My Oopsie post!

I am so sorry that post was so messed up and it published before I could finish my narravtive. So, trying to explain the blocks:
My clue #2 or the great hexie snafoo LOL, the hexie is of course appliqued on and them embroidery added to create the "snowflake effect". As I said in my prior post, hexies are not my thing, but I did try :)
Clue#3 was more to my 'taste' as it were :) I love embroidery and the block is supposed to portray some of my favorite things such as the "wildwood rose" which I worked in my most unused color of yellow with brown accents. The second block is my love of the little dutch girl and embroidery all in one :) I tried to stay away from pink but it needed a little to accent the embroidery on her hoop :) and lastly, my love of tea and fireweed. I have had a facsimilie of fireweed tea, as I have heard so many stories of it being not ones' cup of tea, but it is Alaskan which is another of my favorite things :) Okay so that should cover all the bases and explanations. I will definitely try to not do this disappearing act again during this mystery! thank you all for being so patient with me :)
Carmen (foxiegrannie)

Hi there Everyone! Remember me??? Lydia's Garden is blog that google won't let me get rid of, so to most I am known as foxiegrannie, or Carmen :) I do apologize for my absenteeism. Life gets its ups and downs and busy as all get out and that is what I have been! Busy as all get out. I have many responsibilities with my family and babysitting (which just increased from 3 to 5 days a week!), so I have to set priorities with all.

Okay, that being said, I tried to catch up on all the posts and make comments, but I know I didn't get to them all. But I have read most of the posts and ogled the great pics of how inventive everyone has been! You all put me to shame :(

I am NOT a hexie person at all. Never wanted to, didn't try and didnt challenge myself until this mystery. So here is my clue #2

It is supposed to be my version of a hexie snowflake???? LOL I tried, okay! And acutally for me that is quite good! Should have seen my ooboos!

Now since I have been elusive, clue #3 came and most had it finished before I even started, but alas, here it is:

Okay, not sure what happened there but the pic did not go where I wanted it to go so here is my last pic

The Quilted Barn Rule #2 (finally)

FINALLY the silo is pieced.  Wheeww -- a load off my shoulders.  It is embarrassing to be one of the main hostesses and be late.

I REALLY wanted to hand piece the entire grey area with hexagons to meet the rule, but the silo just took too long and so I settled for a window.  Most of the block is paper-pieced with some hand applique on the curve and upper window. 

The words are kind of fun for me.  Grandpa Bud was a dairy farmer, and while this doesn't look anything like his milk barn, it stands as a memoir to him.  I played with several fonts on the computer until I found one I liked.  Next, I accidentally discovered that I could fill the words in with holstein cow hide.  That really sold me.  I then pondered for days how to get the words on my barn.  I finally resorted to fabric paint.  It was rather time consuming, but worth it.  I then outlined each letter in black thread with sort of a free-motion threadwork technique just like I did with the tree in my former block.

Here are both blocks together at last.  The silo is a little tall but ok.  I have no idea what inspired me to make a strip of red going down the silo.  I think it would have been better without, but too late now.   I will still try to put leaves on my tree.

I just wanted to add that the rules are making this so much fun.  There is no way I would have thought to put flying geese in the silo without the rule, and my windows were going to be rectangular in the original drawing.

Now I'm off to decide whether to finish building the right side of the barn or start something new on the left...hmmm.  Let me just admit that I change my mind EVERY DAY I work on this project.

Granny Annie's Garden Blocks 1 + 2

This is soooooooooo much fun!

Granny Annie's Garden Block 2

So what is crawling under my garden? Worms!

#2 rule finally posted

I had finished my #2 block a week before the deadline, but since I'm having computer problems, it was impossible for me to post. You can see that I used 2 hexagons to make my snowman. I applicade the scarf and embroidered the face. The part I enjoyed the most is making the snowflake. Though my knowledge in designing quilts is simple. I did enjoy working my brain to create this snowman and see it come together. This project is teaching me so very much.

Here is my rule #1 and #2 together. In my quilt I hope to recreate some of the fun things my family do throughout the year,traditions that we have. Together we enjoy making snowman and going to the mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree. Both of these blocks represent these memories.

Rule Release #2 (Feb 1)

SIZE:  Make a 12” x 8” unit.  This means that it will measure 12 ½” x 8 ½” when you measure it now, and it will become 12” x 8” when it is finished.  When this unit is finished add it to the TOP OR THE BOTTOM of the #1 unit.

RULE: “A rectangle big enough to showcase the theme of the quilt by fussy cutting a theme fabric OR using an appliqué OR an embroidery OR a photo. "

TECHNIQUE:  Any hexagon shaped (6 sided) technique. 

This can be accomplished with hexagon shaped English style paper piecing which is generally hand pieced OR you could use something like the Super60 ruler to create a hexagon shaped block that is placed somewhere inside the 12” x 8” unit.  We’ll also allow a broad interpretation of this technique – use your imagination.

ALSO, you are not limited to JUST this technique.  You can use any others with it. 

SUGGESTIONS/THOUGHTS:  
You don’t have to limit yourself to the obvious.  The rectangle does not have to encompass the entire 12” x 8” unit.  It can fit inside it anyway you like – large or small.

Post a picture of #2, please post a photo of just the #2 unit ALONE. 

THEN…

J O I N the units:   Join the #2 unit to the TOP or BOTTOM of the #1 unit and then post a final picture of them together. 

Here are some links that may inspire or help you with the hexagon technique:
 Grandmother's Overgrown Flower Garden
The house, fence posts, flowers, butterfly wings, and sun are all made with a hexagon shaped English-style paper pieced method. 
I found an on-line tutorial for english paper piecing if someone in the group wants to do this for their "hexagon" technique.  It will likely take small hexagons, though.

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/8335/how-to-english-paper-piecing-project- in this link you have to hit next at the bottom to see all of the instructions.

Once the hexagon piecing is complete, you could applique it onto the block.


http://dreamworthyquilts.blogspot.com/2010/10/moms-hexagons-in-rotation-quilted.html Super60 ruler.


The above link shows a quilt with hexagon blocks in it that were designed with the Super60 ruler.
HAVE FUN!

January Wrap Up...

January was so much fun.  I wanted to give you some numbers from our accomplishments:

Rule #1 (click here to read it): 
-195 flying geese were made.
-Ann Marie's Star in a Star mystery has the most flying geese (32).
-20 out of 26 participants completed this rule.
-Flying geese were found in:  stars, a silo, the sky, traditional blocks, trees, circular motion, a penguin, and in an optical illusion.

Rule #2, We showcased our themes in rectangles using:

9 with applique
2 with embroidery
2 with photos
3 with fussycut fabrics
1 with crochet

Our hexagon techniques were used to make: spiderwebs, trees, flowers, rocks, a star, a heart, wagon wheels, a stack-n-wack, a crazy pieced block, a snowman, a worm head, windows, a snowflake, and tumbling blocks.

We made a total of 132 hexagons with Dorine making the most (55).

16 out of 26 finished rule #2 on time (2 only posted teasers).

New to the mystery

Hi - I've just joined in on the mystery at the 'instigation' of one of my quilting buddies (Susan) who is also doing it. I've been quilting for over 30 years, and almost entirely work from my designs. I have a website where some of my patterns are offered for free, and am working towards getting submitting patterns for possible publication this year - a long time dream of mine.

The 'theme' that I'm working with is "Just use it up". Susan suggested this because I'm working with a set of FQ's that I've had forever and haven't used....and I want them used up and outta here. I've finished the first two parts and have added a picture to the right of what it looks like so far. In case you were wondering why these had sat in the stash for so long...I don't normally work with Pastels....Usually it's colors like red, white & blue or jewel tones..... However, I need a couple of baby quilts this year and I thought this might be a great one to work into one of those.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does.

Moia

Woods Mystery Rule #2

I think I have at least one real hexagon in my block. It's kinda primitive, but the members of this group are the only ones who will know what it was supposed to look like. LOL

Scarecrow 2

My scarecrow is celebrating valentines day!  Betty Boop is shyly looking away.  I printed a picture of my scarecrow onto fabric.  The hexagon flower is made from a freebie kit given to me at a LQS, it was to teach people how to do English paper piecing.  Not quite the right colors for this block but I am thinking scrappy!

I am going to sew the heart button on, or I am going to put something else in that corner.

Block 2 teaser

I just had to go take a picture of the first row (? still to be determined!) of my block #2. this is going to be a very time consuming block - very tiny pieces. My theme is granny Annie's garden & the block will go underneath the sunflower block. I'll bet you can guess what it is.

steph's second block

whoops, I never did get around to posting my teaser, so here it is anyway...

This block was interesting for me... I picked fabrics out of the stash that were very very different from the ones I used on the first block.  So, it looks really different, but I do like it.  I decided to make a little pond for my forest, the hexis are rocks on the shore.  I baisically applique'd everything on this block.  I'm finding more and more that I like applique.  Well, here's the whole block.

Block 1 and 2

I didn't know if we were supposed to post a picture of the two blocks together yet, but I see that you all have, so I will too!

I really like how things are looking so far.

I realized, though, that I would need some more of the ivory fabric (which is actually Glacé) and is an older fabric.  I found some online, though, so I'm excited about that.

Can't wait for the next step!

Everyone's blocks are so wonderful and I am loving reading about the process everyone is going through with this quilt. It's very intimate in a way, isn't it?

47 little hexies in my scrappy stash forest

see that bobbin on the left?  that gives a clue as to how big/small these hexies are.

what a process this was.  WOW, when i read the clue, i was hexies???  i don't do hexies....so, i thought i would perhaps make one yellow one and make it be a sun in some appliqued trees.  then, i decided that that would be shortchanging myself in the concept of this quilt in learning new techniques etc....

so, i thought i could make a column for the left and right sides of the block and then applique some trees--and, i still might do that in another block, but once i got started on this by searching and printing a hexie template on wednesday afternoon and started cutting them out, i just decided to cut the whole sheet of hexies.

i have been trading postage stamps of fabrics for a while, so i have a huge selection.  i pulled out a whole lot of greens and started  cutting a stack of them around the templates and thengluing them down with a washable glue stick--easier for me than the stitching around.....before i knew it i had a huge pile.....so, i started playing with them....the longest process was wetting them and taking the papers out once they were stitched together--

the end result is my block--all hand stitched together and all hand stitched down.  so, then i auditioned it on top of the first block--i think not--it looks too top heavy don't you think?  but, it does show that once a block is on top of it, that the sky above the trees will be a nice spot for a stitched saying, quote, or verse  ;o)

wouldn't it have been nice if i had rotated these before uploading it?



then, on the bottom....MUCH better.   and, it gives a nice balance.  gotta LOVE this concept ladies!  i am so blessed to be involved in this!  and, i can't wait to see what february first is gonna bring for a clue~

Carrie's Full Block #2

And I just realized TODAY is the 28th and I can show my entire block #2....in my excitement the date got away from me (that and my daughter being home form school 1/2 day!)

So, here is the full block #2:

The hexagon star is paper pieced, and then I pieced random strips of beige backgrounds around it log cabin style. Two skinny end borders finished it off into a 12x8 rectangle. Each and every fabric is a scrap.

Here are blocks #1 and #2 together.

Having them now pieced together makes me really like block #1 more...and I am prefectly giddy that I've bought nothing new and have already ended up with a colorful happy beginning to my Scrappy Anything.

Second block revealed

South Africa Flag
Woman carrying baby and basket

my lame heart

I kind of didn't want to put a hexagon into my quilt, but oh well gotta follow the rules. I tried to make it look like a heart.

Lyns 2nd block

Here is her second block. She figged with the rules again. Her tires are her version of hexagons.

Teaser Time: Deana

I REALLY wanted to post Block #1 today except I need to add a 2 3/4" section across the top.  Here is a sneak peak.  Also, I had an epiphany this morning and there is something else that MUST be added to this block before I can say it is complete for show.

Ok, my rule #2 block involves a cow.  It is partially pieced and will involve some handwork which is good because I will be spending today and tomorrow at a wrestling tournament.  (I LOVE WRESTLING and QUILTING so why not do them together?

It also involves a hand-made paper pieced pattern and many tiny little pieces.  One section is done.