Monday, June 7, 2010

Perle Cotton and Hexagons

Thank you for all of the kind comments on my first mini quilt! I had such fun with that hand quilting. I foresee many more Perle cotton quilted quilts in my future.

Speaking of Perle cotton, I made a score on Ebay. This is 36 balls of size 8 DMC Perle Cotton...

that I got for $30 with shipping! Woo hoo! That's like 80-something cents each! They are mostly older, but are unused and I read online that they age well. They had been stored in plastic bins. Between these and the inexpensive perle cottons I ordered from Threadart, (thank you for the tip, Sarah!), I'll hopefully have all the colors in my Paintbox quilt covered. That's the plan at least.

We spent last evening at my mother's house for some fun and food with her and my brothers and their families. As I was sewing hexagons together, my adorable niece enjoyed going through them picking out her favorite fabrics.

I think she's got pretty good taste!

I've decided that storing the hexagons by color was causing me to over think my random layout. (Plus, they outgrew the storage box.) I dumped them all out and mixed them up. Now, I'm trying just to reach in and grab the next one and go with whatever I pull out. The only editing I'm doing is attempting to avoid attaching two of very similar color or print adjacent to one another. I'm probably still over thinking it, but at least I'm not spending a full minute or more on deciding which fabric to attach next. The best scenario for me is to ask an uninterested party to select the next hexagon and avoid the paralysis of analysis altogether.

I'm sorry I've fallen a bit behind on the weekly hexagon posts. I have a couple of piecing videos I'd like to record and hopefully I'll get those done this week. If you need a quick hexagon fix, check out everyone's progress in the flickr group. I love seeing all the beautiful quilts evolve! Keep the photos coming!

I 'll likely be scarce this week; I have a mountain of new freelance work I need to get done between swim team practices and entertaining my out-for-the-summer daughter.  Enjoy your week!  

10 comments:

Megan said...

I have that same Liberty box from Target housing my Liberty hexagons!Looks like you're making great progress.

Bellgirl said...

ooooh what a gorgeous hoard of Perle thread! It looks like a box of candy, or "lollies", as we call them in Australia ;)

Terriaw said...

That IS a great deal - 80 cents each! I love your new approach to your hexagon assembly. Sometimes I spend too much time overthinking these things. It can be a freeing feeling to just reach for one and go with it!

Cheryl Arkison said...

That is definitely a good approach for random piecing. I do that all the time. Yay for swim team! (Says a former competitive swimmer.)

Islay said...

I've just ordered a bunch of size 8 perle cotton to try too! I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out, I always love the look of other people's quilts done with perle.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

What a great savings on that Perle cotton! Nice when you can grab a bargain!

Love the hexagons too...I'd be over thinking it too..I's find it hard not to!

Tapestry Tree said...

Oh, I'm SO jealous of your perle cotton stash! It's gorgeous! and a great price too, man!

AnnieO said...

Beautiful grouping of colors of Perle cotton--they are so pretty just on their own :)

The great hexagon mixup is a joy of color too. Your niece looks very happy to play with all the colors in that box.

Coffeebean's Dailies said...

Hey there! I used to put all my hexies in a large baggie and have whomever I happened to be with to stick their hand in and choose the next one. The kids in particular enjoyed that one!

I have been hunting Muscat (in 100*F + weather!!!) for a new box and my latest post discusses just what I have done with my hexies!

I suppose once in the States, I will be using the ziplock for spacial reasons!

Also, great find on the perle cotton. You have given me an idea! I'm going to use up the left over perle cotton floss from my Hardanger projects to quilt something! Don't know yet but will find something!

katrien said...

Lovely all those hexagonnes.