I am quilting!

For years, really years I have avoided quilting.  I did some Rosemary Eichorn style freeform quilting in the early 90's, maybe even the 80's but I always deemed trying tp machine piece quilts too fussy and precise for me.

Two to three years ago my local gals all started quilting and the call for me to join them was loud.  But I resisted.  I chose to spend my time knitting, beading and trying my hand at art to wear clothing.

But it was bound to happen, one particular project called my name loudly.  The Hexies pillow by Modernhandcraft .  I saw the first one in my friend Gails Instagram feed and I was enamored.  I'd been wanting a new pillow for my living room chaise and my shopping trips weren't finding what I needed.  Well I did find a custom velvet watercolor one at ABC home in New York but I don't have the budget for $400 pillows.

These two belong to my friend Gail.  She is leading the way with her quilting skills.

I ordered the pattern from Modern Handcdrafts and watched the imbedded video assists for her techniques on creating the hexis.  She starts with a square and thread bastes them around the hexes, then glues to the backing fabric before stitching.  Creating the hexis was a lot of fun.  I see many more hexi projects in my future.  For now this is the pillow I created for my chaise.  It is great to have pops of color in my living room which is a largely neutral pallette.  My machine quilting is far from perfect but it got the job done and I think it looks great.

Now onto my Tula Pink 60 inch by 60 inch sunrise quilt.  It's more paper piecing which I like for it's portability. 

 I'm busy under my friends guidance acquiring the tools of the trade and watching videos. One thing I purchased was a lazy susan type cutting map which makes cutting out the small shapes much easier.  It should arrive this week. The one in the photo is a loan from my other quilting pal Judy.  My first block of 12 is done.   I'm  aiming for one a week, but then I am also aiming to finish my Patty Lyons sweater soon and I 'm heavily into design mode on a new beading project.  We shall see.