Progress on two projects: Hexagons & Eclipse

The Hexagon Forever Project ™.

According to my notes, I started this current Forever Project ™ in July 2013.  These are *large* hexagons (4" at widest point), specifically to cover a vast amount of real estate so that I really could be able to eventually finish it and move on to the next Forever Project ™.  :-)   They are hand-pieced.

At this point, 8 months later, I have absolutely, positively finished the last of the 60 flower units I need to make the top I want.  I think the top will be about 90" x 98" without borders; I'm not sure what sort of borders I will put on.

The picture above is a completed flower unit: a single ring of hexagons sewn to a path.  This completed unit is roughly 12" x 13".

Now comes the difficult part ... layout out all 60 flower units into a "pleasing" color arrangement.  From that point, I can start sewing the flower units together into columns (or rows .. whatever) to construct the top.  Once I start sewing the flower units together, it's going to start becoming more and more unwieldy.

The picture to the right shows all 60 completed flower units stacked up in groups of 10.  I thought I would NEVER finish them!

I'm not quite sure how long this phase it going to last .. hence the name ... Forever Project ™.  :-)

This is kinda/sorta/more-or-less what the completed top is going to look like, once all the completed flower units are sewn together.

















Eclipse

Last month, I participated in About.com's annual Quilting Retreat in Phoenix, Arizona.  We've been having this retreat for about the past 13 years, although not always in Phoenix.  All of us are active on About.com's Quilting forum and we all look forward to seeing each other in real life every February.

This is the cover quilt from the Eclipse pattern

This year, a quilt-along was suggested.  One of our members had made Eclipse, a pattern designed by Sandy Brawner.  No project at the Retrreat is mandatory but because the sample quilt was so pretty, I got sucked into buying the pattern and ALL THE BATIKS necessary for a queen size quilt (oh, let it not be said that I stick to the easy quilts).

There is only one block, an easy Drunkard's Path that finishes at 8".  You just keep sewing all the fabrics together to make lots and lots and lots and lots ... and even more lots ... of the one block.  Once all the blocks are finished, then you simply "arrange" them and sew the blocks together.

Although I did try to keep to a kinda/sorta/not exactly organized color scheme, what I ended up with isn't anything that I'm absolutely IN LOVE with.  Which is a doggone shame, since batiks are expensive, even at the sale price I bought them at.

While at the Retreat, I made a certain number of blocks but by no means all of them.  After all, there are a LOT of activities going on!  Upon my return home, I did put my nose to the grindstone and finish sewing all the blocks and even trimming them to uniform size.  

I need 144 blocks to make my queen-sized quilt and the picture to the left shows the 144.  There better be 144!

And this is the pile of trimmings from those 144 blocks.  Somehow, piles of trimming strings like these amuses me.   (It takes so little to do so these days).

And that's where this project lies right now: all the trimmed blocks are stored away in a project bag with the border fabric and pattern.  Since I'm not IN LOVE with it, I'm going to let it marinate a while so I can proceed with quilting all the OTHER tops that have been patiently waiting their turn. :-)