WIP | HEXIES & A #VINTAGEALONG

I feel like I haven’t been in my sewing room in too long a time. I’ve got a long list of things I should be sewing and a small list of things I want to be sewing. I’m so swamped with my to-do list at the moment and it’s kind of sucking my sewjo right out of me.

In amongst all of the running around, the spontaneous visits home and trying to get my health back on track I have managed to start a couple of things that are bringing me a little bit of sewing joy.

While I’ve been plugging away on my HexyMF quilt I’ve also decided to start something else using 1 inch hexagons (bit of a change from the 1½ inch hexagons I’ve been using for the HexyMF). I’ve really enjoyed making the smaller hexagons (great for fussy cutting) and working out how to assemble them altogether.

I’m hoping to keep plugging away at making and joining them and then I can use them in my special project. (Kind of not saying what the project is for the surprise factor, and kind of not saying what it is in case I screw it up and then I don’t have to talk about it… ever!)

As well as working on the hexies I’ve been invited by the lovely and wonderful Cassandra Madge and Sharon (of Simple Things) to play in their Simply Retro Challenge.

The ladies are working their way through Simply Retro, by Camille Roskelley. [pullquote width=”300″ float=”left”]Each month someone chooses a quilt pattern from the block and then they make it – choosing fabrics, sizes and colour combinations that reflect who they are.[/pullquote]

It’s a great challenge and I was so thrilled to be asked to join in. May is my month (kind of fitting as it’s my birthday month) and I picked the Vintage quilt pattern. (Seems I wasn’t the only one that thought it would be a good time to make this quilt as there’s now a #vintagealong on Instagram. Love a good virtual quilt-a-long!)

This was the first quilt in the book that made me stop and really look at it. I think I was drawn to it because it reminds me so much of the Great Granny Square quilt that has been doing the rounds over the past 12 months. (It’s been on my to-do list for awhile as well!)

I had a fat quarter bundle of Kate Spain’s Day Dream sitting in my stash just calling to me with it’s wonderful spring/summer colour combination, I just had to use it for this project.

The quilt pattern shown in the book is a 3 x 4 block layout but I’m going to do it as a 4 x 4 layout. (I like square quilts and I also love that it should give us enough room to snuggle under it on our bed.)

I’ve started cutting (and already made my first mistake and had to change out one of the fat quarters – I should know by now not to cut fabric when I’m tired!) and getting it all ready to chain stitch together.

I let HUBBY pick from a couple of different background options and he chose Kona Cotton Sky.  I wanted a background colour that wasn’t white (although I do love a white background) so that I could use the prints in the collection that had white through them (I find if you use white background and then a print with a lot of white in it the edges of your piecing tend to bleed and you lose some of the crispness).

I’m not sure I’m totally sold on the blue, but as it’s going in our bedroom and our bedhead is a dark blue (another HUBBY choice) I’m sure it will all work fine together.

I’m really looking forward to getting this quilt made. It’s been too long since I had a quilt top finished that I’m really starting to think I dreamed up the past 12 months of sewing.

Be sure to head on over and check out Cassandra and Sharon’s quilt progress; both amazing and both different!

This post was shared as part of WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.