My current hexagon project (CQJP2016) the uses the Fons & Porter 4″ finished acrylic template. Here’s the first block I created start to finish. I love progression pictures and am hoping you do too!

I always begin the block with one layer of white machine embroidery cut-away stabilizer. My preference is the medium 2.5 weight. Sometimes the manufacturers/packagers do not list the weight on the packaging, makes me CRAZY!!! If they want me to buy it they should tell me exactly what I’m buying!

The next layer is 100% bleached muslin. I consider these 2 layers to now be my base upon which I begin to build and/or layer the pieces that will become my block. I usually mark a 1/4″ line around the perimeter of the block using a Frixion Pen by Pilot. It s a good guide for placement and seam allowances.

The early stages require lots of trial and error placements. In the picture below I’ve committed to the placement of the various vintage pieces and have begun to embellish with beads, ribbon flowers, leaf ribbon trim and a few laces.

Here are a few close-ups so you can see the details. I use mostly sizes 11 and 15 beads.

I placed lavender silk ribbon behind the pieces of Battenburg lace:

And finished!

That’s a wrap for Hexagon #1, hope you enjoyed the journey!

Happy Stitching,

Rhonda

I decided that If I was going to hand bead/embellish this project that I would need some sort of hooping or framing method. I had a needlework frame but the long rods weren’t long enough. Problem solved by a quick trip to ABC Stitchery in Spring, TX. The frame ends up about 28″ in length, a little cumbersome but manageable.

I’m beading with Nymo thread, both soft white and ivory. Even on these bright colors you really have to look for the thread to know its there.

The beading is much more difficult than I expected in that even with a slender bead needle it’s still sometimes difficult to stitch through all the thread work. I like the look so I’ll persevere.

Finally, look what my awesome daughter the Graphic Designer created for me! Business Cards!  She’s the best! A big shout out to Moo.com! They printed and shipped with alarming speed!

Happy stitching and thanks for following,

Rhonda

I’m working on a 24″x24″ wall hanging, the original purchased pattern by Carol Morrissey titled “July” measures 42″sq. but after a quick trip to FedEx to reduce things I headed home and began cutting out flower heads. The fabrics on the left in the plastic packaging are the ones contained in the kit, the fabrics on the right are ones I chose from my stash to compliment the kit. Just ignore the blue ones, they’re from a totally different project. I bought the kit (pattern, background and flower fabrics) from The Quilted Skein in historic downtown La Grange, TX. Such a lovely quilt/yarn shop! Stop in if you’re ever in the area!

After I decided on my fabrics my first step was to do a test sunflower. I shaded a bit with colored pencils, liked the look and charged full steam ahead.

I used an iron on product called Heat ‘n Bond Lite, double batted with Hobbs 80/20 white and backed with 100% cotton from my stash. Here’s a collage of the arrangement:

Once all the flowers and leaves were ironed in place I loaded the project on my longarm (Innova) and began the quilting. I changed threads throughout the entire process, always matching color top and bobbin. I chose the threads from my machine embroidery thread collection as I wanted the sheen of the rayon and poly plus I had a much wider choice of colors. This thread work was an excellent way to give the flowers dimension, continuing where the colored pencil shading left off.

You’ll see I quilted only the flowers and leaves, nothing on the background fabric. When the embellishing is complete I’ll decide whether or not the piece needs to be loaded back on the longarm for additional quilting. After all the quilting/thread work was finished I began to add beading embellishments.

More pictures to follow soon…

Happy Stitching!

Rhonda