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Sunday Summary Christmas Cushion Confusion


Hello!

(I know, I'm here again!  I can't quite believe it...)

This week has been a week of dithering and hand quilting yet more stars.  I've quilted just over two-thirds of the stars on the blue and white quilt, here are the latest two:
That's my daily quota done! A bit later than I'd hoped, but I'm going to sneak in a bit of hexy piecing before I go to bed. Joining @charmaboutyou for the #saturdaynightcraftalong


I started cutting the hexies for my first Christmas cushion, and discovered I was eight hexies short of a cushion (a phrase I'm hoping passes into common usage!):
Not the final layout and I'm eight hexies short of a cushion, but here's what my polar bear #Christmascushionalong cushion will look like. It's going to have a plain border (white? Red? Turquoise?) and partial hexies in the same colour to straighten up th


so I set about trying to work out what to put in the gaps, which is where the dithering started.  First of all I removed the plain hexies:
I think I prefer it without the plain teal/turquoise/grey hexies (see previous photo for comparison), but what should I put in the gaps? Veering towards white, I think. #Christmascushionalong
which I liked, but something's going to have to go in the gap so I searched through my stash and found some options:
#Christmascushionalong options for the gaps: white hexies (probably some with an embroidered snowflake on), shiny grey (it has a bit of rayon in it so gives a subtle sparkle in the right light), plain grey, stripes, teal snowflakes, red snowflakes, red/wh

and the only thing that helped me decide was that I'd use the stripy fabric for the binding.  (Thanks, Clare!)

I thought that laying the hexies over the options might help (that was less fun than you might think!, but it didn't:

#Christmascushionalong polar bear cushion: yet more options! Anti-clockwisef from top left: grey, shiny, white, grey and teals. I've had enough now!
but it didn't stop me trying again:
Last one! I think I like the options best when the teals are in the mix, so I thought I'd see what it would be like with teals and another colour. So, anti-clockwise from bottom left: red stars, grey with teals (as previous photo), red stars with teals, w
Still no decision.  In the end, I've decided that no decision is my decision for the time being, and I've started piecing together the hexies I have, together with gaps for the to-be-announced hexies.  It's harder than you might think to piece gaps!
I made a bit of progress on my #Christmascushionalong hexies last night. I'm leaving gaps for whatever I decide to use for the spare hexies, but it's harder than you might think to sew gaps and I think I need a map to keep me in track as I'm currently hav
I think that upside down polar bear on the left is the bottom left corner of the panel.  At least, it was when I started!

On Friday, I did some more dithering when I had to choose between the two darker greys in this photo:
Trying to decide between the dark and medium grey #Oakshottfabric #gettingreadyformyFALtutorialdateinJanuary #dithering

I went for the dark one, as I felt the tone went better with the pale grey background.  This is for a technique tutorial (not a pattern!) I'm writing for the Finish-Along (for January), so I remembered to take some photos as I was piecing.
Making (slow) progress. The dark grey was definitely the right choice, thank you!

A sneak peek, before borders:
Sneak peek

Ta dah!
Ta dah! Just in case you're wondering, it's a table runner! It's currently about 18" x 36", but the borders are deliberately oversized so I can square them after quilting. Strips are 1/4" wide and there'll be a tutorial on my blog in January about how to

And a closer look at those stripes:
A closer look at the strips #ridiculouslylongFALlist #ridiculouslylongFALlistgang #Oakshottfabric #Aurifil

At which point the next dither started: how on earth do I quilt it?!  I have a couple of ideas, but would love some suggestions!  (I don't do FMQ, so please nothing that can't be done with a walking foot!)

I realised I haven't shared many photos of my garden this year, so here's a couple I took about an hour ago:
Garden 30th October 2016


A touch of autumn colour and plenty of flowers #gardenersofinstagram

I'm amazed at the number of flowers I've still got!  That packet of wildflower seeds was well worth scattering in June!  As were growing some cosmos from seed, even though the birds ate loads of them.  As were the nasturtium seeds I picked up on a whim.


Eddie had a haircut, I don't think he was that impressed:
b_29927030273_o


And it turns out that Archie doesn't have all the answers...
30364422160_c83bb83019_o
No, I don't know what you should use for your extra Christmas hexies, either.  It's a proper puzzle all right.


Thanks for popping in!

Comments

  1. I like the paler grey best for the gaps, it gives the eye a quiet place here and there. I find the darker one jumps out too much, and the spots are just too busy. But that's just my eye being pleased - I'll be interested to see what you go for.
    And quilting for the piece with the dark grey stripes? How about parallel wiggly lines, going in the opposite direction from the stripes, and leaving the stripes unquilted for a bit of extra textural difference. You can do it with a walking foot, and just need to draw the first line, the rest are done with a guide off that line.

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  2. Can't help with the hexi conundrum but I think Eddie looks grand in his new hair do. Archie of course is always a darling.

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  3. Love the hexies, can't help with the gaps though! As for the quilting can you just quilt parallel to the strips? I'd go liberated kantha style in mostly grey with an occasional random blue

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  4. I like the red dots on white for finishing the pillow. But then again, all my friends know I"m 8 hexies short of a cushion. Love the micro-line piecing. What about using a serpentine stitch with a walking foot? It adds nice texture but still linear.

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    Replies
    1. This is a wider version of that type of quilting: http://appliqueaddict.blogspot.com/2015/04/2-projects-finished.html

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  5. Glad I'm not the only one who dithers! Your garden is still so pretty! Jxo

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  6. Those stars are such perfection Helen. And the garden! . . .gorgeous. Well worth all the hard work.

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