Hexies

Well, not really.  "Spools" is more accurate, although I'm not doing this as a spool quilt, but as a Dots and Boxes quilt.

Each box is approx 4".  I'll probably make it wider with more boxes and then with a border.  Or not.  I have a long way to go before making a border decision.  It's slow work, but very pleasant.

On the quick side, I'm doing a floating square quilt, based on instructions by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt fame.  I saw this YouTube, and had to do it.  When I first began collecting fabric a couple of years ago, I found this lovely charm pack of blues, yellows and white from Moda.  Can't remember the name.   I also bought a bit of yardage from the same line, and found some nice fabrics that live with it in my stash.  The white is Kona cotton white, my favorite.  This is so quick and easy.  I love her videos; they're perfect for me.  I'm afraid that I'm not very good with teensy little pieces that all have to fit together.  I admire those quilts, but I'm just not that precise, and not likely to improve.  But this little quilt is pleasant and mindless and within my capabilities. 

Shirts Strings Sing

 

String quilts are such fun, especially when they are made out of men's shirts and bought at bag sales at thrift shops.  XXL shirts yield a ton of fabric, and even smaller sizes have lots to cut.  I look for 100% cotton, although I'm happy to take a cotton/poly combination provided that cotton is the main fiber.  So far I have 4 10" squares done, and lots and lots of fabric to go. 

The Hubz needs a guy quilt, and what could be more guy than men's shirtings?  And do I care if he gets ketchup on the quilt?  Nah.  This is just leftovers.  

The trick is to spend very little money on the shirts, no more than $2/shirt, and even better, if the thrift shop is having a sale of stuff a bag for $5, boy can you ever squash in those shirts! It also helps to have a theme.  So, I look for blue and white and occasionally a bit of green.  Easy peasy to find, since most men's shirts seem to be blue and white.  Stripes, plaids, checks, it doesn't matter.

And on a much slower note, here are the Dots and Boxes joined together.  These are English paper pieced, all hand done, and they take forever.  Nice to do in front of the TV, or chatting with the Hubz.  Im not particularly interested in speed, so EPP suits me just fine.  And now that I'm fixated on string quilts, well there is where I can zoom along.

Such fun!  

And yesterday I found my long-lost Dresden template, and you know what's in my head now.  Little Dresden circles.  I have tons of charm packs, too.  No pics because this is all in my head.

As for my poor knitting, alas, I seem to knit only at night and am working on a very large shawl.  One of these days I'll show you.