So, about that hexagon quilt?

It's been a while since I've updated you all on the progress of the hexagon quilt. I know you're all just dying to know.  Mike has taken to teasing me that she'll be in high school before I finish- maybe a graduation gift? Despite his teasing, progress is being made and there is an end in sight.

I can't tell you how many hexies I've actually basted at this point, and it's possible that some of the ones I've basted won't make the final quilt (there's one print in particular that isn't really a white, or a pink and I can't figure out how to use it.)  I need to baste quite a few more white/neutral ones as well.

All that said, here's where it stands.  The hexies that are marked in pink or orange are all sewn together. (ok, ok, it's two large pieces. I ran out of my preferred thread yesterday and had to stop.) This is pretty darn close to HALF, right? (Just agree, it makes me feel good.)  The green border will be whites and I may or may not do a pink row around that. It all depends on what's leftover when I get to there.

I almost didn't want to share this one, because I love the Big Reveal at the end, but I couldn't help myself.  The whites stand out so much more in a picture than in real life. I'm planning to pay the extra money to have it long arm quilted, and have each flower quilted as a flower, if possible. Similar to this.

I'd hoped to have the top done by her fifth birthday (August 2015), and then by Halloween 2015 (3  years from starting it), but now I'm really just thinking this spring. Maybe to be done by her 6th birthday?  I've been working pretty steadily the last few weeks, but I'll slow down again when I need to baste and I have no clue on the quilting process. I'm sure that prepping it and then binding it will be a challenge.

I'm linking up with the Monday Morning Star Count again today. Be sure to go check on everyone else's progress too!

Hexagon quilt update the millionth

I know you have all been waiting and waiting for an update on the Pink and Gray Hexagon quilt. It had reached a point where while I was making progress the updates looked very similar and of course all the photos were near identical. I have finally reached a new stage in the quilt. I've basted about 2200 hexies, out of 2900. (Rough numbers. I DO have the exact count, but I am not writing this from home.) I have sewn most of the hexies I have into flowers. I estimate I'm about 80 flowers short, but I'm not 100% certain until I get closer. I have started sewing them together, exciting, right?

I have drawn out a rough idea of what I want the layout to be. This is flexible, if they fit together better in another way I can change it, but it gives me a map to work off of and lets me know approximately what my progress is. I'm sewing the flowers together as indicated on the chart, but I don't always sew all the way around each flower. Right now I'm mainly interested in getting them attached so that I can see where I am, than in a finished solid piece.

In this picture you can see one large piece. These are all connected in some way, tho as you can tell not on all sides. The white arrows point at seams I've done, and the green arrows show what I have yet to sew. Yet if you lay it out on the table, and smooth it down, there are no holes or missing hexies, follow? My idea is that if I do this now, I can stop thinking about layout and placement and just sit down in front of the tv and mindlessly finish all the seams.

If you look super closely at the next picture, at the arrow, you can see a straight pin. Across the open space in the flowered hex there is another pin as well. Those pins are there to point at each other so if I lose track of where the large pieces go I can line them up.  Honestly tho, the more I add the easier it is to keep my place. It's like giant jigsaw pieces. I have three of them done now, and since I started at a corner they all have straight edges to line things up.

I'm somewhere between 1/5 and 1/4 done with the body of the quilt.  In this picture, the ones marked in orange are sewn together, except that I worked on it more since I took this picture and it's actually done all the way to the top edge of the picture.  The graph itself is folded, so you're only seeing 1/4 of the full layout.  The green on the edges will be a row of white/neutrals and then there will be another row of pink outside of that. Or perhaps pink and white. I plan to use up my leftovers in the border.

I have had a TON of help with this one. Every time I spread it out this helpful guy comes over to check on me. He's not at all interested in my needle and thread, but does feel pretty strongly that he needs to hold it all down. He also seems to be a major Friends fan and will stare at the iPad like he's following along.

On  side note, I just saw this episode last week, and I loved it just as much as the first time.

Mike is out of town all week this week, and I made a point to clear the dining room table just to work on this project. I'm considering bailing on all other obligations and seeing just how far I can get. (It's not like I can leave the kids home alone and go run or anything!) My goal for finishing the top has been August 31st of this year. I don't think it's likely that I can do that, but I just noticed that I began the quilt on October 30, 2012. Perhaps I can aim for finishing it by it's 3rd birthday?

I'm linking up with Trish's Inspiration Monday today. Make sure you go over and see what projects everyone else has in the works.

Hexagon Update #1zillion #stillnotdone

I know, you are all waiting on the edges of your seats for an update. Great news! You can see all the updates you ever wanted if you follow me on Instagram! But I suppose I can update here as well if you aren't an IG addict like myself (I'd give up Facebook first).

I now have 2195 hexies basted. Only about 600 to go! SO crazy to be so close. I've sewn together about 130 flowers. I started to piece parts of the quilt top together and that was SO exciting. I worked on it for an entire day and in my head I was kicking ass and taking names. So I had the brilliant idea to lay them all out and see just how far I had to go....

Yikes. Turns out I have a long long ways to go- the part I spent all that time working on is the corner by her foot! It turns out I have to think a lot more about the lay out than I expected, or I end up with too many partial flowers. (And to be fair, the area with flowers on the final quilt will actually be inside this frame, I'm doing a border of white that will be approximately where this outline is, but it's not basted so I had to lay out flowers.)

My goal was to finish by her birthday this year, which would give me 7 more months. Seems a bit impossible from here, but it's not a goal if it's easy, right?

 It's all about the baste, about the baste, more hexies!

Hexagon update #23-2014

I haven't updated in a while! Summer has been so busy and we haven't had a ton of sitting around time. And maybe I might have tested out a new EPP pattern as well...

I've made 25 more flowers, bringing my flower total up to 50.

 

And then I saw someone's La Passacaglia quilt and fell in love. I've long been planning that my next EPP quilt would be mixed shapes and while I expected that I'd invent my own pattern, now I don't have to. I ordered a small set of pieces to test it out.

 

The pieces are so tiny that it's like a while new technique. In fact, I couldn't figure out how to thread baste them so I had to learn to glue baste. I've done very little- I'm reserving it as a reward for when I've had a long day or have worked "enough" on the pink quilt. This one will take me even longer than the pink one, in the end.

As always, linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

 

 

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Hexagon update #22-2014

No basting this week but I did sew together 8 flowers.

 

And then I laid out the 50 I have for a little looksee. What do you think?

 

 

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Hexagon update #21-2014

This almost feels like cheating! I basted ONE hexie. I sewed together five flowers tho, because I was combining the last couple weeks into my tray and no more would fit!! See this?

 

2056 hexies right there. So I guess I break from basting for a while to make room in the box.

I'm still fairly nervous that all these different pinks will look good together in the end.

Linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

 

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Hexagon update #20- 2014.

Over the last two weeks I've basted another 31 hexies and completed one special flower. This brings me to 2056 done with 864 to go.

Remember when in sent the hexie kits out to my friends and family? I've gotten enough back to make a flower. I'm hoping there will be three or four.

Front porch sewing.

On the boat sewing.

I also cut what I think will be the home stretch of pinks, giving me roughly 550 2.5" squares. I'm mostly guessing here, but I'll need to do a few more white and gray as well.

Linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

 

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Hexagon update #19-2014

Last week we drove from South Dakota to Alabama and back (more on this later, hopefully). I had high hopes for making hexagons during the 20 hour drive, but turns out my children are very needy. Then when we were there I had other things to do- like eat all the things. Regardless, I managed to baste 115 more hexies and sew together four more flowers. This brings me to 2025 done (over 2000!!!) and 895 (or so) to go. Hopefully soon I'll have more exciting pictures to show than more pink hexies in my little blue box. Also, I asked Mike if he'd wash the windshield so my pictures were prettier. He declined to stop on the interstate to do so.

 

Linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

 

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Hexagon update #18-2014

I missed a few weeks there but I'm back in the swing of things again! Only 26 this week due to pesky counting problems. One more week until summer vacation and 40+ hours in the car! where I hope to accomplish many many hexies. (Unless of course it's my turn to drive, duh.)

 

Current count: 1910 with 1010 to go.

Linking up at Life Under Quilts.

 

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Hexagon update #17-2014

What was supposed to be a long relaxing camping weekend turned into a wave of ups (camping! Best run yet! So many cousins!) and downs (camper problems, disappointed kids who realllly wanted to go on the boat, and most awful, sick little girls.) I did manage to squeeze in some hexies and even hooked a cousin (the blonde cutie at the end).

 

I ended up adding 33 hexies for a total of 1884 and 1036 to go. And one completed flower.

Linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

 

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Hexagon update #16-2014

We headed out of town for a 5K this weekend and I managed to squeeze in 35 more basted hexies bringing my total to 1851 with 1069 to go! (I think. I did that math in my head, so really it's just an estimate.)

Linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts yet again.

 

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Hexagon update #15-2014

I missed a couple of weeks- the end of the school year always gets so busy- but came back with 32 this week for a total of 1816 down with 1104 to go!

I also stitched together five or six flowers,which barely even counts as progress, but there ya go.

I decided that I wanted a little bit of love from some of the women nearest and dearest to me in the quilt, so I made three dozen little letters with a fabric square, a hex, needle, thread and instructions and sent them off. They are starting to trickle in slowly I'm so excited. (Mom, if you are reading this, I haven't mailed yours yet!) These special ones are all the same fabric, and it's the only one with purple, so that I can point them out to the Princess.

Linking up with Jessica, again.

 

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