Hexie BOM: February

During February I was working on the second block from the Hexie Blog's BOM challenge. Who would have guessed it would have been a Valentine's heart block.

Whilst the original version looks very pretty in pink, I have stuck with my plan to use up some more of the fat quarter material used in my January BOM. So here's finished block number 2!

I finished this at the end of February just in time for the March block to be revealed. It's then only taken me a month to get a picture of it! It's so hard at this time of year to get good pictures, as by the time you get home in an evening the light has gone.

I've actually already finished the March block too! So now let's see how long it takes me to get a picture of that one!

A special cross stitch kit

Recently my boyfriend's Grandma has been very unwell and I was given some of her crafting materials. In amongst them was a lovely cross stitch pattern that she had adapted to use for someone's birthday. It was a beautiful design with a cream heart and wild flowers. We'd been looking for a picture with some meaning for Dad for a while and this seemed perfect. For Christmas, Mum turned the pattern into a lovely kit for me - complete with a beautiful storage box!

We've changed the colours on the design so that the roses are yellow which have a significant meaning for us. The design is already well underway and I think it's going to look great once it is completed. More updates to follow!

A little bit of embroidery

At the end of last week I saw a post on the Glee and cakes blog of a lovely piece of embroidery. This reminded me how much I enjoyed embroidery when I finished a couple of small individual motifs a while ago. So I raided the fabric stash for a piece of plain material, some threads and a needle and got going.

You can draw the design straight on to the fabric using washable fabric pencils. Once the design was drawn out it was time to start sewing - picking difference stitch types as I went. I decided I wanted quite a simple look so I chose to use only three colours of thread throughout - blue, white and purple. I also only used four types of stitch - lazy daisy, chain stitch, couching, and french knots.

I really like the finished design and the process of making it. Now just to decide what design to do next...

Hexie BOM: January

There's been a bit of a delay since the last post, but nevermind. I managed to finish the January hexie block before the end of January! Hooray! One block down and still on schedule. Here it is:

The Hexie Blog BOM has a yahoo group set up where everyone can post pictures of their completed blocks. It's amazing how many people are taking part and also how different the blocks look. Everyone is working from the same simple pattern, but by changing the colours or fabrics used the finished blocks all have their own personalities.

My quilt's personality is definitely going to be loud and bright. I went shopping for the backing fabrics for the blocks and this is the happy collection I came back with.

I love the colours and can't wait to see it all come together!

Hexie Block a Month Challenge

The other day I decided to have a browse around on Pinterest. A dangerous thing to do as a quick couple of minutes on the craft boards inevitably turns into a much longer time! However, I came across an idea for a Block a Month challenge using hexagon patchwork. Julia from The HEXIE Blog is going to post a Block a Month throughout the year.

I have to confess that I quite enjoy the process of making paper pieced hexagons – although I know that there are quicker methods. I already had a small stash of hexagons that I had been making whenever I had a minute with the idea that I’d sew them all together at some point. So the idea of being given a block to complete each month seemed ideal. It would actually make me sit down and sew some of them together and I’d have 12 completed blocks by the end of 2014! As each block is supposed to measure around 15” square that’s a lot of finished patchwork!

Hexie stash

 The materials I had already been using to make hexagons are a selection of fat quarter pieces that we had picked up on various visits to the local material shop. I’ve already started the January block which Julia calls a Snowflake block and she uses a few shades of blue materials. 

January's Snowflake block - Julia at The HEXIE Blog

Mine may look a little more summery than a snowflake but I still like the idea of leaving some gaps in the hexagon pattern. The only thing I need to decide now is what colour material to use as the backing square. Oh and finish sewing the hexagons together obviously!

January: My 'Snowflake' block - work in progress

Project 2014

So welcome to our new blog. We've been talking about starting one for a while but have never got around to it. Too much talking about how to do it, what to write about, what it should look like. Well 2014 is a new year and our only resolution was to just get on with things and give them a go without just talking about them.

You may have seen an idea that seems to be all over the web this year: keep a jar and throughout the year you write things that happen on bits of paper and pop them in the jar. Next New Year you open the jar and look back at all the lovely things you've done.

The 'Good Things' Jar from Louise at Decoding Happiness

Well me and mum have decided to roll the two things together. We thought it lent itself to a craft slant. We will be writing about and taking pictures of all of the different craft things we complete this year. It's very easy to feel like all the other 'crafters' you know seem to have twice as many hours in their weeks and make far more things than you. So we've decided to keep a record and see just what we do do with our time!