I connected with two quilting friends this week—one via social media and another in person.
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| Block 37: Monette. Center fabric from M&S Textiles Australia. Coordinates from Forest Fancies by Lisa Kirkbride for P&B Textiles and Meridian [P&B Textiles]. |
Tari, my quilting friend in Florida, commented on all the fun fabrics in my EPP [English paper pieced] Glorious Hexagon blocks I've been working on since the lockdown. Using scraps and discontinued fabric samples for the blocks, I'm reacquainting myself with fabric collections and taking solace in the hand piecing process.
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| Variation of Block 3: Sarah. Fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics, Lewis & Irene. |
Some blocks are from The New Hexagon book. Others are cobbled together from various pieces and unused paper templates.
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| Block 49: Irene Fabrics from P&B Textiles. |
I don't have a big picture plan, layout, or color scheme for this EPP project. I'm just creating one small composition at a time: choosing fabrics from the scrap basket and coordinating colors and prints as I go.
There is feeling of success and accomplishment with each completed hexagon.
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| Improv Star in batiks |
I ran into the other quilting friend, Jamie, in a quilt shop. She follows my blog and we're friends on social media. She told me that my blog posts have inspired her to start sewing garments.
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| Block 5: Caroline Fabrics from Lewis & Irene, P&B Textiles. |
Jamie was wearing a lovely denim-blue dress she had made using a border print fabric. She did a great job and the dress looked so cute on her. Her pattern hack was the addition of pockets in the side seams.
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| Block 41: Betty Fabrics from Lewis & Irene, Art Gallery Fabrics, P&B Textiles. |
I commended her for making an outfit to suit her creativity, needs and lifestyle. It's a few of the many perks to sewing one's own wardrobe!
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| Small compositions. |
We chatted briefly about our current fabric passions—mine was rayon and hers was linen. As we parted, we encouraged each other to keep sewing and looked forward to each other's next makes.
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| A gallery of small compositions. |
Enjoy the successes of small compositions
The world today is overshadowed with severe health threats, political chaos, physical and emotional trauma... it's stressful, draining and so tiresome. It's a relief that our crafts and hobbies can deviate and distract from the news of the day—providing stability and calmness, if only for a short time. With each project or composition, we get to learn or see something new. We can make choices to modify a pattern—add pockets, change the sleeve length, omit a collar, rearrange the pieces in the patchwork.
I am enjoying the creation and success of my small hexie compositions. It's refreshing to have choices, make decisions, express a personal vision, and have control over the process and outcome.
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| Hexagons. |
