And a New Year Just Begun...

With the flip of a page a new year begins - I hope that it is filled with peace, joy, patience and a sense of adventure for all of us. My friend Lori has a saying, "The days are long, but the years are short'. So true, so lets make the most of them, both the days and the years. And what better way than to start working on something 'sweet'? Last time I mentioned that I've been rethinking my Candied Hexagon and so I've been mulling that about. Kim McLean's version (the third photo down) is what inspired me to start but somehow I'm not feeling the love for it as much as I once did - I think the scale of my pieces is larger than what she had so I'm not seeing the depth that I'd like.

I slipped out to the shops a few days ago to see if I could pick up a few more fabrics to finish it up and bring it to life a little more. I found a few fat quarters and also picked up a mauve piece. I'd seen a few great star quilts lately, particularly this one with tiny pieces, so when laying out the blocks I decided to offset them a tad, inserting mauve triangles. I like it!










Time to bring out the paper and pencil and start sketching. Much as I liked it I wanted to see the two options next to each other before I decided (besides, it was also a great chance to pick up a pencil and doodle a bit - I know you can do this with computer programs but I just love this process).

So yesterday I sat in front of my tree for a few hours to see what it might look like, particularly the edges. I love the hustle and bustle of the holidays but I particularly like the quiet time between Boxing Day and New Year's because I can actually sit still and enjoy my tree, either stitching or reading by the fire. The Official Cookie Tester is already hinting at when it will come down so I needed to carve out some serious tree time.

In the end the new layout wins. I'm going to run the pattern right to the edges and just bind it without borders so I'll need about 83 blocks and 10 half blocks for it. I've got 75 finished so not many more to make - just not sure if I'll start piecing these together and add as I go or stitch them all and then lay the entire thing out.

I really got silly and did a mini layout so I could do the math and get an accurate block count - if you squint you can see it too!

This is a closer look at the mauve - it reminds me of the swirling snows that we have seen over the last several days.

So, time to sew a few more blocks. The Rose Bowl starts soon so I'm off to find my needle and thread. Happy New Year, everyone!...M