Rhythm and Repetition - PQ 13.5

The fifth challenge for Project Quilting year 13 was posted this past Sunday.  I really enjoy the creativity that PQ engenders in me, but I also bemoan the fact that some weeks I just don't have enough time to do the challenge justice.  

This is one of those busy weeks.  You would think, as a retiree, that I would have all the time in the world to devote to quilting.  Sometimes, that is the case.  This week, not so much.  

I belong to a Concert Chorale, and this weekend is our annual Classical concert.  We are singing works by Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Dvořák - in their original languages, plus a few American folk songs, 'show tunes' and spirituals.  Needless to say, I've been putting a lot of time into learning the music and learning the languages.  We have not one, but two dress rehearsals this week, and two concerts this weekend.  

Today is Ash Wednesday, and I am the cantor for the Mass this evening.  The music minister sent out the song list on Monday,  and there are two songs that are new to me, so I had to spend the time to learn them.  

Much as I love singing, this is all cutting into the time that I have available to come up with a creative project for Rhythm and Repetition!

When I read the blog post about the challenge, I really wanted to do something Escher-esque.  I have always been fascinated by his work.  I also have an excellent book written by Jinny Beyer about tesselations that has been begging to be used. I think that it would be fairly easy to design a simple tesselation and turn it into a quilt, and I would learn a lot in the process. 

But knowing the time restraints that I am under this week, I compromised.  I made a small project so that I could complete it in fairly short order, but I used techniques and shapes that are new to me so that I could learn something new.  I've only done set-in seams once before, and I have never put binding on a quilt with 60 degree angles on the border.  So I re-learned how to do set-in seams using my  sewing machine, and I learned how to bind outside angles other than 90 degrees. I also had to figure out how to fill in the area between the star and the edge.  Hint - it involves rectangles cut on the diagonal.  

9 1/2 x 10 inches

The shape that I've never used before was the truncated diamond used to make the star.  It was cut using a ruler called a mini Hex-N-More by Julie Hermann of Jaybird Quilts.  I think that she calls it a Jewel.  It is basically a diamond with a point cut off. It could be pieced by sewing a half-hexagon to one side of an equilateral triangle, but using the ruler takes out that extra seam. 

The repetition comes in a couple of  different ways.  Obviously, the jewel shape is repeated six times around the center hexagon. But a more subtle repetition is the hexagon motif itself.  There is the one in the center, and the whole project is a hexagon, but drawing a line connecting the peaks also creates a  hexagon, as does drawing a line connecting the inside angles. 

I'm not really sure what to call the end product.  It's a little too big to be a potholder, but a little too small to be a table topper.  I guess that it could also be a big mug rug or a candle mat....Whatever it is, I'm done and I'm happy with it.