holiday hexagon

Remember this centerpiece from last week?

I asked you if you wanted a tutorial and some said yes!

GREAT! tutorial it is!

I was hoping someone would say yes. :)

I started with four different 2 1/2" strips.

Cut the width of the fabric. (about 45")

4 strips total.

You could use fat quarters. In that case you will want

2 strips of each fat quarter.

four different fabrics.

8 strips total.

Sew the strips together.

You will also need to
IRON/press your strips.
No picture of this step...sorry.
It's very helpful if you iron ALL the seams so
that they go one direction.



My ruler has a 60 degree line on it.
I put some painters tape right on that line.

I then lined that tape up with the edge of my strips.

I cut off the end of the fabric.
This goes in the trash or scrap basket.


Turn the ruler over and cut again lining that tape up with
your strips or your cutting mat..
IF....
Your strips are lined up with the cutting mat lines.





cut again.
turning your ruler back and forth each cut.




Here we go.
6 pieces.
Do you see how we need 3 of each?
3 have that checkerboard on the outside strip
and the other 3 have the deep red as the outside strip.




Lay them out.





Begin by sewing three together.
You will now have one half of your hexagon done!
Do that again.
Now you have TWO halves ready to go!
It's helpful if you trim a bit
where all those seams are coming together!

Now PIN those two halves together and SEW. Sew. SEW




Lay that BEAUTIFUL hexagon onto a piece of flannel.
I did not even use batting.
It's nice and light and very washable.

I like flannel for this project, but you may want to add
batting and cotton backing.



With those two pieces together, quilt down the seams
and then again through the middle of those pie pieces.




Trim the excess flannel.






Binding:
two 1 3/4" strips of cotton, cut the width of fabric.

sew together to make one LONG strip.






Beginning on one of those sides fold the binding over at an angle
and attach to the BACK of your centerpiece.

Roll the binding over to the front.

PIN.

Top stitch all the way around.

TA DA!

Wasn't that simple?

outgoing mail.

I'm going to the post office today bearing gifts.

Remember this quilt?

I quilted it and now it's all ready to go!

I saw this project in blogland and wanted to participate!
The button for this project is there on the right.

And listen....I can't tell you how excited I was to
finally figure out how to get those buttons onto my blog!

Then, remember this?

My sister-in-law's birthday is Saturday.
So-o-o since I was productive last month...
I can send a gift!

Usually when birthdays come around...they sneak up on me.
And then.....I don't have time to make something.
I now have a couple of things waiting in the wings.
I hope she'll enjoy getting this as much as I will
enjoy sending it. Don't you just love giving quilted gifts?


And last but not least.
Two little somethings for my daughter who's away at college.
FAR AWAY!
I'm in Southern California and she's in beautiful Georgia.

I bought some christmas fabric with those little santas.
I cut the little santas out and used some other christmans fabrics
to make those little flags.

Would you call this a banner?


I think she might like hanging this in her dorm room
or over her door.


Lots of pictures...because I think it's so cute!


I added those little triangles at the bottom of the santas too.
I like it!

I was on a roll!

If I make a banner for christmas....

I can make a banner for thanksgiving too!

Not quite as CUTE....but I think it'll work.

Here they are together.

I think they'll fit very nicely into a little padded envelope.

Can't wait to get to the post office....

I'll be dreaming of

THREE happy people opening packages.

I LOVE TO DREAM!

This is my other dream today.

What do I do with this vintage fabric I picked up

FREE

at a recent quilting class.

It WAS old and had those brown age spots.

I washed it real good and can hardly see those spots anymore.

SO now....what do I do with it?

What a HAPPY dream that is!

I LOVE FABRIC!

quilt fever.

About four years ago I caught quilt fever from a dear friend.

My husband and I took 2 sons and a foster son, on a trip to

Yellowstone National Park to visit my dear friend and her husband.

This dear friend, Gerda, took me to some quilt shops in the area.

She LOVED to quilt. And I should say that she caught the fever from her

daughter-in-law, Phyllis.

Now, mind you, I DID know how to use a sewing machine.

I DID like to make things for my home.

I had even made some quilts.

BUT.

I did not have the fever like my friend or her daughter-in-law.

WELL.

That summer I CAUGHT IT!

I caught it BAD.

AND the fever has not ABATED!

When we got home from that memorable trip, the boys and I

took a tub of scraps Gerda had given me and we

MADE QUILTS!

I really wanted the boys all to have one and it was a fun

summer project to involve them in.

This one was made by my son who was in 7th grade at the time.

My foster son also made one and took it with him when he

went to live with some relatives. I'm super happy that

he has a piece of that summer with him now.

The boys were able to go through the tub of fabric and choose some scraps they liked.

My son LOVED that wolf fabric. He sewed the strips together

and I think I put them together with those long strips to help.

The boys tied the quilts with yarn.

AND they LOVED them!

This quilt is still on my son's bed.
I have since then made a longer quilt because he is now over 6 feet tall!
BUT.
This is the quilt he wants on his bed.

How long does quilt fever last?

quilt festival time!

Here's my entry into the blogger's quilt festival!

This is a simple baby quilt using lots of scraps!

That cute blue border was a remnant that I bought.

Everything else was a "scrap".

I made this a long time ago and never could let it go.

All my babies are grown, or growing up...

so maybe this will be for one of those

"hoped for" grandbabies.

Who knows?

When I made this I had not attempted tiny piecing

like those nine-patches in this quilt.

I was so proud of myself for accomplishing that!

I quilted a simple diagonal line.

I was just learning to quilt when I made this.

Have fun looking at everyone's quilt.

Hit the button below and feast your eyes!

There's a LOT of quilting going on!

http://

table topper

Here's what I made today.

I wanted something kind of small for my kitchen table.

The picture is taken outside so that I get good lighting.:)

It was super easy.

And it's always nice to finish a project in ONE sitting!

I'm thinking of making them for family and friends

for Christmas...

with Christmas fabric, of course!

I tried some free motion quilting.

See the leaves?

Not sure that black was the right thread color.

But, that's what I had on the machine....

and well....you know.....it's so much easier to use what's already there!

Here's the back.

I did NOT use batting.

Just flannel on the back.

It's nice and light and....

I LIKE IT!

Thinking about doing a tutorial with the

Christmas fabric on my blog...

What do you think?

soup and sweater weather!

This fall season gives us all a chance to be creative.....

Don't you think?

We aren't cleaning because the kids are in school.

We aren't cooking because the crockpot does all the work.

Does this sound like a dream?

Yes, I suppose it does.

I made this simple soup yesterday and it was a big hit.

These are my ingredients.

Of course, those vegetables were chopped up a bit. :)

I poured it all in here and turned it on!

It cooked all afternoon and by dinner it was nice and smooth.

I also added a bunch of these spices.

I LOVE Mrs. Dash seasonings.

We try not to use salt at our house and these have saved my

"cooking" life.

I especially like to add a little of that Curry in this soup.

It gives it a punch!

I do not measure spices. I just sprinkle it on.

Since there's no salt...it sure won't be too salty. :)

Before serving...add a little milk.

YUM!



While that is cooking...SEW!
Here is a fun project I worked on today.
It took NO TIME at all to change this
BLAH sweater into this..



Sweater.

I Love doing this kind of thing.
I found the sweater at the thrift store.
It is SOOO soft....but those sleeves were way too long.

I cut 'em off!
Trimmed them with some of my left over binding.



Added a little piece of fabric and buttons at the top.

I like it!


And those sleeves are now the right size for me.
I don't like long sleeves and these are now perfect.

I'm so glad some of my favorite binding matched my
NEW SWEATER!

five inch fun!

Here's my donation to Margaret's hope chest.

There was a note about this worthy cause on

Amanda Jean's blog and I joined in!

It IS bright...so I hope that the little girl receiving this

will enjoy the bright colors.
I'm hoping to quilt it today and send it off soon!

I had a lot of 5" squares already cut.

This block was my inspiration for ALL that color!

I didn't realize it would turn out so GREEN...

but I think I like it. :)

And here's WHY I wanted to give a quilt.

This quilt was given to me.

When I graduated from high school and set off for college,

the ladies at my church gave me this wonderful gift!

I loved having this on my bed as I moved away from

home and all that was familiar.

It gave me a lot of comfort and is probably the biggest reason

I like to give quilts to people.

Aren't all those colors wonderful?



You can see some of that retro fabric!

Let's all join in and give a quilt to someone.
It sure will make their day!