Deja vu all over again

The other day I was looking at my Fons and Porter magazine and saw this top quilt in an ad for one of their books. I thought to myself, "I like that. It looks pieced not appliqued. I wonder how hard it would be. I should make a quilt like that."

And then I spent the weekend at my sister's to see my nieces in their dance recital. (Ten year olds in in a tribute to Bob Fosse is not to be missed.) I walked into one of their bedrooms to drop off my suitcase and saw this quilt that I made. Yes, I made it. Not so very long ago. A few years. And yes, it's pieced not appliqued. And the pattern apparently wasn't that hard because the quilt is finished.

I'm crossing this off my to do list. Again.

Winning hexagons

I won this lovely book (in English) on hexagons from the giveaway on the Ildico Textildesign blog. The book, by Hilde Klatt and Liesel Niesner, documents Liesel's Hexagon Technique. I have long been thinking of making a quilt with hexagons. I have at least two hexagon rulers, an old hexagon book that doesn't explain how to make them, and at one point a very large collection of magazine subscription cards that I thought would make excellent hexagon papers. I have made some pieced hexagons before, but never took the plunge into hand sewing them until now.

The book I won has lots of good information, step-by-step instructions with pictures, tons of tips and ideas plus pages and pages of different grids to help you design your own quilts. I took the book with me on vacation to read, and yesterday I sat myself down and drafted my first template. Then I pulled subscription cards out of some magazines and scraps out of my giant bin and got to work. This morning I finished the last seams on my first hexagon flower. Now I'm hooked! I need to work a bit on my drafting. I think I can do better.

Thanks to Ann Champion's blog where I saw this entry that got me following the Ildico Textildesign blog where I entered the giveaway, won and finally took the paper-piecing hexagon plunge.

Thank you, Liesel and Hilde!