Nicky - your quilt is gorgeous. So much time and work, your daughter will surely treasure it! Please share the finished top with us before it heads off to the quilters!

Hi Nicky,
Welcome. Your hexagon top is beautiful. So colorful! I see the colors are in color families along the outside border. How did you decide where to put the different colored hexagons. What size are the finished hexagon sides? Do you have a pattern?

Judith

Hi Twiglet and Loise98, thank you so much for your lovely comment, which was so appreciated. I am so glad you like the quilt so far.
Yes, this is totally traditional English paper pieced quilt.
Every paper hexagon was cut out by hand, hand tacked and totally sewn by hand. The only time I used the machine was to make the inside cream border and attach the hexagons to it. I will attach the binding with the sewing machine too.
Of an evening, I am spending ages undoing my hand tacking stitches and removing the paper templates

I am thinking about adding some appliqué red hearts after the binding, so I can butt the hearts right up to the very edge of the binding. They will sit on the outer edge of the 10" cream border. This quilt is made with lots of love, and I want to hand it down to my daughter eventually with her knowing this.

Wow Nicky so colourful. Glad you've joined the retreat

That's a lot of hexagons

Wow,Nicky. I love your quilt, but you are teasing us about the fussing cutting and not being able to see some of those whimsical animals and designs. Is this EPP or are you sewing your hexies by machine? Is the cream border also hexes. Your description just makes me want to see more.

Hi, my name is Nicky and I am from Oxford, in England. I am new to this group.
I just love the idea of a virtual retreat as I have difficulties going to normal residential groups. This way you can exchange ideas with people world wide and meet some amazing people.

I am working on a whimsical hexagon quilt. Most of the hexagons have been fussy cut, to show beautiful pictures of whimsical animals and designs. This is work in progress still, even though it already fits my kingsize bed. I need to hand stitch on an additions line of hexagons, then add a 10" cream border. Due to its size, when its finished, it will be long armed quilted, which will be in the next 4 weeks hopefully.

I really like the crock idea. A really good place to locate the perfect crock would be a beginners pottery class. When you are first learning to throw on the potters wheel most people leave too much clay in the bottom. This is perfect for what we need re: the bottom getting too hot from a mini iron. A beginning potter would be thrilled to gift or sell very cheap a small pot that would work. You should never put a very hot object next to glass - the same no no as putting a candle - even those mini candles in a glass container. It will crack and break. Shatter into many many pieces.

I love my thermal thimbals. Glad to learn a new use for one.

A trip to the Netherlands sounds good to me and can't wait to see what you have been working on Becky.

Another safety tip....
Try putting a "Dritz Thermal Thimble" on the temperature control knob of the mini-iron.
The temperature control knobs of some mini-irons get extremely hot.
Dritz Thermal Thimbles were designed to put on your fingertips to keep them from getting burned while ironing fiddly little things. They are made of the same silicone stuff that silicone pot-holders and hotpads are made of.

The temperature knob is much shorter than the thermal thimble, so you have to roll up the thimble - like a stocking cap - to make it fit on the knob. This makes it fit better and also gives it more insulation.

Judith

anne1 wrote:
Thanks Anne I've bookmarked!
Barb

I think a mason jar is too light. My crock is heavy. Only the tip rests against any thing. Canning jars withstand a boiling water bath but that is much different than crockery which will with stand high temps of dry heat in the oven. Mason jars are not the same stuff as pyrex. Be careful!

I think a mason jar is too light. My crock is heavy. Only the tip rests against any thing. Canning jar withstand a boiling water bath but that is much different than crockery which will with stand high temps of dry heat in the oven. Mason jars are not the same stuff as pyrex. Be careful!

Lovely to see all the work and all the studios around! nice stories as well.

If any body would like to come to the Netherlands for a week for quilting at my home, you are welcome!!

(finally I have a guest room!!!)

Soon I will take a picture of my studio as well of my working quilt at the moment (BOM of TQS frome few years ago from Sue German, now it is the second one that I do BUT monochromatic, cant wait to show you guys).

Bless you all with your quilts and beautiful homes:)

A thought about the Difference between crock and mug,,,
A crock is made from a denser material and has straight up sides. Whereas a mug is usually lighter in weight and has slopped out sides. So, if you put something taller than your mug into it, you create a top-heavy area. That's why a crock would be better than a mug. And the idea would be to get one that is close in height to length of mini iron.
Another alternative would be a wide mouth mason jar or a straight sided heavy glass vase. And adding a layer of fine sand to the bottom would help disperse the heat factor. I'm thinking the sand may help get fusible staff also,, but that is not something I've checked out.
For any of these, have a hot pad handy for moving it as the sides could get sufficiently hot right about where your hand would grasp. Perhaps one of those microwave bowl holders made to fit your mini iron holder just be sure that you use only cotton threads and batting, as any polyester could get too hot also.
Still working away at current projects. Lots of knitting at the moment.