Our first workshop with Bonnie was the Little Bit Hexie quilt block. The hexie bug had already bitten me so I've brought my La Passion hexagon quilt with me on the trip for hand sewing time. Up until now I've used glue to fold down my hexies. I will stock pile about twenty or so, then sew them on to the "mother ship". Bonnie doesn't use glue and the method she taught is better than glue and doesn't leave you with sticky fingers. You baste one in the corners and then with the same continuous thread attach that one. She told the story of a lady who had basted 900 hexies and was systematically adding them on to her quilt when one day the whole stockpile was lost she had to start over. Besides the price of glue this was a great reason for using Bonnie's method. I will try that on my 1/2" hexies. This may mean I can't use my accuquilt die for cutting the hexies though as there isn't much seam allowance on those precut shapes. Bonnie's method uses squares with ample seam allowance and also leaves the basting thread in which keeps the wrong side flat. The glue method means when you lift the back sides of the hexie to remove the paper they no longer stay flat and will require pressing. If you saw the size of my hexies you'd understand that pressing wouldn't be fun.
Anyway, here is a photo of my little hexie flower, all finished including the appliqué to the block background.
The second day was the Spanish Rose quilt which was a class in back basted appliqué. Bonnie supplied all the fabric, needles and even the thread. Our homework from the first class was to find a window and trace the appliqué pattern on the wrong side of the square.
Here are Jan and I preparing for class:
This is a few hours into class. Bonnie is very patient and gives excellent instruction. She is giving our new friend Nancy some one on one help with her project.
I finally got my rhythm and did okay on my leaves but the flower bumps were not easy. I'm quite sleep deprived so the brain isn't firing on all cylinders. With a lot of practice I expect my technique would improve but I'm not sure this is worth the time investment for me. The jury is still out on that verdict. Piecing is more my thing. I've also dabbled in various forms of machine appliqué, so I'm still deciding. It was great to learn this back basting technique though and have it in my toolkit. As for hand work, I know I love hexies. I'm not sure I love appliqué. Here's my effort so far:
Tomorrow we will wake up in Kotor, Montenegro and explore dry land. We'll see if I can upload the blog posts. I chose not to get wifi on the ship as it is slow at best and very expensive.
Off I go for now! There's a cool lemonade with my name on it!
Until next time!
Mavis
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