Move to Hexies

 Buddy requested that I throw away the spools to make more room for his toys. He thought I should work on the hexie quilt because its easily stored in a small bin. These are cuts I made today.

In case it wasn't obvious, I am using animals as the theme. Here are some earlier cuts, plus some of the hexies I have already based on the paper. Revisiting this project, I realize that I have lots of cut hexies and not enough sewn. We are having a windy night, so this will be the perfect project if we lose power.

The Never-ending Spool

I have been culling pairs without enough contrast and plan to recycle them back into the project. However, I already have 900 pairs. I had started to sort them by the color of the darkest spool, but while I was sleeping, Buddy unsorted them. He also dropped his possum toy on top of the pile so I wouldn't know who was to blame. (Sometimes I will find possum at the food dish, sometimes he comes to the bedroom, then back to the sewing room).

Here are the four-patches I have made so far. As a reminder, the key challenge to this quilt is that it is a charm quilt, where each spool is made from a different fabric. Unfortunately, as I was sorting pairs, I found a duplicate fabric!!!! This means my strategy for removing duplicates was not foolproof and my only remedy is to pack this project away and never think of it again.

 

Performance

Today I had my performance review. Molly thinks I don't provide a safe living environment. She noted that in the sewing room alone she risks cuts, punctures and burns, and my preference for quilting must be stoked by a lust for danger. I told her she forgot about the threat of suffocation from an avalanche of fabric. Molly was not amused.

Buddy focused only on my blogging role. He recommended I provide less words and pictures but more thinking.

Today, I only unsewed some spools so I will have to supplement this post with more quilts from the Clark County Quilters show...moving now to improv.

Here is the description.

This was an interesting spin on a familiar format.

And the description.

This quilt received three ribbons, and it stood out for its original design. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the description. The quilt guild did take photos of the entire show and have made the images available on a flash drive. So hopefully it will include this quilts' description. I also didn't take a picture of the overall winner...it was a "realistic" fused scene with a dragon. 

More Spools

Today I sewed more four patches. Unfortunately, I forgot they are directional with a dark spool in the upper left corner, so I have some seam ripping to do. While I was sewing, Molly came to visit. I thought she was far enough away until her tail swept by the moving needle. I now have to spend the next month or so arguing with myself about whether she did it deliberately, Given my frightened reaction, she will most certainly try it again.

Here is another Bonnie Hunter design from the Clark County Quilt show. Made to full size, her mystery challenge quilts are quite large. And while we're on the topic, today Bonnie Hunter released the colors for the next mystery challenge...with the first set of instructions to be released the day after Thanksgiving. You can find her color discussion here:  https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2022/10/chilhowie-quiltville-mystery.html

And yes, this morning Buddy was still waiting for staff to clean up his play area.

Spooling Around

Yesterday I pulled out the spool project, took inventory and started sorting. I went through and ironed four patches with points that meet (and happily only had to send five back for reworking). Then I sorted two patches and singles. My plan is to have darks and lights on alternate diagonals throughout the quilt, but value is relative. So I'm trying to make good decisions in the early stages, but won't lay the blocks out until I have eight by eights. (Each block is 2 inches unfinished).

Buddy, however, didn't agree with my sorting criteria.

As I started to resort, Buddy joined me and explained that I was trespassing in his play area...as you can tell by the mouse right above his head.  He also thanked me for the new slip and slide toys.

And here is a companion to the first place quilt from the Clark County quilt show (shown yesterday)...apparently there is a special group for OCD quilters.

Here is the maker of the quilt and her explanation of her role in the OCD conspiracy.

And here is a closeup.

Attention Deficit Disorder

A certain cat with attention deficit disorder is not happy with my taking blogging responsibilities from Buddy. She is using my arm as her head rest in a determined effort to make typing as difficult as sewing and that she continues to have 100% of my attention.

That said, I am now using an updated version of Photoshop Elements and that seems to have taken care of the weird discoloration I was getting with the other photo program. So that is making things easier. Also, I remember the keyboard shortcuts which reduces Molly Cat disruption.

And yes I am continuing to fuss with the Shards quilt (from Kaffe Fassett). When I put it up on the design wall again I found I was two blocks short...then I made some replacements for blocks that were too dark...or to yellow. And I now realize that I prefer making the shard blocks more than the quilt itself. Oh well...

At the Clark County Quilters' show, this quilt was hanging next to the sheep quilt. The sheep were not too happy and thought that OCD quilts should be hung in a separate area. I tried to reassure them that fine workmanship is not contagious.

Here is the quilt description (without the appropriate psychiatric diagnosis included).

Major Blogger Glitch Revealed

As I'm sure you know, Buddy took over responsibilities for this blog early in September...at exactly the same time of the last shown blog post. Every morning at 4am, he reports to me about what a great job he is doing and whether he wants payment in treats, toys or cuddles. Today I noticed that not a single one of his posts can be found. Apparently, he thinks that all he has to do is think the blog post for it to exist. So until blogger overcomes this minor coding issue, I'm going to go back to the old-fashioned luddite way.

Unfortunately, this also means replacing the Buddy mind with quilting activities...which brings us to the mysterious safety pin inside the sheep quilt. When I turned it into the Oregon State Fair, I had a closed safety pin behind the red sheep's eye. When I got it back, the pin was in the cheek of the sheep, with the pin showing on the outside. ???? 

After a minor surgery (opened seam...remove pin...hand sewn surgical stitch, no visible scar), the sheep quilt (now named Sheepish) was ready for more quilting before its trip to the Clark County Quilters show.

Here is Sheepish on display.

I also finished layering and quilting En Provence (Bonnie Hunter's 2016 mystery challenge quilt) for a special exhibit of quilts made with Bonnie Hunter designs. I was a bit surprised that there were only four quilts entered for this category, although this may stem from confusing the blogging world with real life (which I try to avoid as much as possible).