Recipe for Friendship Part 2

So you can see the true colour and detail of the fabric used, I snapped a close up.  My original idea was to have a mix of hexagons as the center of the quilt and use the yellow and red polka-dot fabric as the border, but that was over three years ago and now I see things differently.

The new plan has the center of my Recipe for Friendship quilt looking like a very large hexagon flower, 34 inches to be exact.  All the yellow polka-dot fabric is gone now, but I still have quite a bit of the red polka-dot and a solid red that can be added to the mix if need be.

Next up, a round of colourful hexagons!

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.  ~Kahlil Gibran

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Flower Garden and More

There you have it; Karen's Flower Garden quilt top is complete.  I decided to remove the border and go borderless.  But, not to worry, the hexagons will not be wasted; I need them for edging the back of the quilt. 

See Finishing Your Hexagon Quilts

500 289 Klosjes

It had to be done if I was ever going to see a finished quilt.  So, I reduced the number of Klosjes and ended up with a lap size quilt, perfect for a chilly evening.  Once it's quilted that is!

And, the hand quilting is complete on my Tiny Thimble quilt.

Because it is hard to see the quilting, I will show you the templates.  I stitched a single wave in green thread across the thimbles and red thread was used for the border. 

So, what I am up to now? 

I'm down to the last couple of hours of hand quilting my Friendship Star quilt.  And, I have been testing out my double bladed X-Acto knife as I prepare a template to use on Red Delicious, which is next in line for hand quilting.  My teatime project is Love's Young Dream, the February Sweet Nostalgia BOM block.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

 

Sweet and Delicious

So sweet and delicious to indulge in applique once again.  I'm back working on my Civil War Bride quilt and about halfway finished block ten.  This will be my fifth block of twenty.  The stems and strawberries have been appliqued and now I'm working on the berry tops and leaves.

Prepped and ready to go are thirty 1930's Klosjes.  That also finishes up the last of my background fabric, but I have been on the lookout and was successful in finding other fabrics that match nicely.  So, I am still aiming for 500.

Hanging among the tablecloths was this long since forgotten cross-stitch, of quilt blocks, from 1996.  A pleasant surprise, but I really don't know what I would do with it other then hang it back in the closet.

My Sewing Chair

Polka-Dot Girls

I can't tell you how long I have been working on this block, but it sure felt good to finish it up over Christmas along with my last two Ring in the New! blocks.

December

I will honor Christmas in my heart,

and try to keep it all the year.

Charles Dickens

November

How bountiful is the good earth.

I am a little overdue for a One Flower Wednesday report, but I have been working on my garden, every Wednesday at teatime and now have 43 flowers joined together. 

As I piece my flowers together I continually change my thread to match the colour of the darker of the two flowers I am joining together.  This way, I don't have to worry about that odd stitch that makes its way to the top of the quilt being noticeable.  Does anyone else change thread colours as they go along?

Last Saturday, at Sew Saturday, I spent the day working on my Confetti doll quilt.  I just love the diamonds and squares pattern and as each row is added the more I love it.  About three more rows to go, then the center will be finished. 

And, speaking of doll quilts, I ordered three of Kathleen Tracy's books; Prairie Children and Their Quilts, Remembering Adelia and her soon to be released book, The Civil War Sewing Circle.  The first two books have arrived and I like what I see.  It is going to be a fun year of little quilts.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

November in the Garden

You never know what the weather will be like in November and gardeners always hope for the best.  I'm one of those gardeners that refuse to cut down anything that the frost has yet to kill, so my gardening season usually ends late November, early December.  Each fall brings a surprise and this year it was an early summer Iris that decided to bloom again in November.   

Every Wednesday, during the month of October, I arranged and rearranged my flowers for piecing together.  My thoughts were all over the place and I kept straying from my original plan, before I knew it, it was November.  After all that wasted time, I went with my original plan and started stitching my flowers together last Saturday.  

It feels good to be back on track with Karen's Flower Garden and Wednesdays just can't come soon enough.  It makes my heart sing to see all the lovely flowers, each week, posted by Garden Party members.  And, it is very exciting to see some quilt tops close to being finished, others already finished with quilting well underway and even a few starting a second garden.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?

~Maurice Maeterlinck

Last Blooms

94 Flowers Completed

Just as summer ends, so does the flowers for Karen's Flower Garden.  It was an excellent month for flower making, as I stitched together the last 18 flowers.  Ending up with two more then I thought I would have, it is now time to arrange my blooms and watch as they slowly turn into a beautiful garden.

Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.

 ~Samuel Butler

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Recipe for Friendship

What I needed was a recipe, a Recipe for Friendship, something to make from my one and only jelly roll by Mary Engelbreit.  A few ideas came to mind, but what I kept seeing was hexagons, not a flower garden, just lots of colourful hexagons mixed together.  A trip to the market provided the extra ingredients needed for the border, red and yellow polka-dots!

So, over the summer, a little at a time, I mixed up some delicious batches of hexagons and now I have 560 baked and ready to go.  With 37 different fabrics, this should make a fun mix for the center of my quilt. 

I still need to prepare hexagons for the border, but in the meantime, I think it would be okay to start stitching together a Recipe for Friendship. 

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.

~Douglas Pagels

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Mile High Flower Cake

I was going to make a Mile High Chocolate Cake for visiting One Flower Wednesday Garden Party members, but decided a Mile High Flower Cake was more appropriate.  Seven new flowers top the cake this month for a total of 76 of 92 flowers completed.

Orange Crush Daylily

Last year I read a book called Give It Up! by Mary Carlomagno, a book about learning to live better with less.  Each month for one year, Mary would choose one of her favourite things and give it up, cold turkey, for one month.  Things like chocolate, dining out, cell phones, shopping and television. 

After reading the book I decided the first thing I would give up was magazines (except for one quilting magazine) and it would be forever, not just a month.  That turned out to be very easy to do. 

Back then I also thought I could give up television forever.  It was always on my mind to do, but I never did.  Now, television would not be considered one of my favourite things, it's just there and I don't believe it has even been turned on all summer.  So, last week I picked up the phone and cancelled my television service. 

I think I will make a list and see what else I can give up.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

How is my Garden Growing?

My outdoor garden is struggling from the never ending hot, hot, hot temperatures and little rain, but my hexagon flowers are blooming away!  I just love this time of year, in the garden, as daylilies are one of my most favourite flowers.  This one is called French Vanilla and smells so sweet!

69 of 92 Flowers Completed

10 made this month

I've said it before and I will say it again, how happy I am One Flower Wednesday blossomed into such a wonderful event. Wednesday is now one of my favourite days of the week. I look forward to making a flower or two then off I go on a garden tour. Sometimes I'm still visiting into Thursday, but I don't mind at all. So many wonderful people I have met along the way. Each and every garden so blooming beautiful!

Look how my pile of hexagons has dwindled down!

Just 23 flowers to go! 

I'm just thinking ahead, as I'm not ready just yet to start joining my flowers, but I have a question about basting stitches.  My question is should they be removed?  The answer would have to be yes, if you baste through the paper template, but what if you don't baste through the template?  I don't, so my templates are easily removed.  Any thoughts? 

One Flower Wednesday June Report

Here it is the end of June and I'm feeling pretty good with seven flowers completed this month, for a total of 59 of 92 flowers.  I wish I could start piecing them together now, but because my flower fabric repeats I will have to wait until they have all bloomed.

Members Note

A handful of members are still not using the Sign In Sheet.  If you would like other members to visit you, please sign in on the weeks you are posting.  Having trouble signing in?  The problem appears to be how you enter your blog link.  Some members need to enter http:// before their blog link and for others it works without.   So, you may have to try it both ways to find how it works for you.

I wondered if I would see any Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts at the Shipshewana Quilt Festival and I did!  Two full size quilts and a little pictorial quilt with hexagon flowers in the border.  Note the addition of the diamond shape border around the flowers on the second quilt.  I like that!

Today I do a double post because not only does One Flower Wednesday fall on the last day of the month, but it is also the day my Clamshell report is due.  So, off I go to post my clamshell progress for the month of June.

In the Potting Shed

Wednesday again and time to tend my flower garden!  The list of gardeners just keeps growing and we are now up to 52 members.  Welcome to One Flower Wednesday, Marion, Marcia, Anne-Mette, Tree, Anette, Carolyn, Elin, Dawn, Martine and Tina.

Out of the rain and in the potting shed, is where you will find me.  Today I hope to prep a bunch of hexagons and as I prep, I will string them together in little bundles, each containing enough to make one flower.  Then, during afternoon tea, I will bring a beautiful flower to life.  Later, as I take my evening stroll, maybe I will get lucky and see you in the garden.

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.

~Abram L. Urban

So Many Flower Gardens

I have been kept busy adding new gardeners to the Garden Party list, for One Flower Wednesday.  Hope I didn't miss anyone.  If so, please let me know.  Since last Wednesday Jeanette, Jeannet,  Betsy, Sheila, Nadine, Terry, Carrie, Jilly, Satu, Simone, Narelle and Anne have joined the party, for a total of 19 gardeners.  All this enthusiasm makes me want to start another flower garden!

One of the best loved vintage quilts is Grandmother's Flower Garden.  Usually pieced and quilted by hand, about 1/4 inch on each side of the seam lines and usually done with white or off white thread. It was very popular during the 1920's and has continued to be a favourite.  Typically flower gardens, of the past, used a yellow hexagon to represent the flower's center, and then it was circled by six colourful printed or solid hexagons with another row of 12 hexagons around that.  Between each flower was a row of coloured solid hexagons to represent the background. A green background might have been the garden while white could have been a white picket fence.  Today's flower gardens are limited only by your imagination. 

The most popular way of piecing a flower garden is by English Paper Piecing.  I also like the idea of hand piecing the hexagons and will give that a try one day.  To make my templates, I load my printer with card stock paper and use the free printable page of hexagons by Cia's Palette.  With the assistance of Darlene Zimmerman's hexagon ruler, I then cut out my fabric hexagons.

Before I head off to make this weeks flower, here is a little inspiration for you.  Sue-Anne is working on a quilt called Swan Lake that requires 107 hexagon flowers.  You must see them, they are just beautiful!  And, if you like to fussy cut, have a look at Jean's tutorial for making fussy cut hexagon flowers.

Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed.

~Walt Whitman

Flower Basket

And well on the topic of flowers, this little stitchery is part of Block Three of the Polka-Dot Girls.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

One Flower Wednesday

The last thing I do before going to bed Tuesday evenings is set out my Karen's Flower Garden project box, to have ready for One Flower Wednesday.

Today was a good day and my garden has grown by three flowers.

Danielle has joined our little group this week and her first flower is so sweet!  Jan is prepping and will have something to show soon.   Ann is making her Flower Garden from beautiful Lecien fabric and Cathi has two Flower Gardens on the go!   Valentina is really getting into One Flower Wednesday and has designed a badge (photo above) for her sidebar.  Isn't it lovely?  And, another lady that likes to garden is Sandra, her first flower is made from reproduction fabric and it is just beautiful!

Would you like to join our little Garden Party?  The only requirement is to make at least one flower every Wednesday and post your progress at least once a month.  Posting on a Wednesday would be ideal and make it easier for others to follow your progress.

I'm so happy to be back working on my hexagon flowers and it feels like I am sitting in the same room with the rest of the ladies, as I stitch away.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Klosjes, Honey Bees and Flowers

45

Klosjes Completed

11 made last week

One Flower Wednesday

32 of 92 made

My goal last week was to get back on track with my hexagon flowers. I decided that Wednesday would be the day of the week I would make at least one flower. Afternoon tea seemed like the perfect time to do so. Ends up, last Wednesday, I had time to piece together two flowers during tea and I made a third one in the evening. Valentina and Jan are also going to set aside time on Wednesday's to work on their flower gardens.

April

The pedigree of the honey, does not concern the bee;

A clover, anytime to him, is aristocracy.

Emily Dickinson

 Civil War Bride
Block 12

And my fourth Civil War Bride block is now complete.  Would you believe it has over ninety pieces in it? 

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Klosjes Saturday Report # 4

34

Klosjes Completed

7 made this week

My favourite klosje this week is the blue one or maybe it's the black one or could it be the pink one!  Or, maybe I like them all the same. I have been giving some thought to how I'm going to quilt my klosjes, when the time comes.  I think I would like to quilt around each of the spools.  So, with that said, I have to go back and repress my first batch of klosjes so all seams are pressed into the spool.  And what I discovered, after pressing a few this way, is that they look better and lay flatter then the way I was pressing them before.

Making klosjes every week got me thinking about my Karen's Flower Garden quilt and how behind I am on making my hexagon flowers.  So, I thought that it would be better to make at least one flower a week then to go weeks or months without making any.  Now, I just need to pick the day of the week, then I can watch my garden grow.

My weekend is going to be a busy one and before the rain comes on Sunday, I need to get my Hosta pots out of the shed and ready for their first spring rain.  The ornamental grasses also need to be cut back to the ground and then regular yard clean-up can begin.  I also have a Dear Jane block to piece and a quilt to bind.  And, I'm just going to come right out and say it, I started a new project!  But it's okay.  I started it and finished it.  So, in the next couple of days, I will be back to show you what I have made.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Dolce far niente

Yes, how sweet to do nothing.

Nothing but quilt!

But first a little reading. Look at the wonderful book I just added to my collection. I love every inch of it. This book is definitely going on my list of favourites. Visit Michele Hill's blog and be inspired. And, to add to the excitement, Barbara Brackman has a line of fabric out now called, The Morris Workshop.

All twenty Tiny Baskets are appliqued and this sweet little yellow one is my favourite. Now, what to do with them? Any suggestions?

I'm very excited about Lucy Boston POTC and have my templates cut and ready to go. One to trace the shape onto the fabric and the other to add the seam allowance. One day, I would like to try Inklingo, but my printer seems to have an issue with coloured ink.

My first POTC, as I'm pretty sure there will be more, will consist of sixteen hand pieced blocks. I have selected 48 fabrics from my stash, just for the blocks. Each block with be different, no duplication of fabric. Some blocks use only two fabrics, others use three or four. Some fabric I selected for fussy cutting and others just because I like them! My colour theme is based on my favourite time of the year, Autumn.

As I was going through my stash I found five pieces of William Morris fabric and two others that could be, but did not have anything written on the selvage. Very exciting! I have set them aside.

Vanilla Fluff Daylily

Stargazer Oriental Lily

The display of lilies in my garden right now, is breathtaking. Vanilla Fluff and Stargazer are just two of many lilies that would knock your socks off with their heavenly scent.

Speaking of flowers, I have been working on Karen's Flower Garden. Now complete is 24 of 92 flowers and they are almost as pretty as the lilies in my garden.

And, last up my July A Tisket A Tasket Basket or you could call it my Canada Day Basket, which is celebrated July 1st. My little lamb is made from flannel, but looks like wool. I love how flannel appliques. My flag size has been doubled to fit the stitching of the word Canada and I also appliqued tiny circles in the center of the flowers, instead of buttons.

Until next week.....happy quilting!



Karen