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I've finished faffing...I think!


Long, long ago (well, 13th August 2011 - it feels like a long time ago!) I started piecing hexagons, along with many others, as part of Lynne's hexalong, which was inspired by this fabulous quilt by Lizzie Broderie.   I decided to go for a 'Miss Marple's garden' look for my quilt - a sort of typical English cottage garden look and all which that phrase brings to mind, without the dead bodies! 

It's been quite a while since I last laid out all my hexies, when I had pieced 101 of them, so I was really looking forward to seeing them all again and finding out if the quilt was going to work.  On Monday I laid them out (on a blanket on the front room floor) and I think I'm finished faffing with the layout.  At least, I am unless you all have changes to suggest!

It took ages to lay them all out.  I had to start somewhere so I started with the hexies that had seams going anticlockwise, so I could put them together and surround them with hexies without seams at the corners (to make the piecing easier)...

Arranging hexies 1
The first few - I was feeling quite overwhelmed at this point!
Then added others around them...

Arranging hexies 2
At this point I thought I'd be there all day!


At one point Archie woke up and discovered he'd been asleep longer than he thought:

b---whats-going-on_8394706673_o
What's going on?


b--when-did-all-this-happen_8395575734_o
When did this happen?


b--i-dont-suppose-youre-finished-yet_8394490649_o
Any chance you're almost finished?  Or fancy a biscuit break?


And still I added hexies:

Growing...
I think it's starting to work...


Still growing
Hmmm...there's a long way to go!


Until I was done...

Hexies!
Phew, I made enough!  I was beginning to wonder if I'd missed counted!



...and Archie realised he was stuck:

b-stranded-on-the-wrong-side-of-a-sea-of-hexies_8395586190_o
Stranded.

So I built a doggy walkway:

doggy-walkway_8395580714_o
Now he knows where he's allowed to walk instead of staring at me and looking pitiful!



I must confess that I had a little wobble when I saw all the hexies together.  I often fall slightly out of love with a project at this stage, I think it's because I've got to merge the image in my head with reality.  One night I decided that design R stuck out like a sore thumb and should be culled so I shared the photo with three wise friends who told me not to consider it!


After a couple of days I got a bit sick of looking at it and wondering if it was right so took Sarah's suggestion and covered them with a sheet - such a good idea and one that I'll remember for the future.


After a bit more faffing, this is how it looks now (six days later):

Hexy map 2
A multitude of hexies.


Some close-ups of each section:

Top left
Top left


Top right
Top right


Middle left
Middle left


Middle right
Middle right


Bottom left
Bottom left


Bottom right
Bottom right



If you're wondering about the fate of the hexies that were under threat of hexicide...one of them made it.  (It's in the photo of the bottom right section.)  The other one is in the box with the others that were culled long ago and may, one day, be turned into mug rugs, dusters or similar!


If you spot any changes that you think I should make/consider making, please shout!  I would like honest opinions, please, so if something smacks you between the eyes and yells 'Move me!' (or even 'Cull me!') then please say so!


Once I'm certain of the arrangement (I'm about 80% sure at the moment) I can make my map and start organising the hexies into labelled piles, ready for stitching.  I'm not the only one who can't wait to get the front room carpet back:

any-chance-this-will-go-soon--im-sick-of-it_8395591278_o
Any chance all this will go soon and I can have my bed back under the big radiator?

(I'd gone out and left him curled up under the little radiator (you can't see it in the photo, it's on the wall to his right) and didn't want him doing the bed dance across the hexies so made a barrier, it's not normally like that!)


Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some finishes from my FAL to admire (yes, finishes - more than one!), some zips to buy and a dog that thinks it's teatime...

Comments

  1. Wonderful !
    I Love the Way with your hexies.
    This is a Great progress, it's looking fantastic.
    Änderungen your friend Archie is so cute. My dogs always Star with me, when I'm work on the floor.
    Liebe Grüße Grit from Germany

    I hope my english is OK

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  2. Oh they look incredible together Helen - you are going to have such a gorgeous quilt. If it was me I would just sew them together as the more I faff the more I end up disliking my quilts so I admire your perseverance. Archie is looking decidedly unamused but still ever so handsome and debonair at the same time.

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  3. Helen, so much work! Are you stitching them to a backing fabric? My suggestion is to make the edges be a bit scalloped or randomly curvy like in one of your first photos above. Once again, Archie steals the show in your post! It must feel great to have finished all of these.

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  4. Marvellous!!!
    Don't move a thing - get stitching!

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  5. I think you've got it.

    Love Archie's knowing looks.

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  6. Thisis amazing! Any chance to have a finished for TGIFF next week, I am hosting!

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  7. Wow!! It looks amazing!! I agree with Hadley, get stitching that hexie perfection :) x

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  8. What an accomplishment! I think it looks amazing as is. I love the pictures of Archie too!

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  9. Wow!!! I think you did great with the hexies!! I don't know if I have the patience....Archie is so cute

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  10. This is fantastic, they are all amazing, get putting it together, I think you've done a great job of spreading out the low and medium volume hexys so it shows them all off! : ). Ange

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  11. Oh my! It's going to be so beautiful! All that work! I do like the idea of curved edging as suggested above.
    Archie is a good boy! My dogs would walk all over it ! He deserves a biscuit again:-)

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  12. it's amazing! I think it is perfect :-D

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  13. Wow that looks incredible, don't move a thing! Archie is so good, my dog would have walked straight over the top and totally messed up the layout.

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  14. It is PERFECTION without a doubt! I'm so glad I'm wise! At last!

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  15. It looks great, glad you got there eventually!

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  16. This is going to be a fabulous quilt! And Archie always makes me laugh out loud!

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  17. Wow! It's stunning. I love it as it is, you must be so proud, well done you!!! That barrier would not work in our house, Sam would just walk across the sheet, or scratch it up to make a comfy bed! Hugs xx

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  18. It really does look wonderful :-) Now stop messin!!!

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  19. Oh wow, it is going to be amazing....one of those quilts people will study in 100's of years time, you are so clever

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  20. That is truly going to be one amazingly unique quilt when you're done. When shall I check back?!

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  21. As I said earlier-they look absolutely amazing

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  22. This is going to be so amazing!! Great job Helen.

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  23. This is gorgeous, makes me want to make another hexagon quilt. Good luck stitching it all together!

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  24. Amazing! If that isn't an heirloom quilt, then I don't know what is. Really really lovely.

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  25. Wow! Totally awesome H and it looks perfect to me! I love that reddy/pink one in the middle! I wouldn't spend anymore time over-analysing it. Get it row marked and then you can enjoy sewing it together! Jxo

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  26. Absolutely gorgeous! I'm so inspired by your hexies :o)

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  27. Wow! Good for you. I know how much work this represents ; )

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  28. Oh. My. Goodness! Wow! Wow! Wow! Makes me want to dig out my box of hexies I started in that same hex-along.......Good Boy Archie for not messing up Mom's hexies. That definitely deserves a biscuit.

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  29. Helen,
    Absolutely stunning! And it will be be even more beautiful when edges are together! great job.

    Carol

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  30. Helen it looks beautiful. Don't change it at all

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  31. I am sat here admiring, and wondering how on earth you are going to keep this all organised so that it goes together in your excellent plan.

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  32. I'm not going to suggest any changes. It looks like it took AGES to lay out. Just go with it :)

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  33. I am utterly exhausted looking at the scale and detail of that amazing hexie quilt - how could anyone dare suggest changes?! Amazing - don't envy you having to sew them together though!

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  34. Perfection!! Every single bit of it.

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  35. Wow! I am in awe. Hexie envy! Well done, it's truly a work of art.
    Happy Sunday xx

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  36. As whatsisname on telly would say, Helen, you have achieved perfection!!
    I think it looks really well balanced, harder job than I had as I arranged mine in colour groups - I got good advice from someone who suggested I view it in B & W just to be sure but I think you are there already.
    Be very grateful that Archie is not a cat!!
    Miss Marple would be proud.

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  37. That is a LOT of work and it's going to be a beautiful quilt.. I really hope Archie doesn't decide to walk on it and scratch and make a new hexie bed. He is so cute, I love him (is that possible?!) My eye is drawn every time to the hexie that, if you start at the top left and count 9 diagonally, it is a darker pink. I would ditch that one completely. I feel it doesn't flow with the other colors.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it's possible to love a dog you've never met in real life - he's got charisma ;o)

      I know the hexy you mean and yes, it stands out in the photo but is much less obvious in real life. I've used the fabric elsewhere in the top and it doesn't show in the photo, I think it's because that hexy is in the middle!

      Thanks for the advice, I'll bear it in mind as I'm stitching them together xx

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  38. It is stunning exactly how it is - hexie perfection!

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  39. Oh so beautiful, Helen. Love all the soft gelato colours. . . . excellent layout...dont change a thing!

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  40. I think that it will be wonderful. I expect you could fuss forever but they all go together and the layout looks great to me. I expect it will be a lot of work sewing them together, but well worth it.

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  41. Well done! it looks amazing. And I know exactly what you mean about falling out of love at this stage. I tend to lose the will to live slightly at this point, and have to really force myself through the remaining construction, backing and quilting. it's only when it comes to binding time and I realise that, you know, I've MADE A QUILT that I fall totally back in love with it.

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  42. It's amazing! You have done fantastic and so much work! I love Archie - he is so cute sleeping under the cover! x Teje

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  43. Glad to find someone who faffs as much as me - and I confess that sometimes the only reason I visit your blog is to look at the header photo of Archie one more time ... :>

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    1. Awwww, it's lovely to know he's got a fan or two ;o) I've stopped faffing and all the hexies are labelled, positioned on a map and sorted into blob bags (I'm stitching them into blobs rather than rows, I thought it would be easier...)
      H xx

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  44. Eee! I can't figure out what makes me happier. Those delish hexies all lined up or your adorable pup. Loving everything in this post, apparently :)

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  45. Fantastic! I think you have certainly achieved cottage garden. Should we consider the culled hexies as the dead bodies? My mother-in-law is a big Miss Marple fan.

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  46. The hexies look fabulous all laid out like that - I am totally inspired and I can't wait to see your finished quilt. And your Archie is very well behaved - my two would have hexies all over the house in a matter of hours!

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  47. I don't know how I missed this last week. These are just stunning laid out like that. I'm almost tempted to start hexying again myself!

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  48. Thank you a thousand times for joining my blog (http://homeiswherethedachshundis.blogspot.be/)

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