Hexatopia: July 2014

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Karen Nyberg, Ultimate Hero (also: my own personal Space Race)

First of all, in case you're totally out of the loop, and don't know about Karen Nyberg yet, let me fill you in rull quick:
She's an astronaut! AND... a quilter!!
So basically I file her under "Ultimate Hero" in my book.
(I love space exploration so much it hurts!)

During her time onboard the International Space Station, she hand-pieced a star block, and now she's invited all of us (that means YOU) to send in our own star-themed blocks to be combined with hers into one big global community space quilt!

I'm SO excited!

The completed quilt will be displayed at the 40th Annual International Quilt Festival 2014.

The MUST WATCH video:

Okay!

Here's the official announcement with all the important details!

You will notice that the deadline for entry is on August 1st, so I'm really posting about this VERY late. But it is not too late! Drop everything and get sewing!!

Even I will be cutting it very close. Despite the fact that I've had this project on my calendar for 6 months, as with everything, I will be scrambling to get it done at the last minute.

To be fair, I've done a lot of brainstorming and drafting in all that time! And perhaps having had all this time to brainstorm and draft is what has gotten me into trouble, because I have dreamed up a quite complicated 9 inches. I might be in over my head, and the clock is ticking!
It is my own personal Space Race, and so far, I've enjoyed every minute!!!

Here's a look at what I'm dealing with:

Ms Nyberg is certainly right about zip lock bags! So far, my nine-inch block involves twelve of them, and I'm not even in space!

Tiny stars... :)

Get sewing!
Thanks for reading!
-Reyna

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Completed Blocks: Montpelier Ducks + Starthistle Fish

Well, I finally finished these two blocks!

The Duck print featured in the first block, I purchased at a totally great little shop called A Quilters Garden a few years ago when I was visiting Montpelier Vermont. That was really an awesome day - there was also ice cream. Fabric AND Ice Cream.

Visiting A Quilter's Garden in Montpelier VT

This block with the Montpelier Ducks has been all basted and waiting to be pieced together for over a month now because I couldn't decide on the fabric for that center triangle. Finally I went ahead and pulled the trigger with this pink flower.... someone please convince me I did the right thing, because I'm not sure! Eep! Perhaps when it's in with the others, the pink will feel more at home. Plus the other ducks will then have company and will therefore also feel more at home. :)

I designed this block specifically for the Duck print with the same Reverse Window Shopping technique I used for the Strawberries in my first post.

This next one with the Fish is a block design I've been calling by the nickname Starthistle, but if you know a traditional nickname for it, please tell me in the comments!

For some reason, I am convinced that these fish are distant cousins of the Montpelier Ducks.

Thanks for reading!

All the best,
Reyna

Friday, July 4, 2014

Teaching 'Hexatopia' at the CQ

Thursday, June 19th was the 2nd and final session of my 'Hexatopia' class at The City Quilter! (I'm teaching folks the method I've been using to improvise blocks for English Paper Piecing - like all of the blocks featured so far on this blog.)

It really was an inspiring adventure for me. I'd never taught anything before in my life, and I was super nervous. Most of the students in the class were advanced quilters, and on the first day it was hard not to notice that between the 9 of them, they probably had probably more than 200 years of years of quilting experience - and I only have 10! Fortunately, they were also totally cool folks - fun, enthusiastic, and supportive!

I will certainly never again try to cover all of this material in just 2 (3 hr) sessions. On the first day I powered through what is probably enough material for 2 or even 3 sessions. As I walked away that evening, I was a little worried that I had overloaded everyone, and rushed through all of the tips and tricks that help make this system manageable. Coming back for the 2nd session (two weeks later), I budgeted a good chunk of time for troubleshooting. But then, as students started arriving, I found that there was actually very little trouble to shoot. Everyone showed up with very cool work (or the beginnings of it), and we had plenty of time to cover everything I had hoped. Never again will I try to squeeze all that material into just a few hours, but I will also never again underestimate all these brilliant quilters!

Big thanks to my students Maureen O'Niel, Maureen Hyslop, Judy Stadler, Sue Dipple, Barbara Peterson, Mimi Sherman, Cassandra Knight, Rene Colwell, Margaret Umansky! <3 <3 <3

Here's some pictures!

Awesome bunch of quilters!

Cassandra Knight with block in progress

Cassandra Knight's block in progress. So cute! 2-axis symmetry w/verticalness! <3

I wish I had a picture of the block Susie was working on - giraffes with sun-like rays! Mimi had some lovely blocks in the works as well - classical geometry with delicate florals.

FOUR completed blocks by Margaret Umansky! I love the geometry of the yellow one, and check out the fussycutting on the green one! Rotational symmetry FTW!