Saturday night hockey

Saturday night hockey
Saturday night hockey

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Friday Night with Friends for February

I had a productive evening – yay! 
I prepped the hexies for the flowers I have to make for my February partner in the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap
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And I finished putting second rounds on two flowers for my own garden.  There is a story about these flowers.  Penny was my partner in December and she sent me two sets of second round hexies.  But there was a problem.  When I tried to sew the hexies on to their chosen flowers they were just too small.  I was in touch with Penny and she explained that she had downloaded the hexie templates and had hit "fit to page" instead of "actual size" and never realized the templates weren't the right size.  Of course, she felt very badly about her mistake. 
But never fear Penny!!  I was determined to use the lovely hexies she had sent.  One set is a directional print in orange, pink, green and white.  The other is hot pink with neon yellow dots.  I love bright colours.  So I took the hexies apart to rebaste them on to new papers.  The directional print ones worked fine and here is the exciting flower they created.
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When I went to resew the hot pink hexies I realized there was another problem.  Penny had used a narrow hem on the hexies and there were a few that just wouldn't fit on the slightly bigger hexie papers.  But I was determined to use the fabric because I love it!!  So I decided to play with the techniques I had seen on Karen's blog.  edited to add... ( I had put the wrong name here in the link.  What a clutz!!)
And this is what I came up with.
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Isn't she a beauty?!!  She is definitely going to be a diva in my garden.
I  don't usually baste through the hexie papers but I had to with these ones due to the extra bulk in the seams.
This isn't the first time that I have had to resew items from my swap partners because they are the wrong size.  I have had to take apart and put back together a few hexie flowers because they were too small.  And I have one waiting to be redone because it is too large.  Fabric has a lot of give and if there are very small discrepancies in size the hexies can be stretched or scrunched together to make them fit.  But sometimes they just have to be redone. 

That’s the way it goes in swaps.  It took me a long time to learn that.  The very first block swap I joined, my very first swap partner didn’t send me anything.  And I made her a beautiful block, using fabric that I loved.  Ah…  I’m glad I didn’t give up right then and there because I have had a lot of pleasure from making things for my partners which often stretch my creativity because they use fabrics and techniques which I haven’t tried or wouldn’t choose.  And of course receiving packages in the mail with pretty pieces in them is always fun.
And then there are the prizes.  I received two prizes recently which I haven’t shown yet.  One of the three swaps I am involved with this year is through Quilting Swap Blocks Australia which is organized by Sue Belleli.  This girl has a lot of energy.  She runs at least four different swaps (there may be more),  seems to take on multiple partners in each of the swaps for herself each month and she is a real estate agent on the side. Smile with tongue out  I participate in a paper piecing swap with the group.  I hate paper piecing but I want to get better at it so I thought I would join this group.  At Christmas Sue had a few giveaways for her swap members and I was one of the winners!  Seven pretty fat quarters and a charm pack arrived from Australia.  Thanks Sue! 
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And then in December I was the prize winner in Friday Night Sew In which is hosted by Wendy of Sugar Lane Quilts.  Another package from Australia.  Smile  She sent me a really cute and very “friendly” panel. Thanks Wendy!
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I hope your week in sewing has been as much fun as mine!
Janet



8 comments:

  1. Janet your altered hexie blocks are so bright and cheery, and that panel, and the fat quarters, I'm so glad you won these. Looking at your header, snow is still there in the far north, that is one totally absolutely fantastic photo... Did I exaggerate a little? Not at all.

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  2. well done on your wins and a great save with your swap hexies. they look fantastic!

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  3. Love what you did with the too small hexies. Congratulations on your wins!

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  4. Love what you did with the hexies! So neat that you took the time to be able to use them. Lovely winnings :-)

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  5. Great save with the hexies and love the fat quarters you received too.

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  6. Wow. I'll say it again, wow, what a block! That's neat that you took the time to redo the hexies. Reading about Sue made me tired ;-) She sounds like she's one high energy lady! Congrats on your wins-getting fabric in the mail just makes your day, doesn't it? That's so odd that your first swap partner didn't send you anything, but I'm glad that you kept going with swaps. I have a neat postcard from you in my studio :-)

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  7. Congrats on the win - so exciting! Glad you enjoyed my tutorial on foundation pieced English paper piecing. It is so easy and you can really make some fabulous designs! Thanks for linking to my blog page with all the EPP tutorials!
    Karen

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  8. I was mortified to make such a stupid mistake with my hexies for you. Yes, it's me over here in the corner! Thank you for re-basting them and I'm absolutely blown away with how you reused the pink spotty one - it's a fabulous flower. I was so taken aback by your kind comments when you let me know about my mistake and I'm very grateful for both your considerate manner and for not letting me carry on, oblivious, with such a silly mistake. Many congratulations on your win also - well deserved! I also had a win - a Sizzix machine! So, no more hexie problems from now on. Strange World!!

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