I always have a Forever Project ™ in progress.  They take various forms.  One thing they all have in common is that they are handwork projects .. no sewing machine required.  This is so I can take them with me on road trips and vacations.

Well ... 2020 happened and all of the quilt shows have been cancelled.  Quilt shows were our main getaway excuse.  I must say that the current Forever Projects™ are lasting longer than they used to.  :-)

Most of my Forever Projects™ have been needleturn applique.  When I "discovered" English Paper Piecing and hexies .. omg .. I was in heaven.  I've worked on several different EPP hexie projects but because EPP hexies is SO relaxing and SO versatile, I have simply continued to make oodles of hexies without any particular project in mind.  Prepping hexies is an excellent mindless way to practically occupy my hands whilst watching TV.  However, even I realized that making hexies without a purpose is kinda useless.  I'm sure that at some point, I'll figure out what to do with these (mostly) singleton hexies.

I'm always on the lookout for unusual arrangements of hexies.  Grandmother's Flower Garden just doesn't thrill my eyeballs and I haven't made one.  Then I saw an arrangement of 4 hexies in a diamond.  All the diamond shapes where then smooshed together to make a quilt top.  This particular example used lovely, cool colors that blended together so nicely.  I immediately loved it and it became my latest hexie Forever Project™.      

Aside: in our travels to various and sundry quilt stores, I did feel obligated to buy a little something at each one.  Usually, I ended up with a charm pack because the 5" squares can be cut into 4 pieces ... and wouldn't ya know? ... I need 4 hexies for a diamond shape!  it was a nice souvenir of our travels.

So, that's what I've been doing during the late evening hours when I've stopped scrapbooking for the night and plopped myself in front of the TV to catch up on whatever is on .. using those charm squares to make my 4 hexie diamonds.   Now, these diamonds aren't very large because the individual hexies are only 1".  But, I'm not in a hurry, ya know?  After all, it is a Forever Project™.

However, even I get weary of working on the same Forever Project ™ all the time.  A break would be nice.  Just last night, I switched back to an applique Forever Project™ called "Hen House".   One vendor at a quilt show last year specialized in offering 'second hand' fabric and kits.  Her inventory is typically from people who are destashing or estate sales.  Hen House was a complete kit (something that I usually don't buy .. but this was SO cute).  I'll admit that what caught my eye was that the applique pattern was designed and laid out for use with the Scan-n-Cut digital cutting machine.  Holy moley!   It turns out that I really dislike cutting fabric with my SnC but it did cut out all the applique templates with great accuracy.

I made one block (using the kitted fabric) and was immediately disenchanted with it.  Sigh.  It was probably my choice of fabrics for each of the pieces but my eyeballs just were not charmed.  Maybe when all the blocks are assembled, it will look better but because I didn't experience that first flush of "OH MY GOSH, I LOVE IT", I put the completed applique block away.

Well, last night, as i was about to take out my diamond hexie Forever Project™, my thoughts returned to the Hen House.  I didn't dislike it enough to completely abandon it, so I dug it out.  And yeah, that first block still didn't make me fall in love, but ... there were lots of other fabric combinations that I could have chosen.  I decided that I would RETURN to Hen House.  After all, it has a finite number of blocks and, therefore, a definite end date (of sometime), as opposed to the hexie project which is open ended.

I didn't get a hen block completed last night but it's well on its way.    Here is the photo from the kit of the completed quilt:


This is the very first block that I made last year.  I think my problem is that I didn't chose a good combination of fabric.  Also, the eyeball isn't finished ... it still needs a black dot for the eye.  Also, I have NO idea why the chicken feet came out askew.  Shrug.  That will simply add to the "charm".  :-)


and this is the block that I am currently working on.  The white eyeball is pinned to the background fabric so I don't lose it.  :-)


The pattern has 4 different hen patterns, in both the forward and reverse direction.  There is also a rooster, a fox, 2 different hen houses and a flower.     The hen I am working on is the "Happi" hen.   The others are Helga, Hilda and Hatti.  :-)

So, I think I'm going to put the hexie Forever Project™ on hiatus for a while, as I work on Hen House.

Maybe add a wee bit more detail with things that add contrast and color, like more tail feathers, more  olorful feet or waddle, or crest on top of the head. They are cute! Also the more you make they will add to each other. 

Looking forward to going to the shop tomorrow and doing some quilting.

Hen House is cute!  You just need to get a couple of hens under your belt so you start feeling the love for your flock.

Hen #1 is toe-dancing!!  En pointe...

Cute...

Add the black to the eyeball and I think you will find she develops more personality...(At least pin a black circle  on)

You're cracking me up with your TM :P 

Mel Harris (MelHarris1) said:

You're cracking me up with your TM :P 

hey, hey!    I'm the first person I know who has used the term Forever Project™!!    Others have taken up the cause but, as far as I know, I was the first to use the term.  So .. I'm trademarking it.  :-)

And if i wasn't the first person ever, I'm the first person *I* know.  :-)  :-)

Besides, I'm more than happy to share the term.  It's so apt.

I love you happy little hens.  The first one looks like she is on her tip toes looking for someone to help her. (the Little Red Hen story)

Pirate (PIRATE_SR) said...

Mel Harris (MelHarris1) said:

You're cracking me up with your TM :P 

hey, hey!    I'm the first person I know who has used the term Forever Project™!!    Others have taken up the cause but, as far as I know, I was the first to use the term.  So .. I'm trademarking it.  :-)

And if i wasn't the first person ever, I'm the first person *I* know.  :-)  :-)

Besides, I'm more than happy to share the term.  It's so apt.

LOL!!! You're great! :) 

Here's the latest progress on the Hen House applique project: I've completed all the Happi Hens ... 4 in one direction and 1 in the reverse direction.

The white circles aren't exactly their eyes ... the actual eyeball will be an embroidered circle or asterick or something that is much, much smaller.  I'll do that to all the hens when I've finished the hen appliques.