Going Live!

I started doing my "Live" shows/sew-alongs a couple weeks ago and after learning a little bit about the technical side of it, I must say, I am having fun with it. I am still experimenting with different camera angles but we will figure it out as we go. The first week, we made a Geese Around the Crazy Heart in Fall Colors. I know Fall is a long way off but those colors are my favorites and other than my Autumn Splendor table toppers, I don't have anything else that says "Fall."

And just to put an exclamation point on this project, it is completely done. I mean COMPLETE and I love it. I had intentions of doing some embellishments or fancy stitching on it but I really do like it just as it is. This was all done from my stash.

I had made this patriotic version before I started the show and I started to embellish it. This one will be a wall hanging to celebrate our country's 250th birthday in a couple of months. I have a bunch of red, white and blue star buttons that I will be sewing on and then add some glitz with some shiny baubles. I am pleased with how I fussy cut the one little piece of fabric I had that said "America" there in the middle.

So, that was Week #1's project. Week #2 was kind of crazy; it was all about Hexies. I read a post on Facebook yesterday and the person said they had just started learning how to make Hexies and asked if she was the only one who is addicted to them. She said she doesn't want to cook or do household chores – she just wants to make Hexies. If I didn't have so many other things to do, I think I would join her and just make Hexies. On the shows last week, I shared a couple of finished projects and then made a few small things and then I shared some projects that I started quite some time ago that were not complete.

I started this project years ago and thought I had run out of the fabrics so I set it aside because it wasn't going to make a very big quilt. But, several years later, while moving some things in the studio, I found another jelly roll plus part of a third one. I now have all of the fabrics sorted and ready to finish this. Its going to be a pretty large quilt but the fabrics are gorgeous and I am so glad that I just set the blocks aside and then found more of the same fabric. These are 1" Hexies.

The blue Hexies are 2.5". I had made up a small sample of one "flower" when we first came out with these but I had no idea what size one package of blocks would make. I made half of this during our 3rd show and the next day, I made the other half. I have sewn the two halves together, added borders and right now, it is on the long arm and I am about half done quilting it. I will share the finished project next week during one of my Lives. It turned out to be a nice size lap quilt so now I am thinking about doubling or even tripling it for a bed-size quilt. It sure went together fast. By the way, there are 80 Hexies and I used 80 different fabrics from my stash.

Which brings me to this week's shows. I decided to share how I manage my stash (its insane) and then we are sewing some traditional blocks using fabrics from the stash/scrap system. Yesterday we made string blocks for a wedding quilt I am making. Tomorrow I am going to share quite a few different quilts I have made from my stash using my organizing process. If your stash/scraps are getting out of hand, you might want to check these shows out. I love it when I can get bonus quilts out of my leftovers.

I have other projects from these shows that I will be sharing with you but if any of these topics are interesting to you, they are all available on YouTube anytime. I have tried to title them to make it easier to find what you are looking for. If you have any quilts or topics you want more information on, you can always send me a message (deb@ezpiecing.com) and we'll see if we can't address the issue on one of our shows. I will let you know when.

Check out Laura's shows on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 to noon EDT and my shows run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from noon to 2 pm PDT. They are on our YouTube channel and free to watch. Also, we would love to have you join our new Facebook Chat group where everyone can exchange ideas and show their projects. Its a great way to encourage and learn from others and its a really fun group. Check it out.

We have had rain the last few days so I haven't been able to work in the yard.

But my irises are blooming!

HAPPY QUILTING!