Category Archives: hexagons

Farewell 2016, Hello 2017

Here’s to 2017! Specifically, here’s to lots of sewing and quilting in 2017. I’m already looking forward to several projects — and not just new ones. There’s a stack of UFOs beckoning that I am actually enthusiastic about tackling. But not today.

On this fresh new day of the year, I’m looking back on what I created in 2016. Rather than going in chronological order, I’m grouping my finishes by categories.

This was the year of the Junior Billie Bag, the quintessential quilter’s tote designed by Billie Mahorney. I made a bag for myself . . .

dawns-jr-billie-bag-2016

. . . and one for my friend Deborah . . .

Debeorah's JBB other sideDeborah's JBB one side
. . . and one for my friend Miriam:

mirs-jbb-1-800mirs-jbb-3-800
Next category: baby quilts. This is the first of two incorporating a charming giraffe-themed fabric panel:

Abe's quilt
Abraham’s Quilt, 40″ x 49″ (2016)

Here’s the second one, using the same fabrics in a slightly different setting:

Malachi's quilt 1.2016
Malachi’s Quilt, 41″ Square (2016)

I didn’t use a pattern for these quilts, preferring to play with simple shapes (squares and rectangles) so that the giraffes on the fabric panels would be the focal point.

My third baby quilt of the year was this one using the pattern Just Can’t Cut It from All Washed Up Quilts:

stefans-quilt
Stefan’s Quilt, 46″ Square (2016)

All three were quilted by longarmer Sherry Wadley.

All by itself in the mini quilt category is Ring Toss, based on the pattern Mini Rings by Sew Kind of Wonderful:

Coco's quilt
Ring Toss, 32″ Square (2016)

Mini Rings was quilted by Karlee Sandell of SewInspired2Day. Oh, and that’s our new rescue kitty Princess Cordelia (Coco for short).

Lap quilts is the next category. Once again I used a Sew Kind of Wonderful design, adapting the pattern Chic Diamonds into this quilt I named Dragonfly Kisses:

dragonfly-kisses-dh-aug-2016

It was quilted by Sherry Wadley.

The next quilt, Where It’s @, was started in July in a class with Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. It’s based on her pattern Rewind. I really stepped outside my comfort zone with this quilt, and I absolutely love the result:

where-its-recropped
Where It’s @, 57″ x 72″ (2016)

The last quilt in this category is Stella by Starlight, a “kaleido-spinner” using the Spinners block by Heather Peterson of Anka’s Treasures:

stella-bound-front
Stella by Starlight, 51½” x 71″ (2016)

I call it a “kaleido-spinner” because the six equilateral triangles in each block were cut from identical repeats of the focus fabric, creating a kaleidoscope effect of sorts. The four small hexagon blocks are true kaleidoscope blocks.

Both Where It’s @ and Stella by Starlight were quilted by Karlee Sandell.

The next category is runners, both bed and table. I made one of each, using the same focus fabric in each (Wander by Joel Dewberry) and the same block design (Spinners by Anka’s Treasures) with completely different outcomes. Here is WanderLust I, the king size bed runner made with five blocks:

WanderLust complete
WanderLust I, 20″ x 88″ (2016)

I liked the focus fabric so much I made the bed runner reversible:

WanderLust back and front

It was quilted by Coleen Barnhardt of the Quilted Thistle.

Here is the same focus fabric made into WanderLust II, a “kaleido-spinner” runner converted into a wall hanging:

wanderlust-2
WanderLust II, 20″ x 53″ (2016)

This was quilted by Debbie Scroggy of All Quilted LLC.

The final category is a bit of a hodgepodge. I made a quilted cover for my stepmother’s new iPad Pro . . .

ipad-pro-cover-with-straps-from-back-to-front

. . . and a cardholder for her bridge hands:

2016-09-28-14-43-32
For my friend and fellow Quister (Quilt Sister) Vickie I made an iron caddy that doubles as a pressing mat . . .

iron-caddy-3
iron-caddy-2
. . . plus a matching 4″ x 4″ fabric box that she can use as a threadcatcher:

4x4-fabric-box
For myself I made some accessories to match my Junior Billie Bag: a rotary cutter coat made from my tutorial . . .

rotary cutter cut

. . . and a scissors case . . .

scissors-case-3
. . . and a sewing caddy that sits upright in a Lucite stand:

caddy-open
A 4″ x 4″ fabric box (yes, it’s a threadcatcher) completes the ensemble:

ensemble-2

dawns-jr-billie-bag-2016

As you have surmised, I’m crazy in love with that fabric line (Paradise by Alisse Coulter for Camelot Cottons). I expect you’ll see more of it in 2017, as I bought a lot when it was released a couple years ago.

I’m sending a shout out to the talented longarm quilters who transformed my 2016 quilt tops into beautiful quilts — Coleen Barnhardt, Karlee Sandell, Debbie Scroggy, and Sherry Wadley — and to you, my loyal blog readers, for your continuing interest and support of First Light Designs.

A toast to you all on this first day of 2017!

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, baby quilt, bed runners, Billie Bag, cats, faux-kaleido quilts, hexagons, iPad cover, iron caddy, Junior Billie Bag, kaleido-spinner, kaleidoscope quilts, QCR Mini, Quick Curve Ruler, Quilter's Affair, Quisters (Quilt Sisters), rotary cutter case, sewing tool caddy, tote bags, update, wall hanging, wonky Greek key | 7 Comments

Forgotten Finish: WanderLust

I finished binding my WanderLust wall hanging/table runner a few weeks ago but forgot to post about it, probably because I hadn’t decided on the best way to display it. I wanted to hang it in the master bath but it seemed a bit short for the space using a sleeve and the existing rod.

My solution: adding some grosgrain ribbon ties to the top so I could hang it from the rod, thereby adding a few more inches to the length:

wanderlust-2
I’m really enjoying the motion of the spinning blocks and the contrast of the deep navy background against the pale grey of the wall.

If you’re thinking those blocks looks a lot like the ones in Stella by Starlight, the quilt I just finished (subject of my previous post), you’re right on the mark. They’re made from the same block: Spinners by Heather Peterson of Anka’s Treasures.

WanderLust finishes at 20″ x 53″ (not counting the grosgrain ribbon ties).  Regular readers may remember this is the second quilt named WanderLust I made this year. The other version is a king-size bed runner. You can see both versions here.

I’m working on a post about all of my finished projects in 2016. With only five days remaining in the year, this one needed to be squeezed in.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, hexagons, home dec, kaleido-spinner, update, wall hanging | 3 Comments

Stella by Starlight . . .

. . . is back from being custom quilted, and she is sparkling:

stella-1
I wanted this one to be quilted entirely with free motion quilting. Karlee Sandell of sewinspired2day was up to the challenge, and I am so delighted with the result.

Karlee quilted free-form feathers in the bright yellow center hexagons and in the triangles that spin around the yellow centers:

stella-2

Contrasting with the loops and curves in the feathers are the angled lines in the white trapezoids. And if you look very carefully, you can make out the swirls and pebbles that Karlee quilted in the background. Here’s a better look at those designs:

stella-5

I love how the random swirls and pebbles play against the random white dots sprinkled on the black background.

Did you happen to notice the four small kaleidoscope blocks in Rows 2 and 4? Each one is quilted with a different design, a Karlee touch that pleased me immensely:

stella-hexie-4

stella-hexie-1stella-hexie-3stella-hexie-2
The fabric in the kaleido blocks is pretty busy so the quilting is easier to see from the back. Here’s the first block in Row 4 as seen from the back:

stella-hexie-back
Yes, I used a starry fabric on the back of the quilt, too. A couple of them, in fact. Stars play such an important role in this quilt that I actually toyed with the idea of naming it Star Crazy.

Go back to the first photo for a moment. Focus on the middle block (Row 3). See how the white trapezoids form a hexagon and the black triangles around the hexagon form a six-pointed star? Stars everywhere you look!

Measuring 53½” x 73½” before quilting, Stella by Starlight now measures 52″ x 72″. I’m going to bind it in the same fabric used in the background so that all of the blocks continue to float in the night sky. I’ll post more photos when the quilt is bound and labeled. I have something fun planned for the label so I hope you will come back soon to check it out.

 

 

 

Posted in free motion quilting, hexagons, kaleido-spinner, kaleidoscope quilts, update | 4 Comments

More Stars for Stella

After settling on the name Stella by Starlight for my just completed kaleido-spinner quilt (subject of my last post), I made a simple pieced back for it using fabrics from my stash. I decided to stick to black fabrics for the back since the quilt will be quilted primarily with black thread.

A review of my stash yielded two prints that are perfectly in keeping with the theme of the quilt. How serendipitous! One features tiny white stars on a black background, while the other is a geometric print that from a distance looks like star clusters. Here is the completed back, which measures 60″ x 80″:

 

back-of-stella-by-starlightThe strip of floral fabric near the middle is the focus fabric that created the one-of-a-kind kaleido-spinners in the quilt top:

kaleido-spinner-quilt-top-update-oct-2016

I’m going to have Stella custom quilted by a local longarmer whose work is, well, stellar.

 

 

 

Posted in hexagons, kaleido-spinner, kaleidoscope quilts, update | 3 Comments

Fixer Upper

In my last post I showed you my latest kaleido-spinner project, noting that I planned to reverse the two large blocks in the fourth row. That’s been done, and this is what the quilt top looks like now:

kaleido-spinner-quilt-top-update-oct-2016
The change was made to better balance the distribution of yellow in the quilt. That small hexagon kaleidoscope on the left side of the fourth row has very little yellow in it, so it needed some help from its neighboring blocks.

It’s a subtle but significant change. Here’s a look at the quilt top before and after:
before-and-afterI was concerned about the lack of color in that hexie kaleido block even before I added it to the quilt so I employed a Sharpie Ultra Fine Tip permanent marker to give it a boost:

hexagon-kaleido-1
This is a trick I learned from a quilt teacher, who referred to permanent markers used in this fashion as “quilter’s caulk.”

Here’s the block with the color added all around:

hexagon-kaleido-2
Sadly, much of the yellow on the outside edges disappeared because I had to trim the block before I added the side triangles and then I lost more of the color to the ¼” seam allowance:

kaleido-spinner-block-in-situ
I actually toyed with the idea of adding more yellow in the white flowers, practicing on a couple of scraps  . . .

playing-with-yellow-sharpie
. . . before concluding I was taking my obsession with balance too far. And here’s the thing about using permanent markers on fabric: if you make a mistake, it won’t wash out.

So my kaleido-spinner quilt top is done. I have a small piece left of the original floral fabric to put on the back — people always want to see what the fabric looked like before it was cut into little pieces.

Oh, and my quilt now has a name. It’s Stella by Starlight.

 

 

 

Posted in hexagons, kaleido-spinner, kaleidoscope quilts, quilter's caulk, update | 5 Comments

Friday Finish: A New Kaleido-Spinner Project

kaleido-spinner-quilt-top-oct-2016
Regular readers will recognize the block — it’s Heather Peterson’s Spinners block from her book On the Run Again (Anka’s Treasures, 2014). I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this block. In the last few months it’s shown up in a wall hanging/table runner, a king size bed runner, and one side of a Junior Billie Bag. I even taught Spinners at a quilt retreat in June.

Heather’s original design calls for six different fabrics in the triangles surrounding the center hexagon. I used six identical triangles in each Spinners block to get a kaleidoscope effect of sorts, coming up with the name “kaleido-spinner” to describe the effect.

You probably noticed something different in the quilt top pictured above: the four small kaleidoscope blocks in the second and fourth rows. I was originally going to put half-kaleido-spinner blocks there. But then I was perusing Heather’s blog, Trends and Traditions, several days ago and saw something very clever she had done.

Heather has a brand new booklet, Starstruck, coming out that features chevron fabrics in hexagon blocks; when sewn together in hexagons made of six 60° triangles, the chevron fabrics form stars. Some of the quilts featured in Heather’s book have half-size hexagons in the places where half-blocks would normally go. When I saw those quilts, I knew the concept would work very well in my quilt. So thank you, Heather, for your wonderful block design as well as the inspiration for the setting of this quilt!

Making the half-size kaleidoscope blocks fit properly turned out to be quite a challenge. The full-size kaleido-spinner blocks in my quilt finish at 15½” x 13½”. That means the half-size kaleidoscope blocks finish at 7¾” x 6¾” . On top of that, I opted to finish all of the setting triangles on the sides of the blocks with Y-seams to extend the width. I added 3″ strips at the top and bottom to float the blocks the same amount. The quilt top now measures about 53″ x 73″.

I hope you can tell from the photo that the black background isn’t a solid. It’s a tiny random white-on-black dot by Cotton + Steel called “Sprinkle” that reinforces the feeling that those kaleido blocks are spinning in a night sky. (Hmmm. Perhaps there’s a quilt name in that image. I’ll have to work on that.)

Now, a confession. I didn’t notice until I was cropping the photo above that I had reversed the two large blocks in the fourth row. I can’t believe I didn’t see that when I was sewing the rows together. Am I going to fix it? Yes, I am. I worked very hard when laying out the blocks to achieve a good balance of color and value. It feels “off” to me now. My obsessive-compulsive self will be much happier when that change has been made.

There’s one more thing I need to do to this quilt top before I can declare it truly done. That will be the subject of my next post.

P.S. Heather Peterson did not ask me to promote her new book. I just felt it was important to acknowledge her designs (block and setting) in the creation of my latest quilt top.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, Billie Bag, hexagons, Junior Billie Bag, kaleido-spinner, kaleidoscope quilts, update, wall hanging | 5 Comments

Pine Needle Retreat 2016

Talk about a room with a view!

Hood Canal

This photo of Hood Canal in Washington State — those are the Olympic Mountains in the background — was taken from the deck of the house I stayed in last week. I was in Union, Washington to teach at a four-day quilt retreat organized by the Pine Needle. The deck of the house I shared with Geri, the owner of the Pine Needle, was built right over the water. I fell asleep to and woke to the sound of water gently lapping at the rocks on the shore.

The retreat itself was held at St Andrews House, a retreat and conference center run by the Episcopal Church of Western Washington:

St Andrews House, Hood Canal
Isn’t that a serene setting for a retreat? Here are a couple of closer views of the building:

St Andrews House Hood Canal 1

St Andrews House Hood Canal 2

A covered deck runs the entire length of the house on the water side, affording spectacular views of Hood Canal (technically a glacial fjord) and the Olympics.

The pattern I selected for the retreat was Spinners, from the book On the Run Again by Heather Mulder Peterson (Anka’s Treasures, 2014). Spinners is one of 11 designs in the book, so participants got a bonanza of designs when they signed up.

One of the things I love about teaching is seeing what fabric combinations students bring to the sewing table. Here are the first few blocks:

Spinners first blocks
On our last morning, we had an impromptu show and tell of our projects. Unfortunately, our California girls (Candyce, Jan, and Janice) had to leave very early to catch a flight home, and a couple of other participants had already packed their projects away, so I don’t have photos of those. Still, we have plenty of examples to show you.

Diana came to the retreat planning to make one test block. She liked her first block so well she decided to make an entire quilt! Here are her first six blocks:

Spinners Diana

Linda completed her quilt top! She fussy cut the center hexagons. The narrow containment border and wider floral border set off her blocks beautifully:

Spinners Linda Lake

Sophia was very productive! Not only did she complete a Spinners top . . .

Spinners Sofia
. . . she also made another block from Heather’s book, the block called Happy Dance . . .

Sofia with Happy Dance . . . and this one called Chatter Box:

Sofia with block
Donna made a set of placemats using the table topper design from the book — and had enough fabric leftover to make a table runner:

Spinners Donna

Those placemats will add a lively jolt of color to Donna’s table.

Carol S. also chose the table topper design, using a delightful holiday fabric featuring poinsettias and holly:

Spinners Carol Stark
She made several, to be given as gifts. Lucky recipients!

Carol D. made kaleido-spinner blocks (my name for the Spinners block made with identically-cut triangles that surround the center hexagon) using a lovely stylized floral fabric:

Spinners Carol Dyer
Did you notice Carol’s Spinners blocks are on point? She is making a runner for a narrow table; her runner will be 13½” wide. If she had turned her blocks horizontally, the runner would measure 15½” wide.

Pam S.’s runner features playful prints spinning around solid gold:

Spinners Pam Snyder

I can’t help it; those fabrics make me smile.

Evelyn also made kaleido-spinner blocks. She’s making a quilt and is showing us the fabric she chose for the border. It’s going to look terrific next to the subtly textured aqua batik that surrounds the spinning triangles:

Spinners Evelyn Bonney
I can think of only one word to describe Tamara’s Spinners runner: elegant. Take a look:

Spinners Tamara Brockett
The touches of metallic in the triangles and light background fabric, contrasting with that rich burgundy, contribute to the rich effect. Tamara fussy cut her triangles from a fabric I wouldn’t have thought of for a kaleido-spinner quilt:

Spinners Tamara Brockett with focus fabric

Tamara will incorporate that fabric on the back of her runner.

Sharon fussy cut flowers for the center of her blocks from a beautiful fabric that looks like a watercolor painting. Here’s one of those blocks . . .

Spinners Sharon Justus
. . . and another:

Spinners Sharon Justus block 2
She’s using a different colored batik in each of the triangles.

Debbie H. chose fabrics for her runner that match the décor of her dining room:

Spinners Debbie

That creamy jacquard background fabric sets off her Spinners blocks so well. And her Y-seams are perfect!

Debbie S. pieced a king-size bed runner using lively tropical fabrics. She also made kaleido-spinner blocks:

Spinners Debbie ScroggyDebbie put her own spin on the design by incorporating two fabrics in the top and bottom blocks (that stripe!), omitting the sashing strips, and adding an accent strip around the blocks. Debbie is a professional longarm quilter (AllQuilted LLC). I will be very interested to see how she quilts this vibrant runner.

While the retreat featured the Spinners pattern, the participants were free to work on whatever they wanted.  Helen was finishing the binding on two spectacular small projects . . .

Helen with Convergence

Helen's project
. . . and she was also working on her version of Shadowbox (pattern by Mountainpeek Creations):

Helen's quilt

Colleen worked on her 6″ Farm Girl Vintage blocks, designed by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet:

Colleen with Farmgirl Vintage
That block on the far right has over 50 pieces in it. I can only imagine how many pieces the finished quilt will contain.

Thank you, Geri, for organizing a fabulous retreat filled with laughter, games, good food, and some very productive and creative sewing. Thank you, participants; you made teaching a pleasure. I hope to see you all again when we convene at the Pine Needle in October to show off our finished creations.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, hexagons, kaleido-spinner, table topper, update, wall hanging | 13 Comments

WanderLust, Quilted

Yesterday morning when I looked at my Instagram feed, I saw something familiar, a photo on Coleen Barnhardt’s Instagram page very similar to this one:

WanderLust, quilting detail 1

Oh, joy! It meant Coleen, an award-winning longarm quilter (the Quilted Thistle), was working on my quilt WanderLust, made from Heather Peterson’s Spinners pattern (from the book On the Run Again).

Later in the day Coleen let me know she was finished, and off I rushed to claim the quilt. It’s actually a king-size bed runner (measuring 20″ x 88″ after quilting) so it was a bit difficult to photograph. Here are a few shots taken on my back lawn yesterday afternoon:

WanderLust

WanderLust front and back-001

I liked the floral fabric so much (it’s from Joel Dewberry’s Wander line, which is how this quilt got its name) that I made the bed runner reversible. Because of that I won’t put a label on it — but I may write some information on the back in very tiny letters.

Coleen’s free motion quilting is spectacular! Here are a few closeups:

Wanderlust quilting detail

WanderLust quilting detail 4

WanderLust, quilting detail 3

WanderLust, quilting detail 2
Coleen and I chose a pale khaki thread with sheen. Because the quilt is reversible, I asked her to use the same thread on the back:

WanderLust, quilting detail, back
The fern-y batik I used on the front of the quilt is all but gone from my stash. Fortunately, I have enough of the dotted batik from the back to use for the binding:

Wanderlust, binding fabric

Getting this bed runner bound is top priority, as I am teaching the Spinners pattern at the Pine Needle retreat this weekend, and I want to show a finished quilt. After that, I am sending WanderLust off to my sister Reigh, as it will look perfect at the foot of her king-size bed.

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, family, hexagons, update | 11 Comments

A Different Spin

wander horizontal
Moon Garden in the Midnight Palette

Recognize this fabric? It’s called Moon Garden, from Joel Dewberry’s line Wander. I’ve used it in small amounts in the bed runner I showed you yesterday, the one I made using the pattern Spinners by Heather Peterson of Anka’s Treasures:

spinners bed runner 20.5 x 90
Bed Runner Measures 20″ x 90″

“Ho hum,” you must be thinking. “That’s old news.” Yes indeed, but since bringing that beautiful floral fabric home earlier this month I have been fixated on using it in Heather’s pattern in a different way. I hinted as much in an earlier post about this fabric.

You already know that I am, to put it mildly, fond of kaleidoscope quilts. I’ve finished at least 10 quilts containing kaleidoscope blocks. All of them were made of eight 45° triangles forming an octagon. Until today I had never made a kaleidoscope block composed of six 60° triangles forming a hexagon.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Spinners block contains six 60° triangles. Instead of meeting in the middle to form a kaleidoscopic image, however, the triangles “spin” around a center hexagon. That didn’t stop me from testing my idea that six identical triangles placed in a Spinners block would produce an interesting effect.

Before I show you my Spinners block, take a look at the kaleidoscope blocks I could have made. Because the triangles are equilateral, any of the three points can go in the center, providing three different outcomes.

Here’s the first one:

Kaleido Spinner block a

The second one:

Kaleido Spinner block b

And the third one:

Kaleido Spinner block c

I like them all but am partial to the first one. A quilt made of these blocks and more would be very striking, to be sure. The floral print lends itself beautifully to kaleidoscope blocks. But we’re headed in a different direction this time. Take a look:

Kaleido Spinner block
Block Measures 15½” x 13½” Unfinished

A new spin, both literally and figuratively. I’m calling it a “kaleido-spinner” block.

I placed the block on a piece of dark blue fabric so the block would stand out and I like the effect so well I’m going to use that fabric. I’ll make a couple more blocks before deciding whether to make a wall hanging or keep going to make a quilt.

What do you think? I’m pretty excited about it!

 

 

 

Posted in faux-kaleido quilts, hexagons, kaleidoscope quilts, table topper, update, wall hanging | 6 Comments

Cutting it Close

The three-block table runner I made several days ago (and wrote about here) has expanded to a five-block bed runner:

spinners bed runner 20.5 x 90It now measures 20″ x 90″ — long enough for a king size bed. I was going to size it for a queen bed but I had just enough of the batik background fabric to make it longer. Someone very dear to me loves this color combo, and I have a feeling this bed runner will look wonderful on her king size bed.

When I say I had “just enough” fabric, I wasn’t kidding. This is what was left over:

spinners background fabric

I would have liked to bind the bed runner in the same batik fabric. It’s been in my stash for a while so I doubt I could find more of it now. Oh well. I’m just glad I had enough to complete the top.

Next up: I need to make a backing and get the bed runner quilted. Before it is sent to its new home, it will be used as a class sample for a retreat I’m teaching at in June.

The hexagonal block in this bed runner is called Spinners. Designed by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka’s Treasures, it appears in her book On the Run Again (Anka’s Treasures, 2014). Heather shows Spinners as a one-block table topper and a three-block table runner or wall hanging. I converted it to a bed runner and have been also playing around with some settings for quilts.

Measuring 15½” x 13½”, the Spinners block is the perfect size for a placemat. Another idea for my retreat students to consider. Or me!

 

 

 

Posted in bed runners, hexagons, table topper, update | 3 Comments