Spring Quilt Festival

I am hoping to squeeze my quilt into Amy's Quilt Festival, as I write this post there are already 340 entries - wow! Why don't you pop over and have a look while you enjoy a cuppa?

So, I looked at the criteria for entering and decided to show off my hexie quilt again, some of you have seen it before, if you are visiting for the first time, welcome and thanks for popping in.

I started this quilt last year after Lynne and Gail started their hex-a-long. They, in turn, had been inspired by

a beautiful take on a traditional quilt and I was intrigued. I started quilting in 1998 but have fervently avoided piecing over papers. I am not fond of Grandmother's Flower Garden and could never have believed that I would spend hours and hours cutting, basting and stitching........so that was a huge learning curve.

In blogging, I was getting to know others and I learned that it was possible to make real friends this way, who'd have thought? Several of us would share our hexies and compare notes along the way.

As someone who hated maths in school, I was obsessed with all the intricate shapes possible from the humble hexagon. I began to see hexies everywhere........

I never really imagined it would become a quilt, didn't think I'd make it that far, but the obsession was too strong.

My fabric choice started with the soft greys and teals and then I pulled from my stash and added in pinks & purples - I was into 1001 Peeps at the time so some of that crept in and before I knew it I had a quilt.

I set myself goals - finish all the hexies by Christmas, join the rows by end of January, etc, etc.

Then came the quilting. I had never hand pieced a quilt before so was dubious about the lasting qualities of my stitching. I machine quilted every seam with a fancy schmanzy stitch. I did the borders with a straight line half hexie shape. One day, I might, will, might, do a little hand quilting too.

I love it - it's a quilt that doesn't fit in with any colour scheme I have, not really big enough for a bed (about 60 x 70), but it has wormed itself into my affections nevertheless.