my kookaburras are pink! The little crests on their heads are made from leftover scraps from my Easier Than Pie & Beyond quilt border print fabric. Their wings are made from an earthy tone leafy fabric; I used it because the print looks like feathers. The background fabric is washed-out in this picture.


In this picture the background fabric colour is more accurate. Now my little birds have eyes and feet. I stitched their feet using a simple chain stitch but they looked rather small and flat so I stitched over the chain stitch with a satin stitch and the feel loot much more dimensional. I used a variegated thread so each bird's feet are a little different! The eyes were cut from a fabric with a circle print. I needle-turn appliqued them in place. They are small but they were appliqued in no tine flat. An alternative would have been to embroider little eyes or use my ink pens to draw then on. There's always more than one way to do things.


The next step was to reverse applique the birds to a square of white fabric. As cute as the birds are I think the block looks bland.


There was too much blank space so I once again did some broderie perse applique. A leaf was appliqued to the top of the circle, and to the midpoint on the branch. At the far left a cluster of blue flowers was appliqued. I'm much happier with this block with the extra bit of applique. Sometimes you just need to add a little more to make it right.


My blogging tine will be limited this week because I've got a trunk show scheduled and a workshop so I'll be away from home for four days. I'll try to squeeze in another post before I go. Until then, happy sewing!
Karen H

16 comments:

  1. Hi There. I see you're doing another trunk show and I just want to tell you how much I enjoyed the show you did at YRQG in Feb. When M.W. emailed to see if I wanted to go I said, "yes, yes, yes". I was so glad my sister was here and able to join us. She was amazed the whole time. All 3 of us really enjoyed your presentation and thought you and Babs (don't want to use her real name in case she would prefer it that way) made a great tag team. Her secret-to-you facial expressions made the audience laugh. Such a fun and educational evening.

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  2. Sweet kookaburras! I can almost hear them laughing - they do have such a distinctive call!

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  3. The Kookaburra sits in the old oak tree...... Do you know the song? I absolutely love the birds. I am so excited for this QAL. Good luck with your trunk show and workshop. You are going to convert ladies into hexaholics!!!

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  4. Just lovely, Karen, I can really see the value of the broderie perse, it's something I've not been inclined to try before - now...yes! I hope your trunk show goes well :-)

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  5. Cute kookaburras. They visit our home quite regularly and are lovely to watch. They are also useful as they keep the snake population down, win, win.

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  6. Karen - you definitely have an eye for the fussy cutting. WOW I was studying the birds' fabric. Great work

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  7. Charming little birds. I love your use of prints!

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  8. How cute,
    they are looking pretty happy on the branch, happy bird bunch.
    Greetings,
    Sylvia

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  9. I wish upon a star I could ever attend one of your trunk shows! Happy birds is right. Lovely quilt along colors.

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  10. Love those birds--the fabrics make the perfect feather look! Have a great time doing the trunk show and workshop!

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  11. Am working on a hexagon quilt--just need time lots more time to complete--yours is beautiful

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  12. Oh exquisite birds!!!
    Love, love them and why on earth not have a pink one, whose to say he/she has a real cool hairdresser!

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  13. The hexagon block is wonderful but those little birds, stole my heart.

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