In this episode we look back at the 1-0 North London Derby win on Sunday, making it three in a row at the Toilet Bowl. We examine how, in the absence of key players, Mikel Arteta leaned into the Gunners' defensive strength to keep the opposition at bay – a demanding approach that asked a lot from every player on the pitch. We chat about missed opportunities, elements of the performance that weren't perfect, and a team that fights for each other in every aspect of the game. There's discussion of key moments, not least Gabriel's goal, and the importance of winning this one with the players we had available. Then we have questions about the Man City case, Bukayo Saka and his contributions at both ends, the tactics we deployed, and lots more.

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In this episode we look back at the 2-2 draw with Man City on Sunday, discussing the early stages of the game in which the home side dominated, before we talk about the moments that changed the game. Rodri's injury seemed to spark Arsenal into life, and we scored twice through Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel to go 2-1 up, before another contentious red card decision saw us play the second half with 10 men. We chat about that sending off, the heroic defensive effort, the late equaliser, and whether or not this game signified a shift in the rivalry between the two sides. Then there are questions about Myles Lewis-Skelly, our potential Carabao Cup team, David Raya, Gabriel Jesus and lots more.

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In this Interlull episode we chat about the Arsenal players who have been on international duty, including Bukayo Saka who has returned home after picking up a small injury with England. There's discussion of Martin Odegaard amid rumours of a set-back, a little chat about a difficult week for Arsenal Women, and Graeme Souness's comments about Arsene Wenger. Then in part two we answer questions about over-saturation of football, the introduction of half-time interviews from next season, more legal wrangling, and because it's an Interlull there's an abundance of other nonsense involving James' dramatic reading of song lyrics, sandwiches, sweetcorn, wormholes, and lots more.

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In this episode of the Arsenal Women Arsecast Tim and Jamie pore over the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday and try to dissect how to separate this result and performance from the wider funk that Arsenal seem to be in. Did Arsenal just 'get varianced'? And is it possible to separate that from the wider malaise? Tim and Jamie talk about the defending on the goals conceded and whether a lack of confidence in attack had an impact on the result with more than one proven player low on confidence. In the second half, Tim and Jamie deal with listener questions on Rosa Kafaji and the lack of integration for young players, on Clare Wheatley's role and whether more communication from 'upstairs' is needed at the club and on the delicate balance between rotation and trying and failing to find partnerships that work.

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In this episode I'm joined by Phil Costa to talk about Arsenal's 1-0 win over Shaktar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. We discuss team selection, and a game which probably should have been more emphatic for the Gunners based on first half chances. Then we chat about the second half drop-off, analyse the potential reasons for that, discuss some individuals like Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, fret about the potential injury to Riccardo Calafiori, wonder why we haven't seen a bit more of Ethan Nwaneri of late and lots more.

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• A hilarious “mockumentary” about a small town beauty pageant that turns deadly as it becomes clear that someone will go to any lengths to win. Starring Denise Richards, Ellen Barkin & Kristin Dunst. The theatre (along w/co-sponsor The Light Factory) will even have its own beauty contests following the film, with chances to win fabulous prizes.

• The clarinet takes center stage as the Blue Ridge Chamber Players and clarinetist John Sadak perform 20th century works including Prokofieff’s beloved Overture on Hebrew Themes and Alan Shulman’s Rendezvous, written for the King of Swing, Benny Goodman. The program concludes with American composer Charles Griffin’s homage to Irish and Appalachian folk music, Weaving Olden Dances, in a new arrangement commissioned by Charlotte Chamber Music.  **Evening concert includes a wine & cheese reception in the Carillon lobby.

• The Office of International Programs at UNC Charlotte, along with the World Affairs Council of Charlotte, coordinates a local community lecture series annually. Each week a local expert from nearby colleges and universities provides additional perspective on the topic of interest and answers questions regarding the information presented in the Briefing Book and through the lecture. Tonight, Dr. James Walsh, UNC Charlotte will discuss the Global Governance as part of the series. He is Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Political Science Department, as well as the Director of the Center for Terrorism, Intelligence and Security Policy @ UNC Charlotte,. He received his doctorate in international relations from American University. For more information or to register to attend, click below.

• This photographic exhibition explores the role of women during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Women fought as soldiers. They travelled with armies performing the work of nurses, cooks and aids. They were also victims of the fighting. The exhibition is made possible with special permission from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México and support from the Friends of Art at Queens.

• The timeless story of Camille is retold in Verdi’s classic of a Parisian courtesan who surrenders to love. Based on the true romance of Alexander Dumas and Marie Duplessis, La Traviata (the fallen woman) tells the story of Paris’ most famous courtesan, Violetta Valéry, who leaves her destructive life to live with her first real love, Alfredo Germont. But social bias and Violetta’s failing health turn love to tragedy and remorse. Get swept up in grandeur of one of the world’s most beloved operas – La Traviata. Performances also 2/5 & 6.

• Broadcaster, author, advocate, publisher and philanthropist Tavis Smiley currently hosts the late night television talk show, Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show, distributed by Public Radio International, as well as Tavis Smiley Reports,  four hour-long primetime TV specials also on PBS. He is the first American to simultaneously host signature talk shows on both public television and public radio. In 2009, Tavis Smiley was named one of TIME’s 100 “Most Influential People in the World.” For more information, call: 704 687-5323

• Tonight is the third of an ongoing evening event series that will be held the first Friday of every month at the new Mint Museum Uptown (500 South Tryon Street). Each First Friday centers on a different theme and features hands-on art activities for all ages, live entertainment, gallery tours, and refreshments.

• The Symphony welcomes guest conductor Maximiano Valdes, violinst Elena Urioste, and Metropolitan Ballroom dancers Clement Joly &Tatiana Kazakova to the KnightSounds stage for Tangos & Tapas, a program of exotic music from four Latin countries – Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The sensuous rhythms will inspire you to kick up your own heels at the post-concert salsa dance party, featuring salsa band Orquesta Mayor, in the new Mint Museum. Meet new friends, mingle with musicians, and experience the orchestra in a whole new way.

• Family Day provides special museum tours and hands-on art activities for children of all ages. Art projects take place from noon to 4:30 p.m. in the museum’s classroom and video gallery. Family-friendly tours are offered on the hour from noon until 4 p.m. and highlight the exhibition Four Artists in Ascona: Benazzi, Bissier, Nicholson and Valenti, which opened January 21.

• During Open Studio Saturdays artists work in their studios with the doors open.  It is an opportunity for the public to meet the artists and learn about their art as well as view the current exhibition. 

• The trio first met in England while studying with iconic King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. After touring together as part of Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists, the three guitarists convened in Los Angeles and founded The California Guitar Trio. Their music has been featured extensively on NPR, NBC’s Olympics coverage, and various CBS, CNN, and ESPN TV programs.

• This special screening showcases a new documentary, “Jail, No Bail”, about the Civil Rights sit-ins that took place in Rock Hill, SC in 1961. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Charles Jones, David Williamson, and others who took part in the historic events. Presented in partnership with South Carolina ETV and The Culture & Heritage Museums.  RSVP to 704.333.1887 ext. 501 or rsvp@museumofthenewsouth.org.

• Guillermo Bill will be playing the music….come and enjoy an afternoon of fun filled tango, milonga and vals.

The discovery of an impeccably preserved Celtic burial chamber in southern Germany is a "stroke of luck for archaeology," scientists say.

The clonal quaking aspen known as Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks in North America overnight from Nov. 17 to 18, with fast-moving fireballs possible in US skies.

An analysis looking at the hand bones of australopithecines, apes and humans reveals that tool use likely evolved before the Homo genus arose.

An artist's rendering of a black hole

Show notes for Episode #3: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: Also in this episode, I discuss the five things you must believe cultivate your DIY music attitude, including: 1. The business has been lying to you. Major label artists are not getting rich off of record sales. Radio is fake. Don’t belive […]

Did you know that advanced threat actors can infiltrate the identity systems of major organizations and extract sensitive data within days? It’s a chilling reality, becoming more common and concerning by the day. These attackers exploit vulnerabilities in SaaS and cloud environments, using compromised identities to move laterally within networks, causing widespread damage. Cybersecurity and IT

This week was a total digital dumpster fire! Hackers were like, "Let's cause some chaos!" and went after everything from our browsers to those fancy cameras that zoom and spin. (You know, the ones they use in spy movies? ????️‍♀️) We're talking password-stealing bots, sneaky extensions that spy on you, and even cloud-hacking ninjas! ???? It's enough to make you want to chuck your phone in the ocean.

Google has warned that a security flaw impacting its Android operating system has come under active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-43093, has been described as a privilege escalation flaw in the Android Framework component that could result in unauthorized access to "Android/data," "Android/obb," and "Android/sandbox" directories, and their respective

Over 1,500 Android devices have been infected by a new strain of Android banking malware called ToxicPanda that allows threat actors to conduct fraudulent banking transactions. "ToxicPanda's main goal is to initiate money transfers from compromised devices via account takeover (ATO) using a well-known technique called on-device fraud (ODF)," Cleafy researchers Michele Roviello, Alessandro Strino

Defending your organization’s security is like fortifying a castle—you need to understand where attackers will strike and how they’ll try to breach your walls. And hackers are always searching for weaknesses, whether it’s a lax password policy or a forgotten backdoor. To build a stronger defense, you must think like a hacker and anticipate their moves. Read on to learn more about hackers'

The difficulty of this weeknotes things is that entire weeks can go by without anything interesting happening. That’s…

The new 2024-25 COVID vaccines are available, so FunkyPlaid and I got ours on Friday. Because we went to a pharmacy, my health insurance didn’t cover them, so I had to use funds from my HRA. (We could have waited until our medical provider had appointments, but that would have been late September or early October — and with travel coming up soon, I was unwilling to wait.)

It is bizarre and enraging to see how agencies supposedly dedicated to public health are flailing in this moment. I’m extremely fortunate to have a job that provides health insurance, an HRA, and sick leave, and I can afford KN95 masks and rapid antigen tests. What about people who are uninsured or underinsured?

I know it’s a bummer to read this, but it’s a bigger bummer to try to survive during yet another COVID surge. Let’s take care of our health, for ourselves and for our communities.

Concentrating on

This time of year is Planner Season, when the 2025 planners are released and people like me (and maybe you too) gobble them up and then spend the rest of this year hoping that next year we have lives exciting enough to plan.

Ever the optimist, my planner line-up for 2025 is:

• For my personal planner, daily log, habit tracker, reading journal, and commonplace book, I’ll be trying the Sterling Ink Common Planner in their new N1 size, which fits inside a Traveler’s Notebook. I’m currently using a Hobonichi Weeks, which is 95mm x 186mm; the N1 size is 110mm x 210mm.
• For my work planner, the Wonderland 222 A5 Weekly Planner has been working well for me this year, so I’ll try it again in 2025.

Cultivating

✍???? Drafting two stories, one for performance (I hope ????????) and one for a collection.

???? Still knitting that gift for someone.

???? Food I made that was yummy:

• Peperonata with peppers from a coworker’s CSA box, plus peppers from our own CSA box. CSA boxes are great!
• Gluten-free vegan apple crisp. I am not a huge fan of apples in their primary form; I prefer them as a cinnamon delivery device. So this recipe from Minimalist Baker, apples chopped up and baked with oats and sugar? That works.
• Sliced heirloom tomatoes on toast spread thinly with mayonnaise. Truffle salt if you’re feeling fancy. (I was.)

???????? Learning Italian with Duolingo.

???? The workweek was short because of the holiday on Monday, but also long because of everything. I’m still trying to create better boundaries around that.

Consuming

????️ One of my planner pals shared a sample of Bungukan Kobayashi’s Yagentoshiro Reflex Violet, a dusky blue with iridescent purple shimmer.

???? “girlfriend” by Hemlocke Springs is on repeat on my brain radio.

???? You don’t need to be a Rolling Stones fan to enjoy the “I Can’t Get No Legal Action” episode of the Judge John Hodgman podcast.

???? Still working my way through the crossword puzzle books I’ve hoarded and enjoying the daily Cross|word on Puzzmo. Also, Minute Cryptic is quite humbling.

???? One last episode of “Fargo” to go, then we’ll start the latest season of “Slow Horses”.

???? What I’m reading and quoting:

• “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler: “The great and terrible thing about humankind is simply this: we will always do what we are capable of.”

Some links

From “What would an adequate COVID response look like?” by Julia Doubleday:

Right now, state representatives are deliberately avoiding mention of COVID, while propagandizing the safety of infection and/or the end of the pandemic by refusing to mask. It is hard to imagine how successful a pandemic response might be if public officials were actually trying to end the pandemic. We quite literally have public health and political and media figures working to hide three pieces of critical information: public knowledge of the virus, public knowledge of mitigation measures that would reduce viral spread, and public knowledge of the severity of the virus (which would motivate desire to reduce viral spread).

Other links:

• NaNoWriMo Shits The Bed On Artificial Intelligence (Chuck Wendig)
• Why Goblin Mode Is the New Self-Care Routine (Cleveland Clinic)
• 2024 Winners of the 17th Annual iPhone Photography Awards

One more thing

Today I’m journaling about this quote from Seneca: “Life, if well lived, is long enough.”

Look at this absolutely good girl: my canine sister, Willa.

Concentrating on

Rest, relaxation, and quality time with loved ones! We’re visiting family in Pennsylvania this week and attending a wedding in Kentucky on Friday.

When packing, I restricted myself to three notebooks and three pens because I tend to overpack and then immediately regret as I am schlepping around a stationery store in my backpack.

Cultivating

✍???? Drafting two (very different) stories. I’m looking forward to time off work to let my creative writing brain percolate.

???? Food I made that was yummy:

• Pork chops in garlic mushroom sauce, with mashed potatoes and salad on the side. I am not a huge fan of pork chops, but I got them in our CSA box, so I looked for a recipe that incorporated other things I am a huge fan of, like garlic and mushrooms.

???????? When my brain is full of Italian, I switch over to music lessons in Duolingo. It’s fun!

???? No.

Consuming

????️ Only three pens means only three inks: De Atramentis Charles Dickens, Sailor Manyo Hinoki, and Robert Oster Sydney Lavender.

???? I heard “White Gloves” by Khruangbin for the first time in a while and forgot how much I enjoy their music.

???? Recently FunkyPlaid and I tried to watch the show “Kaos” and lasted about ten minutes. I had listened to the Pop Culture Happy Hour episode on the show and thought I might enjoy it.

???? No time for games this week. I’m looking forward to some Puzzmo!

???? We started watching “My Brilliant Friend”, the adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet, which I read last year and loved.

???? What I’m reading and quoting:

• “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler: “How we see the world matters — but knowing how the world sees us also matters.”

Some links

• I love Tracy Durnell’s latest weeknotes post. I’m not even mad at how it makes me feel like I’ve done absolutely nothing in comparison. ????
• Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars (Albert Burneko)
• Firefly Atlas: I’m eager to see fireflies while I’m here, so I’m doing some research.

One more thing

I was a bit anxious to travel during a COVID surge, so in addition to getting the new vaccine as soon as I could, I invested in a Flo Mask Pro to wear in airports, planes, and any other crowded spaces. I’m so glad I did; it was very comfortable to wear all day, once I got used to how it felt. My glasses didn’t fog up at all, which is a minor miracle. I did get some looks (you know the kind) but that was a small price to pay for a greater chance of avoiding Covid and/or Long Covid. I only saw a handful of other people masked.

TJ Klune's Somewhere Beyond the Sea is down four positions, ending the week at number 5. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play is down one spot, finishing the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is down one position, ending the week at number 9. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing is down four positions, ending the week at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing debuts at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is up one position, ending the week at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is up five positions, ending the week at number 7. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Stephen King's Holly is down four spots, finishing the week at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Rebecca Yarros' Iron Flame is up three positions, ending the week at number 6. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

TJ Klune's Somewhere Beyond the Sea is down three positions, ending the week at number 8. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play is down five spots, finishing the week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

In paperback:

Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing mtaintains its position at number 1. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses maintains its position at number 3. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Mist and Fury is down four positions, ending the week at number 11. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Raven Kennedy's Goldfinch debuts at number 14. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

Stephen King's Holly maintains its position at number 15. For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.

The Usenix LISA conference is no more. After 35 years, I have a lot of good (and some not good) memories of the conference. It was a big part of my career and I'm sad to see it go. However I'm proud of what LISA accomplished.

I wrote my personal reflections on the conference in a new article published on the Usenix website. Warning: this article includes some over-sharing.

Read it here: LISA made LISA obsolete (That's a compliment!)

1. “Wir müssen uns von der Vorstellung lösen, dass Journalismus gleichbedeutend mit Content ist” (journalist.de, Leif Kramp & Stephan Weichert) Bei journalist.de ist ein lesenswertes Interview mit dem US-amerikanischen Journalismus-Experten Jeff Jarvis erschienen, der gleich in der ersten Antwort ziemlich direkt wird: “Während wir die US-Wahlen durchlaufen, frage ich mich, ob es Zeit ist, den […]

B3ta newsletter 928, out now "FRANKIE SAYS EX-LAX: SHART THE UNEMPLOYED" This Week: * ARE HOLIDAYS GOOD? - find out now * IMAGE CHALLENGE - sitcom monster mashup results * CONTROL PACMAN - with your own face, at last

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $52.66 million grant to fund a major infrastructure upgrade to the Simons Observatory in the Atacama Desert of Chile. Upgrades are expected to take about five years; the resulting facility will be known as the Advanced Simons Observatory (ASO).

Amichai Feit had known Seema Jayachandran as a Twitter-famous development economist.  She became Feit’s senior thesis advisor for a policy-analysis project that included economic field research in India.

Princeton's 'extremely supportive' environment for new ideas laid the foundation for an aha moment about a toggle switch in the fruit fly brain. Do humans have one, too? 

Professor Wendy Laura Belcher and a primarily Ethiopian team of researchers and translators have brought new insight and access to Marian miracle stories — all now available on a website.

Events this fall include a sold-out conversation with Icelandic-Chinese recording artist Laufey.

Physical chemist Giacinto Scoles, Princeton’s Donner Professor of Science, Emeritus, died in Sassenheim, the Netherlands, on Sept. 25 with his wife of nearly 60 years at his side. He was 89.

Princeton University will present the honors at Alumni Day, scheduled for Feb. 22, 2025.

Voting registration rates among Princeton undergraduate and graduate students have more than doubled largely thanks to the program.

In order to make AO3's rules clearer to our users, we intend to update the AO3 Terms of Service (TOS) in mid-November 2024. Once this occurs, all users will need to agree to the updated TOS to continue using AO3. The full text has been posted for public review, as well as a detailed explanation of what has (and hasn't) changed:

• AO3 Terms of Service: 2024 Update Guide
• AO3 Terms of Service: 2024 Draft
• AO3 Terms of Service FAQ: 2024 Draft

Summary of changes

As part of reorganizing the TOS for better clarity, the new TOS is structured differently than the old one. A detailed explanation of what was changed and why is available in the update guide. These are the highlights:

• We've clarified the Content Policy, but we haven't changed what works are or are not allowed. If your fanwork was allowed on AO3 before, then it is still allowed.
• The TOS has been split into three pages (General Principles, Content Policy, and Privacy Policy). This should make it easier to find what you're looking for when you want to know about a specific part of the TOS.
• We've simplified the language throughout the TOS and removed redundant or overly specific phrases and passages. When longer explanations would help to provide clarity, we've added new questions to the TOS FAQ instead.
• We've updated the descriptions of how we and our subprocessors collect and process user information (including personal information) in the Privacy Policy.
• The Abuse Policy has been generalized to provide the AO3 Policy & Abuse committee with greater flexibility to determine how to address TOS violations, while still providing protections for fanworks in accordance with AO3's mission.
• The "Underage" Archive Warning, which is used for works that depict or describe underage sex, is being renamed to "Underage Sex". This does not change the meaning of this warning or how it is enforced. When the TOS update occurs, all works with the "Underage" Archive Warning will be recategorized automatically to display the new "Underage Sex" Archive Warning label instead. If you have a work that carries the "Underage" warning and you don't want it to display the "Underage Sex" label, you can replace it with the "Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings" label at any time.

You can read the proposed changes and comment here on this news post with any questions, suggestions, or feedback you might have about the new TOS or TOS FAQ. Comments will remain open until November 18th, 2024. After comments close, the Board of Directors for the OTW (the Organization for Transformative Works, which is AO3's parent organization) will vote on the proposed changes to the Terms of Service. If the Board votes in favor, the Terms of Service will be updated and all users will be required to agree to the new TOS to continue using AO3.

To make your opinion heard prior to the Board vote, make sure to submit your comments here before November 18th.

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ETA: We appreciate that all of you have many ideas, but please keep in mind that the Policy & Abuse committee handles AO3 rules, not AO3 features. If you have ideas for a feature (for example, improvements you want to see to Search and Filtering), please contact the Support committee about them instead. We won't be responding to feature requests on this news post.

This is the first solo exhibition of my work! I am very pleased and honored that the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum offered me a show in their new Local Artist Exhibit Program's first-floor Landmarks Gallery.

Every Child Should Have Her Own Tree, hand-dyed, beaded, embroidered fabric collage

I hope some of you will be able to come see my work, as well as the work of the other two featured quilt artists in the upper floor galleries.
A couple of readers have contacted me asking if the above work, or any of the other pieces will be for sale...  Nope, afraid not... exhibition only, although the museum's excellent gift shop does carry my books.

As followers may recall, I started hand stitching hexies for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt in March, 2012... three years ago. Watching my friend, Christy, basting sweet, reproduction fabrics around paper forms, making little stacks of 3/4-inch hexagons, I just couldn't resist! These Beadlust posts show the various steps to making the quilt top and the start of  hand-quilting in more detail than this post.

Although I'm still hand-quilting, the end is in sight now. I'm hoping to finish in time for our County Fair in August.

In this post, I thought it might interest you to look at how much time it takes to complete each of the steps in hand piecing and quilting a 3/4" hexie quilt, and the total number of hours involved. I'm basing time estimates for all of the repetitive steps on how long it takes me to do a large number in one sitting, after having practiced... in other words, at my best speed.

Step 1 - Planning the Quilt and Getting Fabrics - time: 20 hours

I decided to make a version of the traditional 1930's Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that is less common than the one with a path or ring around each of the flowers. I chose this design. Note the green hexie leaves, which form a vertical-horizontal grid.


The final size is 72 x 92 inches, a comfortable size for a twin bed, a total of 4,694 hexies. I wanted to use as many different fabrics in this quilt as possible.

• flowers = 280 different print fabrics with any background color except green or white.
• leaves = 150 different print fabrics in green
• flower centers (repeats OK) = 25 different solids
• double border = 1 print + 1 solid

Although I had collected 30's reproduction fabrics for a few years, I certainly needed more. From a selection of fabrics given to me, fabrics purchased in an eBay auction, and my stash, I found enough to make each of the flowers unique. Although there were not enough greens to make the leaves unique, I had about 60 different green prints, such that each is not repeated more than 3 times in the quilt. So, in the end the quilt includes more than 360 unique fabrics!

Step 2 - Wash and Iron all of the Fabrics - time: 15 hours

Yikes! A few of the fabrics I wanted to use were already washed; most were not. Knowing it should be consistent, and worrying that the reds might bleed, I decided to pre-wash and iron all of the fabrics. Doing this step in stages, as I acquired fabrics, I'm not really sure how long it took, perhaps quite a bit more than the above estimate.

Step 3 - Cutting and Trimming all of the Hexies - time: 28 hours

For each of the  4,694 hexies, I cut a 2" square of fabric, and trimmed off the four corners. Of course, I cut and trimmed in multiples, except for a few that I fussy cut individually. Again, since I did this step in stages, the above time estimate is a bit rough.

Step 4 - Basting the Fabric to the Paper Hexie Forms - time: 235 hours

Once I learned that using YLI quilting thread for basting makes it go much faster than using regular sewing thread, I was able to baste 20 hexies per hour.

Step 5 - Stitching Hexies Together to Make Flowers - time: 105 hours

Averaging 2.5 complete flowers per hour, it took me about two and a half 40-hour-work-weeks to whip-stitch all 238 full and 42 partial flowers. There are 14-17 whip-stitches per 3/4 inch seam.

Step 6 - Stitching a White Hexie Ring Around 130 of the Flowers - time: 130 hours

On average, it takes me 1 hour to whip-stitch 12 white hexies around each flower.

Step 7 - Layout Flowers for Quilt Top; Note Position on Each - time: 4 hours

I didn't fuss too much about the layout, spreading out the flowers randomly, making sure the red ones were evenly spaced, and that no areas were overly dominated by one color. Assigning each row a letter and each position within the row a number, I marked each flower on the back (writing on the center paper piece).

Step 7a - Half Flowers and Double Border All Around - time 90 hours

This is an update, added Feb. 2018. (I can't believe I forgot this important step when writing the original time line.) To make 42 partial flowers to fill in the gaps around the edges of the top, I cut fabrics, basted hexies, joined petals, and then stitched the partials into the gaps. To make the outer border, I made 522 individual hexies, stitched them into rows, and then stitched the rows onto the top.

Step 8 - Sew Flowers into Small Groups - time: 90 hours

To assemble the quilt top, I grouped 8-12 flowers, and whip-stitched them into a solid piece. There were 30 pieces, which took about 3 hours each to complete.

Step 9 - Sew Small Groups Together to Complete Quilt Top - time: 123 hours

I first sewed the small groups into rows, then stitched the rows together. As the sections got larger, the stitching took longer, making it difficult to estimate the time with total accuracy. I did a couple of time tests at different stages of the process in order to figure the above total. I completed this step on March 1st, 2013, one year after basting the first hexie.

Step 10 - Iron/Starch Top, Remove Papers and Basting Stitches - time: 33 hours

Removing all the basting stitches and papers took a lot longer than I would have guessed. But when I look at the pile of basting threads, it begins to make sense.

Step 11 - Assemble Quilt Layers, and Baste - time: 12 hours

Christy and Lunnette helped me layout the back, batting, and top on the floor; then baste in a 4 inch grid. I think we pinned it first, then basted, then removed the pins. On our knees for most of the time, it sure was wonderful to have their help!

Step 10 - Quilt and Embroider the Flower Centers - time: 70 hours

Choosing a floss in a similar color to each flower center, I embroidered a flower. Intentionally, some of the stitches act as quilting stitches, while others slip between the layers and don't show on the back. Around the edges of the quilt, it took about 15 minutes per flower center. Toward the middle of the quilt, it took about 20 minutes per flower center.

Step 11 - Quilt Flower Petals - time: 106 hours

Quilting around the petals of each flower requires turning the quilt 270 degrees for each petal, which is why it takes at least 20 minutes per flower, longer toward the middle of the quilt when the whole weight of the quilt must be constantly shifted. There are 238 whole and 42 partial flowers. I'm figuring an average of 25 minutes per whole and 10 minutes per partial flower.

Step 12 - Quilt Around White Rings - time: 65 hours

Like quilting the flower petals, quilting around the outside edge of each of the 130 white rings requires turning the whole quilt as I work, which adds a lot to the time it takes. I believe quilting the entire top in a diagonal grid of straight lines would take about half the time it takes to follow the curved, zig-zagging path of the hexie flowers, leaves, and rings.

Step 13 - Quilt Around Each of the Leaves - time: 79 hours

Not only does this step require turning the quilt as I stitch 360 degrees around each leaf, it also requires knotting and burying the tail at the start and finish of each leaf. Also I'm changing color of thread to more or less match the fabric color for each set of 4 leaves. Around the edge, it takes about 9 minutes per leaf; toward the center 11 minutes per leaf. There are 474 leaves total, at an average of 10 minutes/leaf.

Step 14 - Assemble Hexies for the Border Facing - time: 37 hours

To face the double (print + blue) border on the back of the quilt requires 522 hexies. To sew them together, forming the border strips, takes about 1 hour per 14 hexies.

Step 15 - Trim Backing and Batting; Blind-stitch Facing to Border - time: 13 hours

There are 264 hexies around the outside edge of the quilt top. Since I have not done this step yet, the time estimate (blind-stitching 20 hexies together per hour) is somewhat rough.

Step 16 - Remove Paper Pieces and Basting from Border and Facing - time: 10 hours

Again, since I have not done this step yet, the time estimate is based on the time it took to remove paper pieces and basting threads from the quilt top.

Step 17 - Blind-stitch Facing to Quilt Back - time: 13 hours

Step 18 - Quilt Around Print Fabric Border - time: 13 hours

Step 19 - Blanket Stitch Around Outside Edge of Quilt - time: 10 hours

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Total Time to Complete Hand-Piecing the Quilt Top: 873 hours

This is equivalent to nearly 20 weeks or 5 months on a 40 hours/week job. It took me a year. Mostly the time flew by as I basted and hand-stitched the little hexies together. Always there was a new print to enjoy, a new stack mounting in size to admire, a growing quilt top to thrill me.

Total Time to Complete Hand-Quilting: 428 hours

Since this job isn't completed yet, the time is only a rough estimate, based on the times it took to do some of the already completed steps. In all, hand quilting will take the equivalent to 10 or 11 weeks of full-time work. I find the quilting rather very boring. After taking a break for more than a year, I started working on it again and hope to be finished by August this year. Audio books are the answer to the tedium for me.

Total Time, Start to Finish: 1,301 hours

With Steps15-19 still to complete, the total is a rough estimate. Still, it is obvious that making a quilt like this, start to finish, requires more than 1,300 hours or the equivalent of over 8 months of full time work. If I were to be paid only minimum wages (2015, Seattle, WA - $11/hr.), the cost of the quilt would be $14,311 + about $500 in materials, or a total of $14,800.  Good thing I intend to keep and use it myself!

UPDATE, July 4, 2016

By June, 2015, I completely finished one corner, an area big enough to photograph so I could submit an entry form to the 2015 La Conner Quilt Festival, sponsored by the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum. On August 7th, 2015, I received notice that it was juried into the show. Wow! That sent me into high gear for sure. After working non-stop, 7 days a week, and an average of 10 hours per day, I inserted my needle into that quilt for the last/final time on Aug. 24th, 2015, just days before delivering it to the museum. It took me 3 years and 3 months, start to finish!


I was surprised, honored, and incredibly pleased to find out it won the Curator's Award of Excellence, one of the top awards, which then qualified it to be shown at the museum for the month following the Festival. Note, the finished size is 71 x 93 inches, and there are 4,700 individual hexagons in it.


Big work for both hands, but sooooo satisfying!


In fact it was so satisfying that I've started another hexie quilt... Can you believe it? So far, I've made 733 hexie flowers for it! Although they are the same size hexies, there are no reproduction fabrics and the arrangement will be anything but traditional. Don't know why I love the hexagon shape so much... but it's certain that I do.

The quilting community is awesomely generous!!!  Thanks to all who have sent me scraps for making hexie flowers:


I really understand and appreciate that it takes time to sort through your scraps, selecting some that you feel might work for me, packing them to send, getting them to the post office. In some cases, you even took time to cut them into 2" squares for me... WOW! Bless your hearts!

The most interesting thing is that all the fabrics I've received so far are ones I might have picked myself, yet so far there are no duplicates. As of Oct. 19th, I have cut petal sets for about 650 flowers (from my own scraps and fat quarter stash, as well as scraps I've received from other quilters), all of them unique! That's about 90% of what I need to make the quilt, and certainly enough to keep me busy for a looooooong time. It will probably take me a year or so to baste and stitch all of the flowers, although I admit to going at it with a lot of gusto.