Hexagon Cubes- a finished top

With the help of my sisters, I managed to finish this hexagon cube top.
I enjoyed stitching the lovely colors; the fabric is from one of my all time favorite collections- Fusions 5573 by Robert Kaufman.

Each cube consists of 61 hexagons; counting the surrounding hexagons too -  the top has almost 500 hexagons-  you wouldn't say !

A fun project! Excepting the applique step. I appliqued the hexagons onto the background fabric by machine; really - that zig-zag edge is not fun at all.

I am dreaming of making a new one, in solid fabric and with more cubes! Someday!

A new hexy project I have to start for sure -  what to do when my sisters say -  "let's relax, let's stitch some hexagons"! ?

The free pattern for the hexy cubes is here, if you need one more reason to stitch some hexies.

Happy weekend!
Geta



I am linking to Finish it up Friday.

New tote bag

I wore this bag in the last few months and I love it -  very comfortable, in spite of the fact I am not mad about its shape.

I wanted to try a new interfacing and I made a new bag -  almost the same shape but stitched in a different way.
The interfacing is Decovil light- manufactured in Germany by Freudenberg.
This fusible interfacing gives the fabric the look and feel of a very fine leather and it is similar with some type of oilcloth. It fuses nicely on fabric.

I used some of my favorite fabrics-  Jenean Morrison- In My Room collection

I did not even press the seams!

As lining I used a heavyweight fabric -  the bag is firm yet supple; it keeps its shape and stands on its own.

It is a lightweight bag, perfect for beach or carry lots of baby stuff. It is strong enough for shopping too.

So happy that I can buy it in Romania!
I think it is easily available in Europe and in Australia; you can find it on Amazon, in the USA; in Europe it seems the cheapest it is on www.Amazon.de.

Geta,
anxious to try its elder brother - a heavyweight Decovil.

Quilter's Favorites Tips

Sorry for not posting yesterday! Problems with the computer- viruses that steal passwords! Which reminded me that I don't backup my website and blog as often as I should. And that it is not safe to store passwords on your computer (you know, when you are asked if you want your browser  to save your password, and next time when you want to log on a website, it automatically fills in your password on login forms); I don't do this (I don't save passwords) for sites that involve money (like Paypal) but anyway, I turned off my computer right away, and patiently awaited for my hubby to come home and solve the problem. But in the meantime, I called my sister Oana and for more than half hour, she changed my passwords for all the websites I use- just as a measure of caution. It wasn't  fun at all!

 Here is how I "store" my passwords- I saw this idea on Karen's blog .

I have a photo framed on my desk; the frame is from Ikea.I wrote all the passwords on a piece of cardboard and I put it on the back of the photo/frame.
Yes, it takes time every time you want to log on a website to enter your password, but it is safe.

 I wanted to show you my newest bag, but the place for photography is already taken. Tomorrow!

Quilter's Favorites Tips
Meanwhile, learn from Madame Samm how to protect yourself when you work with scissors and read what  Julie says about the sewing machine.

Have a great week,
Geta

Winners of Quilter's Favorites

Thank you all for participating to Quilter's Favorites, for sharing your tips and favorites. We all love learning new things and I know we love sharing as much as we love learning. We appreciate the time you all put in writing your posts.

I would like to thank our sponsors- please visit and support them, they are a big and important part of our quilting journey.

Here are the winners- they were randomly chosen.

Fat quarter sample of the Botanical Beauty collection #2- Julie @ The Crafty Quilter	12 large spool thread kit "Over the Rainbow" by Edyta Sitar #44 - Irene (the patches of my life)
$50 Gift Certificate #42- Maria	set of pre-cut hexagons in 6 different color palettes #31- Katie's Quilting Corner
BlockBase Program #13- Pat @ ColorMeQuilty	$25 Gift Certificate #33 - svetlana @ sotakhandmade
	$25 Gift Certificate #46 - Aylin
winners of 2 of Geta Grama's patterns- your choice #3 -Life in the Scrapatch #19 - Lori from The Crafty Bees Knees #23 - Fetxmi #40 - Silvia #43 - Helen (Till We Quilt Again!)

------------------------------------------
I will contact all the winners soon. The following winners please email me your complete addresses:
#13- Pat @ ColorMeQuilty
#31- Katie's Quilting Corner
#44 - Irene (the patches of my life)
#2- Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

Guest Bloggers
Starting next week, each Monday I will feature one or two participants.
Then I plan to continue this as a series with Guest Bloggers;  if you would like to share your tips and favorites here on my blog (the questions will  be the same, I kindly ask you to answer at least half of them),  please email me (my address is in the right sidebar). Thank you.

And here are 2 comments received from non-bloggers- thank you Terri and Evelyne.

Thermal Thimbles.
These are fantastic for when you are ironing. They protect your finger and thumb from the heat of the iron.
It’s especially great for small or narrow pieces when you are trying to iron the seam allowance.
I now never iron without them. : ) - Terri

I would like to add my favorite tools to your list. The first is a reducing glass which helps to see colours and shapes working together. The second is a seam ripper that I use when piecing fabric by machine. The tip of the seam ripper manipulates the fabric accurately under the machine foot as it stitches. -Evelyne

If you enjoyed Quilter's Favorites, please help me to continue it!
Geta
  

Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's "Blogger's Quilt Festival" time again. Lots of quilts to see and enjoy! Visit Amy's Creative Side and be inspired. Thank you, Amy, for offering us so much inspiration in just one place.

This is our entry for the Group/Bee Quilt category.
It is a quilt I stitched with my Romanian friends.
We learned a lot - about hand stitching, friendship, patience, determination, passion and  love for quilting.

We named it "Together in a Friendship World".

The top is hand pieced  - using English paper piecing technique.

- just to see the size -91'' x 91'' -

The beginning of piecing.

It took us 3 months to stitch the top.

The flower sphere is appliqued onto the scrappy hexagon background.

-the back with paper templates-

I did the quilting, on my industrial sewing machine.

Some stats:
- hand pieced
- machine quilted
- 91'' x 91''
- fabric: Kona cotton
- quilted with Aurifil thread
- category: group/bee quilt.

If you want to find out more:
The story of the quilt and pictures of the top
Pictures of the finished quilt.

Thank you for stopping by.
Enjoy Festival's quilts!
Geta

Mini tote bags

We already have summer temperatures and I thought it's time to make some summer mini- bags - you don't know when a little girl needs a mini bag.

And I made 7- using my Danielle pattern. Just for the pleasure of combining fabrics.

I love even the straps!

The fabric was quilted on a puffy polyester batting -  the bag is soft, perfect for little girls.

2 fat quarters make the outer bag.

The Matryoshka fabric is Riley Blake Designs; the dots are from Michael Miller "Ta Dot".

This China doll fabric (Michael Miller) is one of my all time favorite fabrics.  I bought it with the intention of making something for me, now I have to buy a new piece.

The gingham fabric is Riley Blake, I think.

I can't choose a favorite!

And this is made in Ann Kelle (Robert Kaufman) fabric.

Many thanks to those of you who are participating to Quilter's Favorites. I appreciate the time you put in writing your posts and your tips and favorites.
Geta

Linking up to "Fabric Tuesday".

Quilter's Favorites

Welcome to Quilter's Favorites!

We all love making quilts; some of us just started learning quilting while others already have years and years of experience.

We learn from books, from friends, we take classes or virtual classes on Internet. We learn from the free information  posted by generous quilters on Internet and are inspired by the work of quilters around the world.

Quilter's Favorites is about sharing tips and favorite things that make our quilting easier and more enjoyable.  It's our turn now to add something from our experience to the huge free learning resource for quilters.

If you would like to be part of the event, many quilters are anxious to learn from your expertise. It will be a fun learning experience.

I would like to thank you all for taking the time to remember those little details that help you during your quilting journey.  Thank you that you are willing to help other quilters.

Let's start!
Do you want to participate ?

• Write a blog post, answering these questions; answer as many or as few as you want  in as little or as much detail as you would like; illustrate it with pictures, if you want.
• Publish your post anytime between  May 10th and May 16th.
• Link your blog post to the linky party at the end of this blog post.

Non-Bloggers
If you don't have a blog but you want to participate, please email me your thoughts; my email is in the right side bar. Or leave a comment. I will be happy to add your tips on a special page; I will link that page to the party too.

Quilter's Favorites Pinterest Board 
If you want to pin on this board (from your blog post or any time you find something interesting), please email me (the address is in the right side bar) and I will give you access to the board. Please put in the subject line - "Access to QF Pinterest board"

Sponsors of the event

Please visit our sponsors; they are great companies that provide us everything we need to make beautiful quilts. Thank you for the prizes donated to 7 quilters willing to share their quilting expertise with us.

7 winners will be chosen from all the participants in a random drawing; my entry will be excluded from the drawing.

The winners will be announced on May 17th on my blog.

Fat quarter sample of the Botanical Beauty collection	12 large spool thread kit "Over the Rainbow" by Edyta Sitar
$50 Gift Certificate	set of pre-cut hexagons in 6 different color palettes
BlockBase Program	$25 Gift Certificate
	$25 Gift Certificate

How to link to the party

• link up the specific post, not the main (home page) of your blog;  to find out the web address of your blog post, click on the title of your post and copy the address.
• click the "Add your link"  blue button below  and follow the easy steps.
• Please add the button below to your blog post or side bar of your blog and let your readers know about this free resource; we all want to learn more about quilting.
  Copy the code below into a HTML/Java Script.
  Thank you!
  
  
  
  
  <div align="left"> <a href="http://cadouri-din-inima.blogspot.com/2013/03/quilters-favorites.html" target="_blank" title="Quilter’s Favorites"><img border="0" src=" http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr156/GetaGrama/logo_zps00f93f70.jpg " /></a></div>

Grab a cup of coffee and spend some time reading what generous quilters are sharing with us.
Edited to add:
I extended the deadline for the linky party to May 17th, 23:59  CET (Central European Time); I will announce the winner tomorrow, May 18th.