Monday, February 24, 2020

Hexie Progress

With numerous blogging commitments lately, I'm finally able to share about our long, 18 hour plane rides, perfect for making some progress on those hexies. Certainly that's enough time for a lot of hexie basting, but I only got through 9 flowers worth. Eating, sleeping, and movie watching occupied most of my time. 


basted hexies and travel sewing supplies

Notice in the picture above the orderly storage after basting, the hotel sewing kit for using up thread in basting, and the dental floss container for cutting thread cause I didn't want to risk losing scissors to airport security again. And sandwiched in between two cardboard pieces are the fabric squares to prevent wrinkling.


fabric squares between cardboard to prevent wrinkling

My original hexie flower idea has two values, but my fabric choices may be too far apart in value. They look a bit dotted.


first hexie flower idea

Hubby suggested this version, which is quite nice. Notice no yellow centers. Combined with a darker yellow, I'd have  another flower color to use in the quilt.  


second hexie flower idea

Which flower idea do you prefer? I guess I'll decide once I come up with an actual setting for these flowers, ie, a quilt plan. Nothing like starting a project without a plan!

So, where did we go on such a long flight? Chiang Mai, Thailand, braving the coronavirus outbreak with masks, hand sanitizer, and anti-bacterial wipes. Days before, we were on the fence as to whether to cancel or not, mostly over concerns of getting back, as neither of us wanted a quarantine. 

But there were no issues at all, we're both fine, and had a wonderful time! The crowds were low, and I'm not sure how anyone could be sick in 95 degree heat, but I guess it's possible. Here's highlights from our trip:

the Flower Festival, full of beautiful floats,


Flower Festival Thailand 2020 float

the parade queen and her court,


Flower Festival Thailand 2020 float with queen and princesses

















beautiful costumes,


Flower Festival Thailand 2020 costume


especially these flowers.


Flower Festival Thailand 2020 flower costume

And believe it or not, these are carved watermelons found on one of the floats. Just amazing!


carved watermelons

Here's the scooter we rented


scooter


to get out of town for a hike,


hike to waterfalls

and to play in the limestone created Sticky Waterfalls.


Sticky Waterfalls Thailand

We also checked out a butterfly house,


butterfly house

and an orchid farm.


orchid farm



orchid farm orchid


Then spent 6 hours touring around the lovely Royal Park Rajapruek,


Royal Park Rajapruek


Royal Park Rajapruek grounds

where they had a greenhouse full of orchids!


Royal Park Rajapruek orchid greenhouse

We also saw some traditional Thai dancing, especially the Fingernail Dance,


Fingernail Dance


and took two Thai cooking classes, Tom Yum Thai, and Thai Akha. Both were excellent and delicious!


Thai Akha cooking class

Then we collapsed each night at our hotel, Yaang Come Village, a jungle oasis in the heart of a big city - heaven!


Yaang Come Village Chiang Mai Thailand

So for now, those hexies are on hold till the next trip in a few months - still more to come.
Happy Quilting!



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12 comments:

  1. well you are braver than I - I know I wouldn't go overseas right now especially to Asia. But it looks like you had fun and got back home and have more memories to share. I can't believe those are watermelons in that one photo that are carved and so pretty as flowers!!

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  2. Glad you had a wonderful time and didn't get sick or quarantine. What gorgeous pictures you have shared. My sister-in-law is from Thailand.

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  3. I'm glad you made it home without any problems. Your pictures are lovely and I can see why you wanted to visit Thailand. In regard to your hexie flowers, I like your hubby's idea better. Depending on your project could you also add yellow flowers with a blue or red center?

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  4. Hi Susan! WOWEE - your photos are just gorgeous. I'm so glad to hear you had no issues at all. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne

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  5. Awesome photos! I like your hexi placement best, I don't think the values are too far off. It adds interest.

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  6. Looks like a lovely holiday and I'm glad you made it home without any problems!

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  7. Oh fun. It looks like an amazing trip. Glad you stayed healthy.

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  8. What a beautiful place to visit. I don't think I would be brave enough to risk such a trip at this time. I like your husband's choice for hexie centers.
    Pat

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  9. Looks like a fun trip. And look at those hexie patterns in you first picture from Thailand. I'm so impressed by your order in your cardboard, and eve used those hotel sewing kits. Thanks for the idea.

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  10. What a great trip! The colors are fab and so inspiring. I like both versions of the hexies, it will be fun to see what you decide!

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  11. Hi Susan, that sounds like a wonderful trip. I like hubby's colour choices. Good luck!

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  12. Wow! The trip of a lifetime! So glad you were able to make it happen!

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Thank you so much for commenting...you just made my day!