In addition to Project Life I also do a lot of different crafts including quilting, crocheting and knitting – all ‘very’ practical hobbies to have when you live in tropical northern Australia where it is lucky to ever get below 15 degrees celsius!
I did a short course at my local quilt shop about 6 years ago and then I was off and running. I have had a long fascination with handmade hexagon quilts, I enjoy making them a lot more than machine stitched quilts. To be honest I think it is all about the little bits, my crochet projects tend to be the same – lots of small pieces that then get joined together.
The first quilt that I ever made that was large enough to go on my bed was a non-traditional hexagon quilt that I made in about 6 weeks – this is a fairly short amount of time to complete such a large projects – I was procrastinating by not doing the study that I was supposed to be doing for my final year nursing exams. It all ended well – new quilt and a nursing degree!
This blue quilt had about 1500 hexagons (if I remember correctly) that were stitched together so quickly that I ended up with a repetitive strain injury in my thumb that took ages to get better.
My current obsession is this gorgeous quilt. It is called “Insanity” and was designed by Rhonda Pearce. I was lucky enough to find the pattern in a magazine – after a bit of searching I got a back issue off eBay.
The photo below I found on Flickr. The very generous photographer – Anne Brumley – has approved me to use it in this blog post. I think it shows the amazing texture of the quilt that is not seen on the magazine cover.
The most amazing statistic about this quilt is that it is made from 10339 half inch hexagons. I am hoping to make each of the flower and diamond shapes in a different colour. The ‘white’ background for my quilt will be made from about 20 different whites – white, snow, cream, ecru, creme, arctic, vanilla, ivory etc – who knew there were so many?
My progress so far is:
Diamonds: 61 /158 sets
Flowers: 44/64 sets
Whites: 542/5389
Solid Border: 0/1068
Mixed Border: 896 /2234
I am going to document my progress and hopefully it won’t take forever to finish. In my next post I will put up some more photos of what I have stitched so far and how I am organising them.
Wish me luck!! 🙂
triggsey said:
Hi Sharon!
I think I found your blog through Project Life, which I LOVE and am doing for my second year (can’t believe I am “caught up” in 2012, major accomplishment) and if I can get more organized, I’m going to start posting too. Like you I also have other hobbies, I sew and knit (more sewing than knitting) I can’t wait to see how it goes with the hexagon quilt. The first one you did was beautiful and quite an achievement!! Good Luck!!
Christine said:
Thank you for the comment on my blog
best advice for “Insanity” borders is to choose a color you LOVE!!
with so many other colors in the body of the quilt, it will give your eye a place to rest
good luck, and let me know of you run out of fabric!! : ) (I *may* have bought a little bit too much!!)
sharon71 said:
Thanks for replying Christine. I ended up going with a beautiful raspberry kind of colour – I do love it. I will do another quilt post soon.
JoJo said:
Sharon, if you ever decide to see your magazine, would you please allow me to buy it? I have looked everywhere and cannot locate that one. Thank you. Your quilt will be beautiful. I hope to someday make one myself.
sharon71 said:
Hi Jojo, I have sent you an email today. Enjoy 🙂
KC said:
I have been looking for the magazine with this pattern for over a year with no luck ;-( The hexie count you posted above is helpful, but would you mind also sharing the yardage and number of colors they used/recommended as well? Thanks, KC
sara said:
Hola
Mi madre lleva muchísimo tiempo en busca de esa revista, me podrías decir donde la compraste? o como conseguirla?
muchísimas gracias
sharon71 said:
I will email you a copy of what I have. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Sharon Jones said:
Hello Sharon
Happy Christmas and Happy Hexing.
I was wondering do you know the issue number of Patchwork and Quilting that this marvelous quilt was published in. I have most issues since the late 90s but due to various moves they are packed in boxes, so if you could supply details I would be very grateful.
Hugs
Sharon, Cloncurry NW Qld
sharon71 said:
Hi! So sorry I never got back to you about this one. I haven’t used the blog for ages.
There is a very active facebook group for this quilt now and you should be able to find all of the info there.
Cheers, Sharon