GFG and Borders

The long saga of the completion of my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt is nearing its conclusion. So many times over the last couple of years I have considered that this quilt was finished, yet before long an idea for "one more thing" presents itself and so I return to it and do a bit more. 

 

The latest chapter of the saga has been adding borders. I auditioned several colors of solids and decided on this pale yellow. I wanted to applique the hexie center to the border, but couldn't be sure how I would secure it sufficiently to prevent shifting as I stitched. So I basted the border to the hexie center. That worked really great for the two straight sides of the quilt.

The other two sides are curvier, so I used a glue stick to hold the borders in place while I stitched. One side is done; one side remains. I think it will be done by the end of this week. 

While straightening this quilt out on the bed, it occurs to me that I am likely to have the waviest border ever. I plan to trim off a good portion, so that may soften those ruffly bits, but I doubt it's a total fix. I expect that quilting will cover up some of the fullness; I also think I can improve things with a carefully measured binding. 

Getting that last border on is my next concern. Then trimming. Then it will likely be put away for awhile - like until I am ready to quilt it. This entire portion has been done by hand. It makes such perfect sense to hand quilt it, too, but that is such a hefty decision. I just am not ready to commit to that. Maybe I will, eventually. 

We will wait and see.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

 

Happy New Year!

I am going to have to do better in 2026! I've blogged so little this past year that I have inadvertently erased an entire post (the one that said Merry Christmas!) Frequency of posting means I remember what to do as well as what NOT to do!

Sorry about that. 

We have survived the 900+ mile trip to our Florida home and are ready to begin a brand new year! We left early New Year's Day and arrived around noon yesterday. Easy traveling when holiday observances keep folks at home rather than on the interstate highways. We made incredibly good time.

We've unpacked the car, cleared out the dust bunnies and are settling in our new 2026 selves. We have made long lists of activities we want to do and places we want to visit. Never fear! Quilt shops and all manner of related endeavors definitely have a high priority for me. I brought several projects, just to be sure I had some variety and also to be sure I wouldn't run out of things to do.

Highest on my list are two projects that have been goals for far too long. Lake Effect and Grandmother's Flower Garden. I will provide details on the individual projects later as I tackle them, but 2026 may be the year that these two very long-standing works in progress (WIPs) are at last finished! Hooray! I honestly think it could happen.

Here's an older picture of Lake Effect. I am filling in blank places in the hexagon parts as well as piecing together the corners on the applique parts. It really does just mean if I stay with this quilt, I can finally have the flimsy finished. It could be soon!

And an older picture of Grandmother's Flower Garden, too. I worked lots and lots on this while here in Florida last winter. I've evened out the sides and the corners; my next step on this quilt is to add a border. 

Typically, I do a round-up of the previous month's highlights, so that will be the topic of my next post. I also will share with you the projects I will work on while here in Florida, as well as the ever-present goals list for the new year. Much to to! I also need to review last year's goals to see how well I did at completing them.

Hope you're having a great day, and

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne
 

Slow Sunday Stitching

I've not been doing all that much handwork lately - finishing off corners and edges on my Grandmother's Flower Garden, mostly, and also putzing around with random bits and no plan. However, a couple of my friends in the Frankfort Girls quilting group have been creating some gorgeous pieces and I've got a little project parade from them to share here. 

Inspiration at your fingertips.

My group of quilting friends has so much talent in all areas of needle arts. Sharon O. has stitched so many fantastic embroidery and cross-stitch creations. Here is a sampling of her recent work.

Another prolific seamstress in the group is Sheryll who specializes in wool crafts. I am happy to have been the recipient of a few of her wool gifts over the years. Here are some of her recent finishes.

 

As for my own work, the finishing and fussing over the edges and corners of my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt might at last be set. I've dithered over this stuff for long enough. I'm gonna go with the idea that finished is better than perfect.

 

 

This last picture shows the curvy sides and a straight side. I will applique a straight yellow border onto all four sides. I may or may not do a small inner border along with a wider border. 

From the very first hexie in the very first flower, this quilt has been a "let's see how this looks" project, so why would I do anything different with the borders?

For additional inspiration, click on over to Kathy's Quilts and check out her weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party. It never fails to inspire and delight.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Filling In Border Garden

Gardeners are often found pruning and perfecting their gardens. I have been no different with my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. A few months ago I was telling folks I'd finished it. Then while I was pondering borders options that appealed to me, I decided that this flower garden still needed some more attention. I needed to fuss just a little bit more with the quilt. I wrote about all of this here.

With the half-hexie flowers prepared, I stitched them into the quilt over the course of a couple of evenings. Now, I am adding the outer path hexies to complete my garden.

Five path hexies are all that I need to close the gap on this path. It takes very little time to complete. And just like that, my goal of softening the curves on my GFG has been achieved. *smile*

In the spaces that I have completely enclosed with paths, I am removing the last of the foundation papers. Then I've begun pressing the edges for a crisp, sharp edge preparing for the next step - appliqueing to a border. 

I'm linking up with Kathy and her Slow Sunday Stitching party. Let's hop over there to see what beauties these sewists are creating.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne 

Partial Hexie Flowers

Back in May I finished the hexies for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I shared the reveal in this post.

At the time I really did think I was finished. 

As time has passed and I've considered border options, I just wasn't thrilled about those deep curves along the top and bottom of the quilt. 

 

The side curves are fine with their gentle, soft, undulating curves. The top and bottom, though, have deep ravines. I thought I'd be okay with them and just fill in with my solid border fabric, but I've since had a change of heart. I wasn't going to be happy with curved borders so deep. To solve the issue, I have decided that partial blocks of flowers are in order. Filling in these deep ravines will result in a softer, more gentle curve for the top and bottom - a lot closer in depth to the gentle curves on the sides.

 

I played around just a bit with how big these partial flowers should be. This 5-hexie outer bit with a 2-hexie inner bit will be perfect. Once I have these all inserted into the quilt, then I will outline all with more of those low-volume shirtings that I used for my paths.

This work has been perfect for evening tv watching. Currently, we are spending most evenings watching the Tour de France on Peacock network. Thank goodness for replays! We are about 6 stages behind in our viewing. Lots of stitching time remaining.

I just know I will be much happier with the bordering results by adding these partial flowers. I'd love to move this quilt along to a total finish by year's end.

I'm linking up with Kathy and her weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party.  

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Back To Lake Effect

Now that I've proven to myself that I can do hard things (heh-heh), I have returned to the 10-year project Lake Effect. It has languished fall, winter and spring in a pile on the quilting room floor, and I've just decided that enough is enough. I've had a stern talk with myself.

Look at that wrinkly mess! I do not exaggerate when I say it has spent 6-8 month heaped in a corner on the floor. 

It appears that all I need to do is make a long border of hexies, then attach it to the quilt, then finish the corners where the applique vine was interrupted. It may or may not look like the pattern. At this point, I'm going for nothing more than a finish. It is fine with me if it is not an exact replica of the original. 

This bottom border is not yet attached, so add that to the to-do list. The top and right side borders are attached, thankfully. It was rather simple to accomplish, as I recall.

It is somewhat surprising that it is as big as it is. I had no idea I was making something big enough to cover a queen-size bed. I rather like that it does.

I refer to this as a 10-year project because I was new to both applique and EPP when I began this journey in 2017. I was allowing myself the time I figured it would take me to master all this hand stitching.

Since I made Grandmother's Flower Garden mostly January through May, I have proven to myself that I can do this faster than I realize. So on with the needle and thread! Queue up a good audio book (or two or three) and let's get to stitching!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

A Proud Reveal

Yes, today I am proud to bring you a completed center panel for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Little did I think that something like this would ever come from my hands. 

What began with a curiosity about English Paper Piecing and related techniques has resulted in this. Almost exactly 10 years ago this was all totally new to me. After quilting friend Jan shared two of her incredibly impressive quilts, I fell into the EPP rabbit hole. 

That was in March 2015; by May 2015, I had bought a glue stick and made some hexies. I played around with Lucy Boston blocks and fussy cutting as well as hexie flowers. Some of those early flowers are in this quilt.

Dabbling in a new technique has resulted in a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Never ever did I think it possible! My thought back then was that all this endless handwork was probably the most daunting quilting task one could ever undertake. 

I guess I have learned never to say never. 

My quilt has 9 rows of flowers with 9 flowers in each row for a total of 81 flowers. Above, it is spread out on the king-size bed, which gives a bit of perspective on its size. My final stitches taken on this were adding path hexies to fill gaps around the outer edges. See below for one such gap.

I wanted the white/neutral hexies (paths) to completely encircle the quilt so that the flowers would stand out better when a border is added. My plan is to applique the quilt edges onto a border fabric to square it all up.

All along this journey, I knew I would select a solid fabric from my stash. I also envisioned that I'd use green. Wouldn't you know - I had no green with sufficient yardage to make a border. I did find this purple, however, and the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. 

Have you any opinions?

I will close today with a few more shots of the finished quilt center. I can look at these flowers and show you ones that I made in the very early efforts; I can show you which fabrics were scraps of other quilts; I can tell you where I bought certain fabrics and which fabrics came from Grandma's remnants; I can tell you on which vacation certain ones were stitched. Such stories stitched into this! That's one of the beauties of quilting.

I've been eager to share this with the quilters who participate in Kathy's weekly Slow Stitching party. I invite you to click over there to see what all the other folks have in store for us this week. From cross stitch to crochet and applique to quilting, all the needle arts are represented.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

My Hands Have Been Busy

While my fingers have not been clicking away here on my laptop writing blog posts, my hands have been super-busy with a couple of projects.

I have a whole lot to say about my Grandmother's Flower Garden, but I will hold that for the next post. Today, I will quickly share a fast and super-easy layer cake project.

Sharon inspired me when she made this pretty throw-sized quilt from a layer cake of French General fabric. She created this beauty so fast - like in two days! - and the result is so pleasing that I just knew I had to make one, too. 

Of course I had many options, as my supply of layer cakes is bigger than I care to admit. I selected the newest one in the stack - one I bought in Daytona at the AQS Quilt Show. This is Lydia's Lace by Betsy Chutchian/Moda. With little to no effort I had mine completed.

I know there are patterns you can find on the internet, but one is not needed.  It's very easy; beginner friendly, for sure. And there's absolutely zero waste. That's almost as good as having a super-fast quilt.

Step 1: A layer cake has 42 fabrics in it, so match up 21 pairs consisting of a light and a dark. From each pair, cut in fourths. You'll have 4 stacks of  5" squares. Take out a light and dark square for the center of the blocks. 

Step 2: Cut 4 light and 4 dark of these sizes: 2.5" squares and 2.5" x 5" rectangles. Refer to the pictures if you need a visual.

Step 3: Working with the predetermined pairs, put all the dark squares with the light rectangles; put all the light squares with the dark rectangles. Stitch like you would any 9-patch block.

Step 4: Arrange the blocks to suit your eye. Sew rows for a quilt that will be 6x7 rows total.

Now, let me tease you with an update on Grandmother's Flower Garden. I have the center portion all together! I began stitching the flowers to the paths in January and have worked on it in earnest ever since. Here we are in mid-May and I have it all together. Now on to borders.

This is the very last flower to be sewn into the quilt top. I am now searching the stash to come up with a pretty solid to use as a border. And one more thing - I have a gazillion hexi papers to remove, too. *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

April Wrap-Up & Current Hexie Progress

Once upon a time, it was hard for me to narrow down my options to 9 pictures for the collage because there were too many quilts to report on and document. Since two darling granddaughters have entered our lives, I can barely locate quilt pictures for the collage. 

Such is life, and isn't it grand!?

April offered up lots of opportunities to love on Cate and Reagan, plus it was a memorable month for some milestone reasons. 

TOP ROW: The first pic is my joyful reunion with the babies after having spent three months in Florida. Even after a long drive home, it was no trouble at all to go another hour to Columbus to see these two. Next is Emma's family. She took a position with the same company at a new location which shortens her commute significantly. The folks at her previous place had a little party for her. Last, I'm entering the home stretch on hexie flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt; I have just a few more to make.

MIDDLE ROW: A quilt retreat gave me the time needed to finish a flimsy. This was supposed to get done in Florida, but I just couldn't stay on task. The middle picture is from Easter. My mom, Cate's Great- Grandma Jeannie, admires the bounty from Cate's Easter egg hunt. And, there is sweet Reagan getting some loves from Pappaw Kevin.

BOTTOM ROW: Erin's family had a milestone, too, when they purchased a new home. Here they are pictured on the front porch step. Move-in will be late May or early June. Sweet Reagan is all smiles, sitting on her newly-delivered quilt. Last, my scrappy Kaffe Fasett 4-patch quilt top is finished and ready for either borders or quilting or both.

An additional milestone this month involves our son Adam. He's moved back to Ohio and after staying here for a couple of days, he's settled in with his Aunt Kellie to assist her as she recovers from some recent surgeries. I've not been up to visit them yet, but DH has and it seems to be working well. 

The last of the hexie flowers are prepped and ready for stitching. Soon I will be adding paths and flowers to finish off the remaining rows and edges. Some mighty big celebrating will take place when I have this baby done.

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Slow Sunday Stitching

Grandmother's Flower Garden continues to be one of my main sewing endeavors, as I make my way through the last of the flowers. I calculate that I need just 7 more flowers to complete my top, then I must stitch the remaining top together with the paths.

In order to avoid having a cluster of flowers too similar in the same spot, I am waiting to attach the last several I've made until all are done. Then I can sprinkle around the colors in random fashion. Honestly, I've tried not to be too fussy about placement up to this point. So I don't plan to be overly concerned about where these last flowers 'grow.' If my goal is to have the look of a frothy, English cottage garden, then I won't try to control things too, too much.

Here are a few more flowers yet to be sewn in.

And I will rerun the latest picture I've taken of the completed top of GFG so far. I've not added to it since before we left Florida - at least a month - but I've made lots more hexies for the paths and these remaining flowers.

Soon, I will need to have a decision about borders. I hope my tub of solid fabrics will have enough of a green to use. My possible plan is to applique this center to a green border. Then perhaps add more borders. 

All border considerations are conjecture at this point. Ideas are constantly swirling, and until I am actually DOING a border, only then will I know my definite plan. *smile*

Have you checked in lately with Kathy's Quilts? I've not participated in her Slow Sunday Stitching party for awhile, so I invite you to check out what other like-minded hand-stitchers are working on. 

I hope you have a pleasant Sunday and a productive week ahead. We've got a beautiful day here, but it's also a chilly one. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne