Not long after I started making these flowers, I won a copy of Mickey Depre's Pieced Hexies from Quiltmaker magazine. I loved Mickey's designs and quickly made 9 to add to this quilt. You can read about my experience with piecing my hexies. The pieced hexie flowers are some of my favourites.
I've been pondering how to quilt this one for months now. I know I don't want to do a lot of fancy fmq on it, because I don't want to distract from the flowers or the texture of the two fabric background. Plus it seems like a shame to machine quilt it after hand stitching the whole top. I've been resisting hand quilting it because that will take so long, but then I remind myself that Winter is Coming. Yes, I know that doesn't need to be capitalized, but that statement feels like it should be a pronouncement or, at the very least, a family motto ;)
I'm thinking that over the winter it may feel quite nice to sit under a warm quilt and indulge in more hand stitching. And besides, epp isn't exactly a fast method of making a quilt top, so slow quilting will certainly fit with the theme. So, I am now almost convinced I will hand quilt it, though I haven't decided what exactly I will stitch. Any suggestions?
It feels so different now that all the papers have been removed. It's so much softer and more flexible. 1,340 papers make for a rather impressive pile, don't you think? The mug and the thread are just for scale.
Now it's your turn. What are you excited about finishing? Link it up and share! Don't forget to visit a few of the other links and offer your congratulations for their finishes too.
Wow, it's beautiful, Leanne! 1,340 hexies?! Whoa! Thanks for hosting this week!
ReplyDeleteOooh that's a lot of work!!! thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is an impressive amount of work. The pieced hexies are fabulous, but the whole is just absolutely stunning. I like your use of a deeply saturated background color. Well done!
ReplyDeleteIncredible piece, Leanne! So much work and sew many hours! And it has turned out gorgeously! Love the two tone background. It really makes the flowers pop! I can understand you not wanting to hand quilt this after spending so much time with it already, and myself would be tempted to do a edge to edge quilting with the walking foot, but it really would look great hand quilted for a more traditional feel. Can't wait to see what you decide!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is amazing, that is a lot of hexagons. Best of luck with the quilting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this week. I've enjoyed watching this one grow over on Instagram and I think hand quilting it through your winter months is a perfect way to finish it off :)
ReplyDeleteI love your hexie quilt Leanne, just fabulous. I would definitely hand quilt it! Thank you so much for hosting the linky. Have a great weekend. Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your finish! Hand quilting is beyond a shadow of a doubt the way to go! You variety of thread choices when they dont go through a machine is HUGE. Can't wait to see what you settle on. I'm sure it will be amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteThree Cheers for an awesome finish! (Mine is still on the design wall being admired from afar!) I would think hand quilting it would be wonderful on this. Those fancy hexi's are inspiring!! Thanks for hosting this week. SMILES being sent your way! V
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous hexie quilt! I am amazed!! And how neat to see that pile of paper hexies... This is inspiration to try something a little bigger with hexies .
ReplyDeleteSusie
I so admire anyone who has the patience to EPP on this scale and I love how the flowers float and pop on that two tone background. Have you seen how Nicole @Modern Handcraft machine quilts her hexies - I don't think it detracts from them in the slightest somehow, for me, it enhances the design especially if it's done in a matching thread. Personally I'd go with a navy thread overall but take the time to switch to a neutral thread and burying my thread tails when stitching over the flowers as the navy thread would knock them back too much and deaden the overall effect. Just my thoughts anyway! Gorgeous work - Chris :D
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! It looks AMAZING! I know you are so proud of if!
ReplyDelete:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation
That is incredible. I don't see myself ever having the patience to take on a project like that! Well done. All those teeny tiny pieces...... Yikes!
ReplyDeleteGreat work! I am amazed by the pile of papers!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! This is awesome! And I love the big stack of paper! Congrats on your finish!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow!! This is so cool! I really, really love the scattering of pieced hexy flowers. Very nice effect mixed with the "normal" ones. What a great accomplishment. Sorry I don't have specific suggestions for the quilting motifs, but I'm with you on the hand-quilting approach. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of hexies. Incredible!
ReplyDeleteYay, the whole thing is very impressive! Well done! Hand quilting seems like right option :)
ReplyDeleteYou finished it!! Yaay!! It looks absolutely stunning! Hand quilting would be so wonderful.
ReplyDelete-Soma
It looks fabulous! The navy fabrics make such a great background for your flowers. I finished my first EPP quilt top last week and have spent a lot of time thinking about how to hand quilt it. I think it would be brilliant to hand quilt it and so perfect to do it in winter! You could try quilting with perle thread or a thicker cotton, it's faster than traditional hand quilting. You could quilt a pattern on the navy (something like leaves?) and then quilt the centre of the flowers. Have fun quilting whatever you decide to do :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beauty! I love the flowers with little added details. Hand quilting would be perfect, but that's easy for me to say since I don't actually have to do it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a beauty! Hand quilting would be so great and look fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThis hexagon quilt is a treasure. I love, love, love that the blocks are made with unique patterns in them!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! It is a beautiful quilt Leanne and I agree with hand quilting, winter does seem the pefrect time to do it. Such an amazing piece, you won't regret the extra time for the hand quilting.
ReplyDeleteHere are some ideas...
http://www.texasfreckles.com/2010/04/hexagons-thoughts-week-four-quilting.html
Oh what a fabulous quilt! I love hexies and this one is so beautiful. I love all the variations you used in piecing your hexies. I invite you to link up to Hexie Weekend to share this lovely, ends today, midnight.
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