I quilted the African half hexie quilt with parallel lines about an inch apart, some a little more, some a little less than an inch. I used the channel lock for straight lines. This will be finish number 16 for this year and I really would like 18 for 2018 so I will need to figure out which ones to quilt.
Here you can see how well the backing fabric goes with the front.
I looked through my African fabrics for a binding choice but in the end decided I liked the backing fabric best.
I started out the morning in the basement doing laundry and starting to load the backing for this quilt. Then I made 2 batches of Chex Mix and then baked muffins.
Then I went back down and finished loading the backing and batting and laid the quilt top on it and chose my thread.
This is the backing fabric. It is 40" wide and I bought it in the late 1970s. It is the first batik I had seen and the store had it marked down to a couple dollars a yard so I bought all of it. I have saved it all these years and now I decided it looks great with the African prints in the half hexie quilt.
I had to stake the Amaryllis. The first stalk had finished blooming so I cut it off and then the rest of the plant just flopped over. I propped it against an outside corner of the wall but knew the other 2 flowers were going to open soon so I needed a permanent fix,
Questions about my cactus: Do I do anything special to them? No. I don't have a place to put them outside for the summer where I can keep the squirrels away so I gave up on that. Basically, once the days are shorter they are getting less light and I rarely have lights on in my living room and that is where most of them are. I keep the house cool at night and they like cool and dark to set buds. I fertilize them a couple times, right after they are all done blooming (late April) and usually once more in the middle of the summer. The reason I have so many blooms is that I have 18 plants. I lost 3 over the summer, probably due to over watering. Two are Easter cacti and they didn't bloom in the spring this year.
I finished sewing the 5th strata last night so hopefully I will get the pressing done on all 5 stratas today.
These are the largest pink and white blossoms that I have ever had on this Christmas Cactus.
I have been sewing the remaining strips onto my Kaffe stratas for a Trip Around the World. I have just one more to finish and then I can press and start designing.
We had fog overnight on Sunday into Monday and it left an icy frosting on everything. I didn't get out early enough to photograph it while it was shiny ice but I did get it before too much melting happened. This is Goldenrod with frosting. We didn't get any of the snow that covered the south.
My pop-up shop closes at 10 p.m. EST. Last chance for the Kaffe fabric collections.
I got the last columns sewn and added on so now it is a finished top. It is all printed quilting cottons (no batiks) and it ended up about 40" x 63". It is the largest colorwash I have made this year.
I took some closeups of the variety of fabrics used.
Remember they are all clickable to enlarge even more.
This poor little piece of cactus is still in a cup on my windowsill after more than a year. It bloomed here last year too. It has huge roots now so I really need to get it planted soon. I just added a little water to the cup every time I noticed it was dry.
My 5 day pop-up shop will close tomorrow at 10 p.m. EST
I'm half way there now. I actually got a little more sewn after I took this photo. I love the way it changes when it is sewn together. A lot of times there is a color on the edge of the square or rectangle that I really don't want there and it ends up in the seam allowance so I won't see it when it is sewn.
The orange cactus is blooming. I am giving this one to my daughter-in-law but it has been too cold to try to transport it to her house.
The pink and white one continues to bloom. My light pink one is still blooming but at least a dozen buds are drying up and falling off. That usually happens and I don't know why. There are a few more buds that look like they are going to bloom.
Just 3 Days left to see my Holiday Pop-Up Shop. If you're a Kaffe Fan you'll want to check it out...See the Shop Now.
The sewing of an offset rectangles quilt can't be done by the webbing method so it is a slower process. I sew 2 columns at a time concentrating so I sew the pieces onto the correct column and then sew the 2 columns together. I have 6 columns sewn together so far.
My 5 day pop-up shop is open to the public as of 9 a.m. EST today. Here is the link.
This poor little piece of cactus is still in a cup on my windowsill after more than a year. It bloomed here last year too. It has huge roots now so I really need to get it planted soon. I just added a little water to the cup every time I noticed it was dry. 
