Almost packed

I really wanted a project to work on while we are away.  I started with dresden plates, but decided these would be easier to machine applique.  Given that I've sort of committed to making a quilt for my mother and mother-in-law, I decided to make two lap quilts.

The one I'll be taking away is a grandmother's garden quilt.

I first decided on paper piecing, so bought 400 one inch hexagons.  Then I decided that was too time consuming.

I then thought about buying inklingo hexis, but before committing to the fairly steep price, tried drafting them instead.  That all went well, although it took quite a while.   I also bought some freezer paper from the american food store in Melbourne.  There was a minimum order of $20 before postage, so I ended up ordering three rolls, which cost $40 all up.

They finally arrived and I used the freezer paper to iron on to the right side of the fabric so I ould run it through my inkjet printer.

Disaster - one of four fabric sheets printed.  The other three just jammed in the printer and ruined the fabric. 

So, back to the drawing board.  I cut out two different sized hexagons using the thin plastic cover of an old notebook, to create templates - one large one which incorporated the seam allowance and a 1.25 inch hexagon without a seam allowance.

The ruined fabric is in the middle, while on the left is my hexi draft and the red hexi is the template I cut out from the draft.  On the right is the process I'm using - trace around the hexi with a pencil.  I'll then cut these out with an approximate 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I've used all the fabric I bought for the dresden plates and more.  As this will be a lap quilt, I've decided on doing 5 x 5 double flowers.  I don't want any fabric repeats, apart from every flower having the same yellow centre, so needed to find 50 different fabrics.  I've raided all my scraps and fabric I've used in other quilts to find 50 different fabrics.

Here are most of the fabrics I've chosen

All cut up - these are the sets I'll use for the 25 different flowers - for each pair, I'll use the darker fabric on the right for the  six inner petals, with the paler colours for the 12 other petals.  The paths will be white and the centre of the flowers will be yellow

My first (and test) hexagon - not quite done and I stupidly used the paler fabric for the inner petals.  Two left to sew on.

 I wanted to make sure I could handle all of this sewing - it's taken me about three hours to sew this much together.  Should keep me busy while I'm away.

Sorry Catherine - I've started to quilt your quilt but it will have to wait until I get back.  I should finish it by March:)