Hand Quilting Hexagon Stars and Diamond Circles Commenced

Hello Dear Friends and Readers and warm welcome to today’s post. I hope you are all doing well and continuing to enjoy some stitching when possible.

Holiday is Over

Well, I am back from my huge adventure and around the world trip and I’m happy to be home. It’s wonderful to travel but my goodness it does take a lot of planning and effort and packing and then there’s the unpacking after you get home. Nevertheless, I learnt a lot and it was truly wonderful. We travelled around Iceland and to Greenland, Newfoundland then Canada – Montréal and Toronto. And, sailing down the Saint Lawrence Seaway was a huge adventure in itself and something quite unforgettable Singer Castle on Dark Island We had a mad drive from New York to Connecticut and back after staying with friends. Then we travelled to Hawaii to break the trip on our way home.

It is good to be home and now looking forward to more quilting related happiness. Today, I am sharing with you my new hand quilting project which is the beginning of hand quilting of my Hexagon Stars and Diamond Circles which I have featured in various posts. Please feel welcome to join in and make this quilt, if you would like to. I should mention that this has really been my portable hand piecing project. I’m still doing machine piecing and quilting too….

Hexagon Stars Diamond Circles Quilt – Part 5 Making the Columns

I think it does have a nice antique look which is what I was aiming for. I am using the same quilting thread which I have used before which is the Gutterman Quilting Thread colour 919, just slightly beige coloured thread which I think gives a little bit of dimension and sits well with the antique look to my eye. More details are in this link. All In Hand – Lessons In Hand Quilting

In previous posts, I mentioned how I was inspired to make this quilt when my friend Ellie Milbank shared some of her beautiful scraps with me which were clearly antique reproductions. Therefore I wanted to give them the right setting. I used those scraps to make the stars and then chose fabrics from my stash to make the secondary stars and diamonds.

Using the Fabric Stash

My philosophy is to try to use up the the fabrics which I have already in my stash.Cut Up Your Quilting Off-cuts It occurred to me that probably most of us have fabric which will exceeded our lifetime and I’m hoping to use up most of mine and make it into things of use. I will continue to try to bring you scrap quilts, which hopefully you find inspiring to make from fabrics which you already have in your possession. Having said that I did buy backing fabric for this quilt 😀 only because I didn’t feel like I had anything big enough which would also compliment the fabrics on the front so I chose a wide back which is a dark navy with a small floral print and I think it compliments the front of the quilt without clashing.

Here are a few images of the hand quilting I have started with this Hexagon Stars and Diamond Circles Quilt. Nothing fancy. I am just outlining the shapes of the pieces which is going to give a nice pattern on the back.

I am enjoying hand quilting more than I anticipated. I find it’s a very nice thing to do, especially on a cool evening because it’s very relaxing. I can be with my husband and still be creative. Not only that, it keeps me nice and warm at the same time. Using this relaxation time means It actually is quite an efficient way of eventually in getting a quilt finished. Personally I do love the look of a hand quilted quilt. There’s something texturally endearing about the look of it and the finish that it gives.

I think there are many ways to approach hand quilting and it’s really just whatever each person feels comfortable doing. I have settled for pin basting and then using a hoop. I find that I can adjust the backing if necessary as I am going along to keep it nice and flat as well as at the front. I know some people like to heavily thread baste and then even freehand quilt. Some quilters like to use a big frame. I’ve seen old images of women quilting a quilt ans a group and having it stretched out on a big frame but I doubt this happens much today. Anyway, I like the hoop method because it’s also very portable. I have taken a quilt in progress on holidays and used it for warmth as well. I have a lovely bag that was made for me by Marion which is perfect for packing my hand quilting project.

i’m not sure if this inspires you to give it a go. Sending a quilt away to be machine quilted is very efficient and if you are someone who just likes piecing then that’s probably perfect, but if you don’t mind the whole process and you don’t mind doing some hand stitching it’s surprising how much you can actually get done over time. The hand quilting of this hexagon stars and diamond circles is just in its infancy but I will be back with progress on how it develops as time goes by.

I still have many projects in progress and I will be back soon with more inspiration.

Best wishes to you all and happy stitching. if you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy these other hand quilting related posts.

Great Granny Stars Hand Quilting Finish

Bias Binding for Hexagon Quilt

Hand Quilting Scrappy Thousand Pyramids

Susie.

© Susan Stuklis 2024