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Our vacation is over, we are back and ready to process your orders!
I have started a new blog on "Blogger.com". This site offers more features that our current blog.
Today will be the last post on this blog. The new blog is located at
Click on the link above to be taken to the new Blog. Also, please bookmark the new blog for next time.
Well, here we are just a few days away from Memorial Day, 2013! How quickly the year has gone! We are just barely starting to warm up here in the mountains of New Mexico.
My apple trees are just barely starting to leaf out. Still no significant amount of rain. We have not had more than a mere sprinkle here and there. I wonder if the temperatures will be as high as usual.
I am still working on the string quilt and have made an additional 100 blocks. This type of block is so simple and so quick that I am able to make 10 blocks a day. Of course, they are small blocks . . . only 4 5/8 inches square, but they make a darling quilt! I am so anxious to see the whole quilt put together.
I set up my new quilting frame and it is waiting for the string quilt. I still haven't decided if I am going to hand quilt it or just tie it with silk ribbon. I am kind of leaning towards tying it with silk ribbon because it will add a beautiful dimension to the quilt -- all those cute little bows. I also dread hand quilting through all those seams. Each block has at least 5 strips of fabric, so that means 5 seams!
I guess, I will wait until its on the quilt frame to decide! LOL!!
The size descriptions have been changed in the Fabric Hexagon section.
These new descriptions will keep the fabric Hexagons in line with the freezer paper hexagon descriptions.
I needed to do something to keep my mind off the death of one of my favorite aunts. So I pulled out the string quilt that I had been working on the past month.
I almost had the top finished, but when I placed it on the bed it did not reach the foot of the bed and did not drape over the sides. I just needed it to drape over the sides about 6 inches.
I will be adding a solid border around the whole top and then add one row of little blocks all around the quilt.
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is called "Basket Weave Strings" by Bonnie Hunter. If you go to her blog at quiltville.com and click on the blog and then click on the free patterns tab, you can see a picture of what I am making.
I have just discovered Bonnie Hunter. I love her quilt cam broadcasts from her basement. If you go to youtube and do a search for her by name you can watch some of her broadcasts.
Part of the reason I love her quilts is that she is a great advocate of using scraps for her quilts. I just love using scraps. Thats the way quilts were made by our pioneer mothers and I have lots of scraps from cutting shapes for my customers. This is the perfect place for me. She has plenty of free patterns for using scraps!!
As Soon as I finish the top, I will post a picture. So I figured that I needed to add two more rows to the foot of the quilt.
That is what I was working on this morning at 4 a.m. because I couldn't sleep thinking about my aunt.
We are going to the services on Monday night and then the funeral on tuesday.
So here I am again. . . not able to sleep. But what a better way to spend sleepless hours than writing about favorite memories of a favorite aunt and of course about quilting!
Well! I hope everyone had a great Passover/Easter Holiday!
We had a nice one at my youngest daughter's house with the newest grandbaby.
We also celebrated my husband's birthday. He turned 71 on April 1st.
I have corrected some errors on the Hexagon page. They should read correctly now.
If at anytime, you see something that doesn't look quite right, Please let me know and we will correct or change it.
I have had several requests for the hexagon 1 inch box pattern. One lady sent me pictures of the boxes she made. I will be posting them here and sending her a thank you gift.
I am currently building a pattern for a diamond shape box that someone has requested. As soon as that is done, I will post it here.
Meanwhile I am still working on my hexagon "insanity" quilt copy. I say copy because I am working it in one inch hexies and not half inch hexies like the original creator did. Will let you know how that goes.
I am also working on a string quilt that is almost complete. I will post a picture as soon as I put the borders on. I just have to add one more row and then the borders.
See ya next month!
Keep on quilting!
We have just posted two new sizes for the Freezer Paper Hexagon shapes. Click on the "What's New?" link on the left to see them.These are great to use in English Paper Piecing.
Just iron the hexies onto the fabric you wish to use and cut them 1/4 inch away from the freezer paper. You now are ready to start sewing.
If you place them in a honeycomb lineup, you will waste no fabric. The freezer paper can be used several times with no pinning. But, they come with little holes prepunched so that you can continue using them after the iron on self stick is worn out.
The prepunched holes also help you remove them after you are finished sewing. Just use a small number crochet hook, small knitting needle or blunt edge of sewing needle and they pop right out!
If you have never used this method, email me and I will send instructions via email so that you can see how much easier it is with this method.
New size freezer Paper Hexagons and new shape coming next month!
I hope you enjoy using the freezer paper method as much as I have.
Happy New Year to all (a little late)! Hope all of you will have a great year and quilt all year long!
I had previously made a box for my one inch hexies because I was unable to find or wish to spend money on several boxes to hold them while I was making individual hexies.
Now I have adjusted the pattern and have made a mock up of a box for half inch hexies. Here is a picture of the mock up next to the one inch box.
Notice that the one inch box measures approximately 5 inches while the half inch box measures only two inches.
Here is the inside of the box. You can see how snugly the hexies fit inside. There is no chance for them to shift sideways to get wrinkled.
You can request this pattern by contacting me through the "contact us" button on the left.
Of course you can always use the plastic craft boxes available at the local craft store. But this is so much cheaper! All you need is the pattern and a cereal box to glue it to and cut and glue and you have a box!
Hope you enjoy this little pattern and the bigger one too!
First I was sewing each individual flower together but then I decided to make a lot of hexagons first and then sew them together later. The only problem was I didn't know how to store them or have a place for them.
Finally I found a solution! I got a cutting template, which is adjustable. I sized it to fit the one inch hexagons.
It makes a very useable hexagon box and I am making several as needed.
At first I made it out of regular printer paper, but that was too flimsy. Then I remembered that I was saving cereal boxes to recycle. So I printed the pattern, glued it to the cereal box, cut it out and glued it together it works perfectly!
Since I got the pattern for free I can not sell it to you, but if you send me an email to my www.avelisquilts.com website email address I will email you a copy of the pattern.
When you receive the pattern, all you have to do is print it out, glue it to the cardboard, cut it out and glue it together. You will have a great place to save the hexagons while you make the rest.
Do not use cardstock, it also is too flimsy. You can use some nice paper to print out the pattern, but white printer paper is just as good.
Here is a picture of the completed box -
Sorry about the large pic. Couldnt get it all in in a smaller one.
So far I have put 81 One inch hexagons in this one box. This is a great way to hold the hexies! It keeps them neat, you can label the box and they dont get wrinkled or tangled together.
I will start sizing the pattern down for a half inch hexie box. I will let you know when that one is ready.
I can not size it up because the cereal boxes are not large enough to use and I want to repurpose the ones I use. If you see a way to size the pattern up for larger size hexies and use cereal type boxes for them, let me know.
Hope to hear from you soon! I hope this helps all in their organizing hexies efforts.
We have just added a new size to our Freezer Paper Shapes in Hexagons - - 1/2 inch!
We have also added a new size of pkg - - 100 pieces!
English paper piecing is so much easier with freezer paper - - just iron it on and start sewing!
We have now had 3 meetings of the newly named "Mora Valley Quilters" group. Our Next meeting is on Saturday, June 23, 2012, 1 P.M. at the Tapetes de Lana Conference Room in Mora.
If you are interested in quilting, dont know how, please come and learn!
If you are experienced, please come and join the fun! We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting.
I apologize!
I promised lots of pictures on this Hexagon adventure and I omitted them in my last post.
So, give me a couple of days and I will recreate the steps from the last post in pictures.
Thanks for your patience!
One of the first things I had to decide which template do I use for cutting the hexagons.
I know that I sell pre-cut or die cut hexagon fabrics either alone https://avelisquilts-ivil.tripod.com/id9.html or in kits https://avelisquilts-ivil.tripod.com/pieced_quilt_kits.html (scroll down for hexagons). I also sell precut Hexagons in freezer paper either precut or printed on freezer sheets https://avelisquilts-ivil.tripod.com/id165.html.
The problem was that I was like Goldilocks. . . the 2" was too small and the 4" was too big. I needed something "just right".
What I wanted was about 1/4 inch bigger all around the 2" size so that when I sewed them, they would end up being 2". So, either of the sizes I sell were not "just right"
Also, remember I couldn't use the freezer paper method, as a template for cutting, because I was going to be in the car and an iron was unavailable. So I went ahead and manually drew the 2" size by tracing around one of my freezer paper die cut pieces on a regular piece of paper. I then used the freezer paper piece to draw a copy on a piece of milk jug plastic with a permanent marker. I heartily recommend using this plastic for templates. It saves throwing the plastic into the landfill, its economical and it endures. Yes, you still have some plastic left over that can't be used. But, it's a lot less than what you started with. Just make sure you have a heavy pair of scissors when cutting it because of the thickness.
Another thing I like about milk jug plastic is that the inside of the milk jug is rough textured, not smooth like the outside. The rough side when placed against the fabric helps to grip the fabric.
I now had a 2" drawing on regular paper and a 2" drawing on a large pieces of milk jug plastic.
Next, I used my ruler and drew an additional 1/4" line all the way around the paper 2" drawing. I now had the size that I desired. I cut this out on the last line that I drew, not the inside line.
I used this piece of paper as a template to draw another hexagon on the milk jug plastic. I now had two hexagons drawn on the milk jug plastic. one was 2" and one was 2 1/2 inches. I cut both of them out, punched a hole in the middle of both. I was ready to start drawing on fabric!!!
Wait! No I wasn't! What was I going to use to mark on the fabric?? With all the choices of marking tools now days. . ..
Well that's another day's blog entry!
Stay tuned for further adventures in sewing Hexagons!
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