More Hexies

You wouldn't believe how many hexagons/hexie flowers I've made over the years.  Here's yet another way I've used them--a new Bible cover.

Hope you have a good day!

-- Pat

Hurry up Spring

Actually spring is here....rain, rain, rain.  The sun does peek out now and then.  I've been watching gardening programs and am getting anxious to grow some flowers and tomatoes on my balcony.  I'm planning to pick up some potting soil and flowers every few days until I'm all planted.  I've had a lot of trouble with my back so I need to be careful not to do too much.

Here's what the balcony looks like today:

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Time flies

I've slowed down a little bit on blogging.  I got busy there for awhile with other 'stuff'.  You know how it is.  But I have finished a few things.

These will catch you up.  I've drawn a few zentangles and practiced shading.  I really try to trick your eye and show different layers.  You may have to click the photo to see it.

And I made a baby quilt using precut 2.5 inch strips.  It's my first time using them and I'm not sure I like them.  The edges aren't pinked so I had a lot of threads to trim.  There seem to be a lot of ways to use them to create different designs for quilts but I wanted to throw this together quickly.  I practiced a little free motion quilting on the borders.  The rest is just straight stitch.  As you can see, I haven't quite mastered the art of 'true' color editing but you get the idea.

I don't usually add a label but I've seen so much about the importance to do so for future reference so I added one.   I used the monogram function on my machine.  I attached it with fusible but I plan to stitch it down.  I need to buy different scissors for trimming between the letters.  Mine just don't cut close enough.  Any recommendations?  I think next time I'll use a less contrasting color thread for the lettering.  I'm not sure I like the 'boldness' of the brown.

So as you can see, even though I haven't been blogging quite as often, I'm still getting some productive time in.

Hope you have a good day.

-- Pat

Slow Sunday Stitching

Can you believe it?  I actually remembered to do some hand stitching today.  Most of the time I don't remember until Monday.  Today I basted some hexagons using some fabric that used to be a summer dress.  I haven't made any hexie flowers including them yet.  I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching.

Today is also the first of the month and it's time to decide my goal for October OMG One Monthly Goal.  After last month's goal turning into a bigger project than I thought, I've decided to give myself a break.  I'm going to make a table topper or runner using this dresden plate applique I made a number of years ago.  I'm looking forward to it.

Visit the links above to see what others are up to.

Hope you had a good day.

--  Pat

9..8..7..6....

Just in the nick of time.  Actually the deadline is Sept. 30 at 11:55 pm.  My OMG - One Monthly Goal is finished.  My goal was to take this unloved quilt top...

and turn it into a fun twin bed quilt:   My idea was to add a few borders, quilt it and be done.  I couldn't find any fabric I wanted and nothing made me love it.  So I cut it up and used the fabrics and hexie flowers to create the 'fun' quilt.   Here are photos along the way:

The lighting is wrong for the following photos.  The colors are much brighter than this shows.  I quilted it with a meandering stitch and machine stitched the binding.  Here it is:  Ta Da!

I'm linking up Patty of Elm Street Quilts.  Pop over and check out others who finished their goals in time.

Hope you had a good day.

-- Pat

Zendala

I mentioned the other day that I like tangling mandalas.  A blogging friend asked what a mandala is.  My understanding was that it is a circle with repeating geometric designs within the circle.  I had no idea that they have religious beginnings.  As I searched I read that a mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism representing the universe.  I have to tell you I have mixed feelings about this.  As a Christian, I'm not happy to think I'm dabbling in religions and symbols contrary to my own.  In my research, I discovered something called a Zendala which is a cross between Zentangle and a mandala.  I've seen the Zendala style appearing in a lot of coloring books for adults.  All that being said, I'm choosing to view them as a simple art form with no religious intention.

Here are a few I've tangled over the past few years:

On the sewing front, I put together the sandwich for my OMG - One Monthly Goal project.  I may make the deadline yet.  That gives me 2 days to quilt and 2 days to bind it.  It's looking a lot more doable that before.  My least favorite part of any quilt is making the sandwich.  I'm encouraged now that is behind me.

Hope you have a good day.

-- Pat

It's a 2fer

I found some paper-pieced blocks I made a few years ago and decided to use eight to make a zippered bag.  These are the photos:

Front

Back

I'll have to find a use for it so that it's out all the time where I can enjoy it.  I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts - Bag It 2017.  Follow the link to see other bag entries.  Or you could enter one yourself.

Also, I've finished another zentangle.  There used to be a blogger who would release a mandala template each week to be used for tangling.  I really enjoy doing mandalas but I haven't found any that aren't for coloring.  There are books that instruct how to create mandalas.  But being how I am, who needs a book?!  I took a roll of duct tape and used it to draw a bunch of intersecting circles and used that to tangle.  I drew it on a sheet of copy paper then photocopied it onto 8 1/2 x 11 inch card stock.  It isn't a mandala but it served it's purpose.  I wanted to practice different tangles and shading.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

-- Pat