Monday 24 September 2012

Decisions, Decisions!

Well my Hexie Blanket is coming along, slowly, but surely! I love the colours, it really is a labour of love! Trouble is I'm not getting much else done! I've got all sorts of things to paint and things to create....oh well, there's always tomorrow!



 

 

I've abandoned the fleecy backing, unless one suddenly appears, and have come up with these two options, what do you think ladies?

This orange is the same as the pink and orange fabric I was so excited about in my last post, but it's faded....

 

Or there is this one.......

 

I love this Dorma print, it is my favourite at the moment, but I have been known to change my mind!

The trouble is, I will have to quilt it, and that terrifies me! So more advise ladies please, what's the best way to quilt? What pattern shall I do?

Clarice, my lovely machine doesn't do fancy stitches or preprogrammed patterns, ( I think she gets a bit fed up with all this new age stuff!). I've put a lot of hard work into the patchwork and don't want to ruin it! So your suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

Also this week, after much deliberation, brought a new laptop, my old one could no longer import photos, it really was on its 'last legs'! So this now opens up a whole host of opportunities for me, well it would do if I knew what I was doing! Today I've learnt how to take photos off the camera, put them onto the laptop, then onto Picasa! For most of you this will be like breathing, to me this is a minor miracle!

I've changed my header, now I just need to work out how to put photos down the sides of my blog, to pretty it up! Also, when I comment on your blogs, I would like to put one of my photos next to my blog name, how do you do that?

I can hear some of you giggling!

Thanks for reading, thanks for your comments and thoughts, thanks for following my blog! I still find it all very surreal that anyone should be the slightest bit interested in my little world, but I'm so glad you are!

 

Hopefully I will be back later in the week, the weather here today has been awful, I hope, if you are in the UK, you are keeping dry and warm, there's some flooding out there, I hope it's not affecting any of you.

Take care,

Ada :) x

55 comments:

  1. I love your new header! And your hexi quilt is amazing - I wish I were that clever. I really like the cute cushion in the first photo too. Lots of lovely eye candy in you post today xo

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  2. Your quilt is beautiful a real labour of love, I like the dorma fabric best. I am currently hand quilting a simple square baby blanket. I chose to quilt in a zig zag line with different coloured embroidery thread. It's no way as complex as yours and I have no idea how to quilt a hexi blanket but I know a lady that would. If you pop over to self sewn.blogspot.co.uk it used to be (summerfete) you may find your answer.

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    1. Just popped over, thanks, truly inspiring blog! Ada :)

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  3. How odd,, i wonder what i was doing in your spam box....and no i have never come across this....very peculiar.......anyhoo.....
    the hexi blanket is looking fabbydoo......great colours.
    Pixie x

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  4. Very nice. It lookes like you made another sheet out of the hexs! The colors go together really well. ♥

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    1. Thanks for visiting me Cathy! Will visit you soon! Ada :)

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  5. The quilt is lovely, it reminds me of my 70's childhood & my Grandma at the sewing machine. Everything she made for me seemed to be colourful and flowery!

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  6. I do like your header, it's a lovely print. The blanket is coming along so well. I'm loving the dorma print personally.

    I'm trying to remember how to make a photo come up next to your name when you leave comments...i think when i added a photo to my blog profile it automatically did that. x

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  7. Hi Ada ... your quilt is beautiful ... I really like the Dorma fabric ... so pretty ... not sure about the quilting ... I'm new to this patchwork lark too ... maybe hand quilting would be better to protect your lovely stitching ... I would be terrified the machine might just gobble it up :) ... Bee xx

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  8. Now that is one simply stunning hexie patchwork!
    Claire

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  9. I like the Dorma fabric also. Now there is a hexie expert called Brigitte Giblin who makes a lot of quilts and she doesn't quilt them......gasp ...I know... She uses them like doona covers, so they are backed but not quilted. She swears that in the olden days they were not always quilted and because they are paper pieced they usually are heavy enough to do this. http://www.brigittegiblin.com.au/
    I adore, simply adore the quilt, on my to do list now.

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  10. Wow, your sure have been working hard on your patchwork, it's stunning! It looks like a really good size as well.

    To answer your question on how to change/add a photo next to your blog name when you comment. You can add a photo by editing your profile. To get there, if you click on 'view my complete profile' bit on the side of your blog..then it should take you to your full profile, the top right should have an 'edit profile' button..There should be a bit that has 'profile photo', where you can upload the photo of your choice. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions..I will try and help (though I don't know a whole lot I am afraid).
    Magie x

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  11. Endless rain that was more than rain here today Miss Ada.

    Not laughing at you wondering how to do it. Really all you need to do is ask and someone will always tell you how, we all had to learn sometime too. Don't be afraid to have a fiddle around with your settings and layout it's all good fun. Magie answered your question so I won't repeat all that stuff.

    Hexies are looking good. I always quilt by hand as I'm so afraid of screwing up my work on my machine which is most likely. I also love the contrast of bright silks. Whatever you end up doing it'll look good as there's so much lovely work going on in there.

    X

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    1. Great job on your hexie quilt! I love the Dorma print for the backing! Thanks for sharing!
      --Stephanie

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  12. Your blanket is gorgeous, but I'm not able to use a sewing machine, so.....
    About your pic along your comment : Magie gave you the right answer, so...
    I'm not so useful today: so...sorry!!!!
    xxx Alessandra

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  13. I vote for the dorma.

    But as I don't quilt, I am not sure how to finish it. But wait, I did just pick up a magazine on quilting. Why? Because I was interested in studying the colours combinations and patterens for translating to scrapbooking. Also, there was an article on a hexi table piece, and as you have piqued my interest in hexies, I had to read up on how they are made, and then put together.

    So for your question, I have run to the authority to see what they recomend in the magazine. I quote, "Quilt as desired to complete" Well a lot of help that was. The project in the magazine was machine-stiched 1/4" inside the edges of each hexagon.

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  14. Ada your hexie quilt is beautiful!! You work fast with those little guys! What a treasure it will be when your done! What about doing yarn ties throughout instead of quilting? You could do it in some of the corners of the hexies. Happy sewing! xo Heather

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  15. I'm totally in love with your quilt- it's no good asking my opinion as I'm about as dithery as you when it comes to making such important decisions!
    I knew nothing about setting up a blog when I first started but just have a mess around and I'm sure you will get the hang of it.
    If you go LAYOUT on your blog settings and have a look where it says ADD A GADGET then a whole list of options comes up just have a look where it says ADD A PICTURE then upload........at least I think thats how you do it!
    let me know how you get on
    X

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  16. Hi Ada, thats a pretty new header and colours. The quilt is looking amazing. I think I like the second sheet best, it would look lokvely if you had to turn down the quilt. I don't think I would put too much stitching on the top of the quilt, but I don't how else you would attach it. I see magie told you how to do the profile picture. You can also add a favicon picture which is the one that shows on peoples blog roll. The tiny one. You can do this in layout, top left corner. I'm a bit stumped as why my pictures don't show up on a blog roll, I think it's because I load from flickr, but don't know what to do about it! Good luck with it all Heather x

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  17. Hello again Ada.
    Looks like you have been as busy as a bumble bee,but alas we haven't had alot of them busying around this old week,far too much of the wet stuff here and all over the country, me thinks! LOVE your hexie cover as always, very well done!
    Glad you got a bit of help from lovely Magie, above as I have a confession to make (Olivia helps me an awful lot) with my changes on here! hehe...
    Thanks for the sweet reply Ada,you are in my thoughts as this is soo very close and raw still to me now!
    Happy 'Hexing' to you.....
    LoVe Maria x

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  18. Hello Ada, so glad you popped over.
    Have you joined my piece and love flickr group?
    Your hexie is very similar to my 'candy girl'.
    I backed mine with a candy striped sheet and went for squiggly quilting, I'm sure you will make a great job and a well used quilt as mine is xxx

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    1. Your blog is amazing! I upload my photos onto Picasa, not sure if it's comparable with Flickr! I will have a look! Ada :)

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  19. Oh wow! Your hexie quilt is just too fabulous :-)
    Don't be worried about just playing around on Blogger and discovering what does what and how to do stuff. It will never delete anything existing without asking you first if you "are sure you want to do that"! I'm trial-ing & error-ing as I go along too and fellow bloggers are a wonderful source of learning & inspiration. Just have fun!
    xx

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    1. I'm frightened I'll loose everything! Hopefully I'll get more confident! Ada :)

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  20. Ada I am your double when it comes to all the techi stuff! My word that quilt is amazing you are very clever, beautiful. By the way let me know when you find out how to put a picture on you avatar? favacon???
    Sharon xx

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  21. The hexie quilt is looking great! I think the Dorma print works best - it ties in better with the Dorma pieces on the front since it's the brighest fabric. Personally, I would prefer to hand quilt around each hexie to really showcase them. But this would be a daunting task if you haven't done a lot of hand quilting. You might lose the individual hexie shapes if you just do an all over random quilting pattern (especially since the busy patterns are all sort of blending together now too), & that would be a shame since you've put so much work in it so far. You could also hand quilt down the rows following the edge of the hexies, rather than go around each individual hexie (either stitch in the ditch, or just slightly to one side of the seam). This way you could maybe even skip a row if you felt it was too much work to do every row. I hope I'm making sense. Just don't rush the quilting, take your time and you'll love it all the more :D Wendy in Canada

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    1. Wendy, thanks so much for taking the time to advise me, I think hand quilting would be good, you're right about not rushing, I'm not in a race! Ada :)

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  22. Hi

    I'd go for the pink and orange. Wee picasa tip - don't forget to make all your photos less than 800px x 800px or you will run out of storage very quickly. I fiddled about to get a picture next to my comments. I think you have to change it on your google blogger profile. I know nothing about quilting so can't help on that score!

    Happy learning

    Ex

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  23. Congratulations on your new computer and I love your new header ...you have inspired me to change mine out......

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  24. Hi Ada,
    You have been busy with your quilt it is looking lovely. Enjoy having your new computer. I like your new header.
    Sarah x

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  25. I think you just have to add a photo to your profile and then it will come up. The hexie quilt looks lovely - I think either backing would be OK - as it is the back a bit of fading doesn't matter. I am in a quandary about quilting too and have blogged about it today - I have always hand quilted before, but I think it would take too long on a large quilt, but machine quilting is a bit scary!

    Pomona x

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  26. I'd go for the second choice too...Your quilt is coming on so well. You've inspired me! I bought my first vintage flowery sheet today, a double yellow one in perfect condition. I fancy making patchwork flowers so I need to find some other colours too need to find others to swap with.
    If you do work out how to get photos down the sides do share as I've no idea either... smiles Cass

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  27. Oh Ada you are as niave as me when it comes to blog setups! I like the second pinker pattern xx

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  28. I think the pink - it would set it off perfectly.

    Nina x

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  29. Hi thanks for visiting my blog - I think either would be fab for your hexie quilt. As for quilting I hand quilted mine. It didn't take that long I quilted just inside the original stiching line of each hex. The only thing I would change is I used ordinary thread but really wish I had just a quality quilting thread. I used my quilt on my stall at St Mary's on Saturday. Hopefully Mrs H is going to post some photos on her blog soon.

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    1. Yes I think I will hand quilt mine, just took it to my friend and she's made some fantastic hand quilted ones, the quilting thread sounds good! Ada :)

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  30. Thanks everyone for all your help and advise! I've decided to got with the pink Dorma fabric and to hand quilt it, I know it will take forever but it was going to be my winter project, and it can keep me warm whilst I sew it!
    I've put in my profile picture, easy once you know how!
    You lot are BRILL, thank you! Ada :) x

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  31. Oh I'm late - been so busy and this morning I am having a little lie-in and catching up on reading blogs...just wanted to add to everybody else's comments that your quilt is looking smashing! Good luck with the hand quilting, you brave thing you. ;)

    ps - love the Dorma fabric.

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  32. I don't know if you've done a lot of hand quilting, but here's a few helpful tips which my husband's grandmother showed me years ago. Definitely use quilting thread as it's stronger than regular and you need to tug on the thread. Use a quilting needle (very small and very sharp!). Hide the knot of the thread by tugging it right through the top layer and weaving it through the batting a bit. The hardest part to learn is to stack that tiny needle with about 4 - 6 stitches at once, weaving through top, middle & backing for each stitch before pulling the thread through. This seems impossible at first, but seriously, if you can get the tiny stitches stacked on the needle like that, you will save loads of time, AND the stitches are in straighter rows. And the harder you tug on the thread, the puffier the quilt is (my mentor fairly tugged the quilt right off the frame!!), but a lot of people now don't want their quilts so puffy. And of course, spit removes the blood from the quilt from your pricked finger should you not wear a thimble! I hope I'm not being too pushy in telling you all this, but I love to share! :) Wendy in Canada

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    1. Thanks Wendy, I shall definitely get some strong quiliing thread! Ada :)

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  33. Your patchwork is coming along beautifully! And it looks absolutely lovely. How can it not, with all those lovely vintage fabrics?

    Good luck with the quilting. I am afraid I have given up on hand quilting after my first two attempts, but I do admit you can not beat the end result.

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  34. Gorgeous hexie! A beautiful riot of pattern and colour. Good luck with the hand quilting. It's not something I've done before so I'm afraid I can't pass on any pearls of wisdom. I've only done square and triangle patchworks but would love to tackle a hexie some day.

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    1. Thanks for visiting me Jo and thanks for leaving me your comments! Ada :)

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  35. The patchwork looks so pretty. I like the pink for the backing.

    Jayne

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  36. I'm so glad you are going with the pink, it was my pick too. I have been blogging for nearly two years and still haven't put a profile pic in, at least now I can do it too! mel x

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  37. Hello Ada,
    If you want photos on the side of your blog you just need to go design at top of blog then to layout on the left list:then click on 'add gadget' choose the right hand side next to blog post -it will be above your 'followers box'.This will take you to a little list of things that you can add... go down to 'add a picture' upload a picture either from your blog or computer dont forget to save .? and you should have a picture at the side?? you can then move or drag it anywhere you want up or down. hope that makes sense, if not let me know, I will try to help. its easy to do harder to explain!
    I have a question for you....how did you pick up so many followers so quickly??? do tell all...
    Bestest etc etc
    Daisy

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    1. Thanks Daisy, I'll give it a go! Some blogs are wonderful, so many lovely pictures on them! As for your question, I have absolutely no idea! It's a mystery to me but one which I'm very grateful for! Ada :)

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  38. Hi Ada, so happy you're going to hand quilt your hexies, it really will look beautiful. Hand quilting is really relaxing once you get the hang of it all : -)

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Hello! Thank you so much for leaving your thoughts and messages with me. I read each and everyone and will try and answer any questions as quickly as I can! :)x