Monday (morning?) Star Count

440 grams! 

 

And  a care package full of beautiful watery blues! Thanks Helen. It's so lovely to get surprises in the mail. 

I Got the Blues!

Over the past two weeks my blue hexie blob has increased to 426g! One thing about the metric system is that it really makes you feel accomplished. 426! That sounds a lot better than 15 oz. I also like tracking my jogging in km; 5 kilometers does sound farther than 3 miles.

Last week (or was it the week before?), some of you showed your sewing kits. What an organized bunch you are! I have adopted the nesting plastic bag strategy. I never really gave much thought to this sewing kit, it just happened out of what was lying around. Thinking about it now, it is strange. Those of you who know me know that plastic bags are one of my pet peeves. I hate how everything is double and triple bagged. I lived in Taiwan for two years, and one of the only things I can say in Mandarin is, 'I don't need a bag'. Yet, here it is, my plastic bag sewing kit.

I keep it simple. Thread, two needles tucked in a contrasting-colored scrap, scissors on a string that I hang around my neck while I'm sewing, binding clips for basting the hexies. I don't use a thimble. I never got the hang of it. 

I also got some requests to see how the blob looks unfolded. Here you go. My sister's size 11 shoes give it some perspective. 

Happy EPP New Year!

Let's start 2014 off right with a little EPP. Last April I started these hexies as a little quilting project that I could take with me on a trip to Denmark. I chose blue because I never use blue. I don't think I've ever made a blue quilt. This project started without a plan, as some good quilts tend to do.

I was wondering what to do with these blue hexies when I saw a poster on the East River Ferry. The poster showed old photographs of a big boat dumping old subway cars into the water. Did you know that old subway cars are used to create artificial reefs? Well, now you do.

Looking at the posters, I thought back to the Titanic and how underwater photos of the decay were a pretty aqua color. But I was already several months into piecing the randomly blue hexies. So, now the plan is to make a 'solid' blue hexie quilt with some pretty aqua-colored decaying subway cars appliqued at the bottom.

It is taking forever! But it is almost the size of a yoga mat now.