Half-Hexagon Quilt: Winged Medley

A friend and I went to a Quilt Show hosted by the Stone House Quilt Guild in Manassas, Virginia. While we were there she bought a cute fat quarter bundle by Riley Blake called Winged Medley. I told her I'd make her a quilt, and we decided on a half-hexagon design.

I've never made one before, but it didn't seem that hard. First, I cut out pattern pieces using clear acrylic on my Glowforge. Then, we laid out the fabric in the way she wanted, and I cut out the pieces and sewed them row by row. 

 The trickiest part was making sure the fabric was directionally correct. I didn't want any upside-down birdies!

 To make it a little bigger, I added a row of floral fabric around the outside edge. I like to do that to most quilts to help ensure the top is even and sized correctly. 

This was one of the first projects I quilted on my longarm, and I was so nervous! I used a floral design, and it turned out beautifully! 

Lighthouse Stained Glass Project

 My best friend's dad is a marvelous painter, and I asked him to make me a painting for my upstairs bathroom that was inspired from a beach trip I went on with their family in 2nd grade. We stayed in Cape Hatteras, N.C., and visited many lighthouses. He chose to paint a beautiful Ocracoke Island lighthouse for me, so I returned the favor be remaking his artwork in stained glass. 

This ended up being much bigger than I planned (14x20) but is so lovely. First, I made the pattern and cut the pieces. I cut out the design on my Cricut Venture using black vinyl to make it a little easier. 

Then, I put the pieces together like a puzzle on a second copy of my pattern I traced onto poster board using my Cricut Venture. 

Then, I carefully removed the vinyl and cleaned each piece, putting them back where they go. This was also where I could fix any errors, such as pieces that didn't quite fit, gaps that were a little too big, or colors that weren't quite what I wanted.

During this project, I was so excited to finally order some bins from Target that would make organizing my glass so much easier! Here is my garage workshop station set up with my supplies (mostly) neatly arranged. 

Then, I soldered it all together. So nice! I couldn't decide whether to leave it silver or use black patina, so I set it on the light board one of my sisters gifted me for my birthday. It makes a huge difference when picking out colors and seeing how the glass looks under different lights. 

I ended up going with the black. I love it!