I’m just doing a mini happy dance as I’ve just finished the final block for this quilt. The quilt is designed by Natalie Bird and it was published in the Australian Homespun magasine in bi-monthly instalments. The quilt officially has 48 blocks as its arranged in a rectangle, 8 x 6, I wanted a square quilt so I’ve made 49 blocks, I’ll make a 7×7 quilt with some narrowish sashing.

Three weeks ago I’d got the hexies half stitched on the garden themed embroidery and still had a circle to stitch in the middle. I’d just started my extra block which is a sewing themed one which will act as a label too.

I cracked on and finished stitching all those hexies down. I chose a fabric with a soft image of a rose for the centre. I do like this block, it’s very pretty…

I could then concentrate on finishing the sewing block. This is a pattern I found on Etsy by a company called MiNiceStitch. They have a huge range of patterns and one feature I particularly like with them is that they provide each pattern in several different sizes, for different size hoops, so I could just print a 5″ hoop one without having to faff about printing to 130% for example. The deer block I did a few months back was also from them…

Well I stitched most evenings to get it finished, added some wording in the centre, just the name of the quilt and my initials with the date. When I went to stitch the hexies on it wouldn’t quite fit. Luckily after a few minutes head scratching I realised I was one hexie short- I’d made four hexie rings last month for the last four blocks and obviously miscounted for what turned out to be the very last block. Of course I’d used my spare hexies for one of the pages in my garden book so I had to get my glue pen out again and a template to make another one!

Finally it was finished…

I now have to make a decision on the sashing. The blocks are only 8″ finished, so I’m only thinking of a 1″ or 1.5″ sashing. I’m wondering about the William Morris fabrics I’ve used in some of the blocks, maybe with a darker cornerstone. I need to sit down and have a play. I’ve got a very busy couple of weeks coming up so I might not have made a decision by next time, but here’s what I’m playing with at the moment…

I think I’ll trim the blocks to size, cut a couple of strips of the potential sashing fabrics and see what everything looks like.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday, so please follow the links to see what everyone has been stitching.