Thursday, March 8, 2012

'Sunday Paper' released

Sunday Paper 62" x 72" 
Every once in a while you see something and get inspired, so much so that you drop everything and follow what comes naturally. . This quilt has been just that 'something' for me. I haven't been able to work on anything else since I started cutting into my scraps for this quilt.

The Block
  It is made of 27 of whole blocks,

Block for the left side with narrow end of one blade missing.
 Six of these 3/4 blocks for the left side of the quilt.

And three half blocks made of one diamond and one 60 degree triangle for the top and bottom of the quilt.

The right edge of the quilt was finished with six half vertical diamonds with wide end of the blade missing.

Add 1/4 " seam allowance from the center of the diamond before vertically cutting them for left side blocks and right edge half diamonds.

There were six deep breathing, going at a slow speed stop and go seams.
 Here is how the quilt was put together. This was my first time working with a hexagon quilt. A quilt that requires working with inset seams. Although I have worked with inset seams before, I was kind of nervous starting this quilt. But I must admit, once I got going and started understanding the way it works, it became easier and quicker.

And then there were four

and two...

I was reading back my comments earlier, I was going to eyeball the seam allowance? Really? I must be in a 'La-La' land when I said that. Those of you who are traditional quilters out there must have had a really good laugh too! Well, I must admit, 'eyeballing' seam allowance is not for this quilt. I learned that real fast.

The marking pencil, 60 degree ruler, pins all became my best friends. I marked stitch-lines on the back of each diamond. It also gave me the markings for all the starting and ending points on the diamonds which became very handy since the longest seam was only six inches long.

Check out the markings!
Back stitch feature became extra handy since I used it for every single seam. You pretty much have to back stitch at starting and ending of each seam.  I even used it while foundation piecing the scraps. It was my friend Barb's suggestion. That made ripping of the paper a breeze!
Thanks, Barb for all your wonderful tips.

I know there are couple of quilters down under at Material Obsession working on this quilt. They too got as excited as I did when they first saw Barbara Brackman's post. I can't wait to see their versions.
If you are working on this quilt or want to start one and have any questions, just send me an email. I will be happy to answer any and all of them.

In was an overall very exciting project to work on. It made me wonder a few times if I will ever make another hexagon quilt..The answer is YES! This quilt and foundation piecing has opened up a lot of possibilities for designing. As much as I hated 'wasting' fabric while foundation piecing, there are many ways I can make this technique work in future for all those odd shape scraps in my scrap bins.

Now that the hard part is done, I am wondering how to quilt this quilt.  Any ideas?

Oh and one more question.. To border or not? I would love to hear your opinion on that.
  

25 comments:

  1. It's fabulous. thanks for sharing your hexagon journey with the rest of us. I don't think it needs a border, unless you need it to be bigger.

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  2. LOVE IT! I, too, was tempted. Thanks for giving the tutorial - I may be back!

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  3. That is a gorgeous quilt! Thank you for posting the series about its creation. I would love to make one like it but my experience with Y seams is not a good one! :)
    If I ever try it, I'd SID around the hexagons with a hexagon spiral to the center with an inner border in red & an irregular piano key outer border perhaps.

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  4. I agree with Brenda--I'd go borderless, unless you need more size (or unless you have a fantastic idea that just needs doing for it). REally ending up lovely!

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  5. What a wow quilt, it's amazing to look at. I can't imagine how much thread it took to sew together. Not all quilts need borders, I guess you'll listen to what it's telling you.

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  6. Hooray Sujata! You found your mojo. Only a plain border would work with all those fabrics and you my dear, are not a plain girl. So, nmo border. Choosing a hand quilting pattern through all those seams is going to be a challenge.

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  7. It turned out great Sujata! I think I like it without borders....but I guess I would have to see what you pick out! That came together real fast!

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  8. What a fabulous piece of work!

    Perhaps you could audition some wide, rather plain, border strips -- just to see how you like the 'framing' effect....

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  9. I love it! Thanks for sharing how you made it!

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  10. I LoVe this quilt!!!!! Well done in those y seams. I wouldve tried to eyeball it too so thank you for telling how it's done properly! I don't think it needs a border, I like the way it looks as though it's a piece of an infinite pattern.

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  11. It is just amazing, turned out beautiful. I cant' wait to see if you put borders on it or not....not every quilt needs borders. I would audition a few and see if you find the right fabric maybe it would be good to put a border on .
    Kathie

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  12. Absolutely love this quilt! I am itchin' to make one, too, and I thank you for sharing your work.

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  13. I love how your quilt turned out! It was fun watching as you worked out the various steps. :)

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  14. Wow, you really motored through this, Sujata! Thanks for all of the construction tips. It's going to be a wonderful quilt!

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  15. It's just simply MARVELOUS!! Yes , Yes!!

    I vote NO border, just bind 'er and git 'er done!!

    I have made several blocks, experimenting, getting the feel of how it goes together. So far I have made several using different colors for the background/paddle/kite shapes and I got frustrated, not liking any of them. I used a red mottled, brown and so on.......so, I'm still playing with mine.

    This quilt gives me such inspiration Sujata! Thanks for figuring it out for us!!!

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  16. Can't believe you are finished this already!!! Don't you sleep? Needless to say it is beautiful...

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  17. Fantastico!!! Quilting not going to show, so go for the easy. Amazing how these projects take hold of our mind and spirit, and don't let go. One needs forced breaks to maintain sanity.

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  18. Bravo! Bravo! Can you hear the crowd cheering? Absolutely beautiful. I'm so glad you kept going with it. I agree with Sally about the quilting. It's such a cozy, homey quilt. Everyone in your family will want to cuddle up with this one for years and years.

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  19. Oh Sujata....I'm doing the happy dance!!! I have finally come up with a background fabric I love!! It was slow going at first getting all my little scraps and myself into the routine of these great little diamonds.

    I have messed my laptop up where I download my photos, soon as I get that back to working I do some photos!

    Ok, supper is done..check....dishes done...check...hubby and dog all settled down...check.......I'm off to make some more!!!

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  20. it's fabulous! fun and sooo much work. my friend is working on something that goes together the same way and aaghhhh

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  21. I still haven't started my own one of these but it's coming. The backstitching is very important with these kinds of corners and also marking the meeting points like you did. I had all those issues with one of my diamond quilts. The good thing was that my hand stitching masked any of the messy bits really well. I know machine is quicker and the stitching will be hard to see but I would probably hand stitch to highlight the windmill bits. I probably wouldn't put a border on. I really like it all the way to the edge. Whatever you choose, this quilt is magic.

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  22. Sujata! I am in awe of this quilt.
    I love when inspiration takes hold and never lets go and that's what happened here!
    I am so grateful that you shared the process of this quilt - thank you!
    I love everything about it - the name is wonderful!!
    I bow down to you spiderweb queen!
    xo

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  23. I love how it all came out! Thank you so much for sharing how you put it together. Good information! I'm with some of the others in thinking no border is necessary.

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  24. Incredible! Well done! Your colour choices are amazing.

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  25. I hope you don't mind. I have devised my own version of this quilt on my blog but I have referenced yours.

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