Hexies on the run

Any of you that follow me on Facebook or IG will have seen that I have been very busy in the last couple of weeks stitching up a whole pile of hexagons ready for a swap. This round of the Modern She Made Swap has hexagons as the theme and whilst I did try something different with my hexagon fabric box, I eventually settled on a  simple piece of EPP for my make for my partner.

 A table runner was one of her suggestions so fingers crossed this will suit somewhere in her home. It is certainly bright and bold so lets hope it will fit the bill.The whole runner is modelled by the Beloved by the way .

The fuschia coloured linen was a  real find in John Lewis ( sorry if this means  nothing to non UK readers). They seem to be getting a lot better these days so if you haven't been to your local store for a bit, do pop along and have a nosey around. You may get some very pleasant surprises. 

The back is  a mish mash of the fabrics used in the front and actually I think is quite fun and makes it pretty reversible.

so its off to the post office tomorrow for me and bye bye to the hexies. I really like this piece and will be sad to see it leave. 

Thinking outside the fabric box

A few months back I signed up for another round of the Modern She Made swap, in hindsight a bit of a mistake as I already knew I was a bit too busy to sew, but I thought it would kick me back into gear. Well as you saw it didn't and now I am a bit behind and need to play catch up so that I don't miss my posting deadline. The theme of this round is "Hexagons". This can be interpreted in any shape or form as long as what you make for your partner somehow contains a hexagon! The obvious way to go is with a bit of EPP and any one that has read my blogs before has seen that I have had some fun with those in the past, but there is no need to be that obvious . It could be hexagons in the fabric, embroidery, anything.

So late last night, in a bout of insomnia, I had a brain wave. My partner had suggested she might  like some fabric boxes and I therefore wondered if I could make a set of hexagon shaped baskets for her?  

I set about experimenting today and it turned out to not be too tricky but it does need a bit of honing.  Given time constraints I don't think will now be the way for me to go for the swap, but its definitely one to come back to as a work in progress. I will write up the pattern, once I have made a couple of changes, and then get Emily to road test it and if it all goes well will report back.
in the meantime today's efforts will come in handy as a little caddie in a bathroom . Now, new plan for the swap please.....?

Eek.... its an EPP

Well we are back. You might have noticed the absence of posts over the past couple of weeks and this is because the beloved JB and I have been dashing about a bit . This started off with a visit to Number One Son, which was wonderful, on the eve of his graduation. There had been a school of thought that my dear lad was aiming for the Longest Student Career ever, but that was just an ugly rumour put about by the pubs of Cambridge and we were all pleased to announce his move to "Grownup-hood" at the grand old age of 27. Well done Tom, we all love you to bits and are very proud of you.

 

Next we headed off to the Emerald Isle, a first for JB and we had a blast. Belfast is a must for us to revisit as we found it a bright and vibrant city and our one night stop off was far too short. The essential pint in the Crown Bar ( the only pub owned by the National Trust) was fun and we even manged to grab one of the highly sought after booths. I did make the fatal error of being too polite though and instead of us enjoying some privacy in the pub behind the beautiful oak panelled door of our cubby hole, I invited in what I thought was a French couple, to share the whole "British" experience but they turned into a whole gaggle, pouring into the tiny space, somewhat spoiling the atmosphere. Ho hum. This episode was however brightened when JB tried to impart to them that he worked for French company, only to discover that none of them spoke a word of English. The sight of 8 middle age men and women trying to mime to one another how they earned their living was pretty entertaining and not your average occurrence in a Belfast pub on a Friday night I am pretty sure. And you will never guess - whilst supping my pint of Smithwick's I spotted that the floor tiling was a brilliant example of quilt blocks so couldn't resist a quick snap.

Anyway, Ulster fry consumed, we headed off to the North Coast and then on all around the Donegal coast for a great four day trip.  A hiccough by the booking agency meant we didn't get to stay where we had planned so my itinerary to head off to find the Fluffy Sheep Company  and the Fennel Shed ( owned by a work colleagues family co-incidentally ) was somewhat curtailed, so when I head back to see more of Belfast again I will have another shot at introducing myself down there too. We loved the whole area and had a great break but a highlight has to be the Giant's Causeway. I have wanted to see this phenomenon ever since I was a child and I wasn't disappointed. We struck it lucky with a bright, nippy but stunning day which meant we were both well in our element snapping away with the cameras. Nature is pretty darn clever and I think we forget that all to often.

 

On returning home I was very conscious of being behind with my piece for the Mouthy Stitches Swap and whilst I had chosen the fabrics I thought I was going to use, I still hadn't quite got a plan together for a design.

However, reviewing my photos I found myself fascinated by the hexagons forged by the elements and this has inspired me to put together an EPP design using tiny little hexies, each about one inch in diameter.

 

I hope my partner will like this. Whilst they are small and I have a long way to go, I am home alone again come the weekend so I am pretty confident at making the deadline of the 25th. Fingers crossed, but should you see a small woman hiding in the corner of the 7.31 to Edinburgh, please give me some elbow room and try not to waft too much as these hexies seem to have a life of their own once laid on a flat surface.

 

See you again soon (and hopefully after completion of swap). Oh, and a planned trip to see Brain and Carole at Beechwood is on the horizon as I still have "Autumn Shadows" to quilt, which I haven't shared with you yet so do pop back  .