Finished!
They are just pinned on – but I had to post it – I am so excited that it’s almost done! I’ve spent hours this weekend cutting freezer paper patterns, ironing them on to the fabric – cutting 1/4 inch around the pattern pieces – then gluing the seam allowances down – whew!
I changed the collar on the mother angel three times. First it was lavender and it looked too pale – then it was a purple and pink stripe – nope - the third try I like – a purple batik. The little girl’s hair was brown but there wasn’t enough contrast against the mother’s dress – so I changed it to a red floral batik. I added a headband and a big bow to the center angel with the uplifted arms – I think it softens her ET shaped face.
This week I am going to finish the appliqueing – then on to the embroidered details and a finally a border.
I have been messing around with the pattern for the last angel all afternoon. Like the angel with the trumpet on the left – the size was all wrong. First I printed out the pattern at 70% as I have done for all of the angels (except the trumpet.) I cut it out and put it together on the design wall – too small – way too small. So I printed and cut another at 100% – way too big. About now I am feeling like Goldilocks and hoping that the third try will be just right – it was – at 85%.
I have got to start thinking of a border. On Mary Lou’s original pattern she had a narrow turquoise batik border next to the purple – then a wide black border. I may do a narrow inner border (next to the purple frame) with of all of the fabrics I used on the angels – little blocks or strips.
I am open to ideas at this point so please chime in if you have any suggestions! I need to keep it simple – there is so much going on I don’t want to overwhelm the angels with a busy border.
Haven’t posted recently – just an update on the angels. I finished sewing on the angel with the trumpet and in a few more stitches I will have sewn on the letter N – then on to GELS. After that just one more angel to go! Yipee – I really want to move on to another project.
The angel with the trumpet and the word ANGELS is prepped for sewing and pinned in place – but I couldn’t wait to show you how it’s coming along!
I have been printing out Mary Lou’s pattern at 70% (a 30% reduction.) Logically all of the angels should be proportional – all 30 % smaller than the original pattern.
Well… the big angel on the left with the trumpet turned out WAY too small. I printed the pattern out at 100%, 90%, 80% and combined bits and pieces to try and get it right. I finally gave up, drew the frame (the same size as the space on the quilt) on a large piece of paper and set about designing the angel from scratch.
The only thing that is original is the trumpet (I made it longer,) the bow in her hair, and the wings (I modified the wings a tad to keep them more or less inside the frame.)
I have found several things on the pattern that didn’t match the pattern illustration on the website – but it didn’t matter to me because I know how to draw – and I didn’t mind changing the pattern. But if you aren’t comfortable with your drawing skills you may have a bit of a problem.
I’ve selected the fabrics and have started cutting out the freezer paper pattern. The end is in sight and I am very pleased – so far – with the results.
Not a great picture I know – but the pencil sketch was very light and I tried to make the lines darker in Photoshop – at least you can get an idea of what the new pattern will look like.
…enough for 12 “flowers.”
On October 4th last year I posted a picture of the batiks I had chosen for the 48 “flowers” (336 hexagons.) Since then I have ordered other batiks I like better – so yesterday I spent hours going through all of them and now I have a whole new set of fabrics I am going to use – until I buy more and change my mind again!
My project this weekend is to prep the 84 hexes – paper on the inside technique. See my Hexagon Quilt Tutorial here.
Yesterday I made up the last of my 12 hexagon “flowers” with the freezer paper on the inside.
I have 21 hexes – enough for 3 “flowers” with the freezer paper on the outside method. I mentioned in a recent post that I thought these might not work too well with my new tape and stitch method. They don’t!
I am in the process of sewing together one of the 3 paper on the outside flowers and it is tortuous going. My stitches are showing on the right side and it is a real pain forcing the needle through the two layers of fabric that are glued together – I even bent one of my precious John James #10 sharps!
I am soaking the glue off the other 14 hexes – so I can iron on the freezer paper patterns. I could just throw them out – but I don’t want to waste the fabric.
Just finished the 8th “flower” – forty more to go!
My hexes are 3″ from point to point – the flower is about 8″ from flat side to flat side – pretty big.
I took this picture after pinning them to the design wall – I wanted to see how they will look together. Obviously I will wait until all are done to join them – hopefully they will have a bit more contrast than the ones I have done so far.
When I chose the fabric for the 48 flowers I paid no attention to the contrast between each hex flower – I just chose the middle hex and the surrounding six that went well together. I think it will probably come out all right in the end – there are no two alike!
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