Friday, May 17, 2013

Loulouthi hexies for Bloggers Quilt Festival S'13

It's been a couple of cycles since I entered a quilt in Amy's Bloggers' Quilt Festival 
and I'm delighted to be getting out of the quilt closet once again.


WELCOME!  

I can hardly wait to browse through all the lovelies in the various categories and really hope that you enjoy the little quilt I have to share with you, which I'm entering in Amy's new "throw quilt" category.

Loulouthi Hexies

This is one of those projects that took a loooooooong time from start to finish, which makes it especially meaningful.


Lououthi hexies, English paper piecing
47" x 54"
hand pieced (English paper piecing)
free motion quilted on my domestic sewing machine

I began this project as part of the Summer 2011 "hexalong" organized by Lynne of Lily's Quilts.  I began by experimenting with a variety of hexagon shapes and a small set of Anna Maria Horner's then-new Loulouthi line of fabrics, which I was combining with solids from my stash. One of the delights and challenges of Loulouthi is that it is far, far, far from a "matchy-matchy" kind of line.  The line has its own internal scrappiness, with a very wide range of colours and print scale. 


my very first giant hexie for the HAL


My collection of hexies started to grow....

first set of hexies for the HAL



big hexies in progress for the HAL    ....and grow and grow...



until the walls hung with vines...

Oops...until it started to feel a little out of control.


HAL "constellation"

Sooooooo....

I reined it in, establishing Kona lagoon and aqua as the only two solids to be used throughout, and also establishing a configuration of 60 degree stars and tumbling blocks as the basic "building block" of my layout.



Once I had this basic unit figured out, it became much easier to move forward and to do some heaxagon experimentation within the basic pattern (as you can see in some of the pieced hexagons that run along the edges of the finished quilt!).



EPP is slow, no doubt about it, but I'd say that most of the time it took to make this quilt top was spent thinking...trying to figure out how to balance the wildness of Loulouthi (and the scrappiness I was really enjoying) with my need for harmony in the layout.


Finally, more than a year later, I had a throw size top I felt happy with!Loulouthi hexies, started summer 2011, now almost done




And now, with the help of my sweet daughter Chloe who was willing to hold the quilt for a few minutes before school today, I have photos of the finished quilt, 
which is backed with AMH's "Summer Totem" 
and free-motion quilted on my domestic machine in a very relaxed loopy pattern.


Loulouthi hexies, back
























Loulouthi hexies, loopy fmq




Thanks so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the quilt festival!


AmysCreativeSide.com

15 comments:

Lesly said...

It's fabulous! I love all those different hexies, and the two blues are perfect. Wow!

Claudia said...

So beautiful! Winning combo of hex shapes, AMH and aqua.

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Oh, I'm so pleased to see this quilt - it's well worth the wait! I absolutely love it! Such a good choice for the BQF - good luck!!

CitricSugar said...

Gorgeous! Beautiful hand-work on those giant hexes!

Karen said...

Very interesting to read the process you went through. The end result is definitely worth it. Your quilt looks great.

Unknown said...

Fun fabric fun pattern! Thanks for taking us along the process!

Mary said...

Great Hexie quilt, they are so IN right now. I like to EPP too. It's a great take along project.

Carla said...

What an interesting and lovely quilt.....and the back fabric is fantastic as well!

Nic said...

It's a lovely quilt. Congrats on finishing it. Have you thought of trying another hand sewn quilt without the EPP?

Emily said...

Simply adorable! I love LouLouthi and your quilt is great!

Annabella said...

Swoon!!!! It's fabulous Jennifer - I remember very well you laying the blocks out and starting to get the wobbles..so glad you finished it as I absolutely LOVE it!!!

Katy Cameron said...

Wow, that's a lot of hand piecing, it looks great!

quirky granola girl said...

i'm unreasonably happy that you have photos of this finished quilt now. it is one of my favorites and i just couldn't stand to not be able to click "favorite" :) yes, i'm a dork, but i'm a dork for your gorgeous quilt so you'll have to forgive me.

Prof. S (the enchanted bobbin) said...

Oh my goodness, you are all so sweet and generous -- thank you!! xxx

Martine Kuciel said...

j'aime beaucoup cette composition ,le choix du motif que j'ai travaillé et les triangles que j'aime beaucoup ,un ensemble très joli