Hexagon Baby Quilt

Here is a custom baby quilt that I made last month.  The lady sent me a pic from Pinterest of a quilt that she liked.  I actually already had the acrylic template for it.  

It went together pretty fast.  I cut 2.5" strips and cut the half hexie template out of those.  

She also requested that I embroider the baby's name on it.  

I just did a simple meander quilting on it.  She seemed very pleased with it. 

Today mom, Everleigh and I headed to do some fabric shopping.  I had to pick up a few pieces for another customer quilt.  I'll post details on that in the next post.  We also looked for some bathroom tile but didn't find what I wanted.  :(  Anyway while we were out we stopped for lunch at Outback Steakhouse.  Look at this face on Everleigh!  LOL!  I guess her strawberries were sour.  She is such a great eater.  

She cracks me up! :)  

I also got a new laptop today so that should make posting regularly easier.  I found it hard to post from my cell phone.  

I'll also post some pics of my fabric all in the next post.  

 

Two New Quilters and Two New Blocks

 Took me all day to get two more blocks finished yesterday.  Feeling some better but still not good.  My day pretty much went like this....sew, bathroom, nap, sew, bathroom, nap.  LOL! 

 This is the first one of the day.  Hard to really tell from the pic but the coral squares have a silver metallic polka dot, so not my normal.  :)

 Next was the house block.  It went together pretty quick.  Total of 4 finished and I think they are up to block 12 or so.  I'm hoping today that I can actually get to the longarm.  I tried yesterday but I just couldn't do it. 

 Saved these little pieces from my cutoffs.  The 1.5" squares will go in my tub and the little triangle snippets will go to a new quilter...my little 3 yr old niece, Addie.

 The 2 new quilters that I mentioned in my title are my sister, Chantal and her little daughter, Addison.  This pleases me so much!  Mom is back to quilting so since she retired and you guys know that I always quilt and my sister hasn't shown any interest until now.  :)  Addie has a little toy sewing machine that goes with her Barbie's.  She pretends to sew and says, "I'm making a kilt"  LOL!  She's 3 so it comes out "kilt" instead of "quilt".  She then takes her little scraps and glues them to construction paper.  :)  So I am saving her all of my little snippets that are too small for me to use.  She glues faster than I can cut and sew so I'm having trouble keeping up with her.  She could go through a shoebox of snippets in a day easily.  Even at 3 she needs to be encouraged to be creative.  My plan is to buy her the little Janome machine when she gets a tad older.  For now I plan on getting her the toy Singer machine in the toy department.  She will love it!

 As far as Chantal, we were all out shopping and mom and I needed to stop by Joann's.  We were looking for a new thimble for mom and looked across the store and Chantal was looking at fabric.  So I nudged mom and the conversation went like this...
ME:                "ummm...mom, look"
MOM:            "what is she doing?"
ME:                "no clue, has she said anything?"
MOM:            "nope, go see why she is looking at fabric"
ME:                "whatcha looking at?"
CHANTAL:   "well, I don't know.  I was thinking that I might want
                        to make a hexagon quilt for Addie so that she will
                        have something that I've made."  

So then it was on!  LOL!  We were in that store forever!  :)  First we were trying to figure out what she had in mind and went with it.  This is her progress so far...

 She seems to be enjoying it.  We've told her that it is not a race and just do what you want, when you want.  It doesn't matter if it takes 6 months or 5 years to just enjoy the process.  :)  

In other quilty news... I had a good mail day yesterday too! 

 Both of these are from the Fat Quarter Shop.  The bundle on the left is for my stash.  I signed up for their monthly subscription of reproduction fabrics.  It's 12 fat quarters of a new line.  The other bundle is for a custom customer quilt that I have coming up in a few months but wanted to go ahead and order the fabric.  Sadly it is 5:45am and I don't remember the name of either and I'm not in the mood to climb the stairs.  LOL!  

Oh and one last thing...I talked to Addie last night on the phone and she asked that when I was feeling better if I would come down to her house and play baby zombies with her.  LOL!  That should be interesting.  Hehehehe!  I live on top of the hill and she lives 1 mile away at the bottom of the hill.  :)

The American Flag Quilt...

 Last night I got this awesome American Flag quilt loaded on the frame.  I got the quilting started but it was very hot up there so I stopped. 

 This belongs to a friend of mine.  It's not real big so it shouldn't take me just a few minutes to quilt it.  I'll finish it up this morning before it gets too hot up there and then I will remove it and do the binding today as well.

 I am quilting this with my Becker's Stars or Becker's Shooting Stars panto.  I don't exactly remember the name without going up there to look.  I am also quilting it with Navy Glide thread.

 I also got the binding all hand sewn down on Kellie's hexie quilt and she picked it up after Church yesterday.  She was very pleased with it and my brother was very proud of her. 

 Now for some awesome news!!!!  As most of you all know, I always have issues with my blood pressure and blood sugar.  I've been having a lot of issues for the past month or so.  Anyway, I have been trying really hard to get them both down.  Of course, I do take a ton of medication but they were both still high with the meds.  Yesterday morning when I got up my BP was great and my blood sugar was 109.  I haven't seen that number in I don't know how long.  Then when I checked it again mid-day I knew it was a lot lower because I was feeling shakey and it was 77!!!

 Pay no attention to the date and time as I never set that.  LOL!  Anyway, it was 77 which was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!  So much better than 500+.  I guess I was feeling shakey because my body is NOT used to it being normal.  LOL!  

Richard is off today and probably needs it.  He had a long day yesterday and worked his 12 hour shift and never even had lunch so he was starved by the time he got home.  I'm sure all nurses know that this happens a lot.  We are supposed to have storms most of the day today so he will be stuck in the house.  

So my plan for today is to quilt and bind the American Flag quilt and maybe even piece a few more of my Fancy Fox blocks.  Oh and I also pieced a few of my EPP casket shapes yesterday but forgot to get a pic of them. 

Trimming up...

 Yesterday I trimmed up my SIL's hexie quilt so that I could start on the binding.  I really didn't have to trim that much off.  I was planning on doing a scalloped edge on it but the hexies just didn't fall right and it would not come out even.  So I will be doing a straight edge.

 Trimming the other side...

 This is how the edges turned out before binding.  This morning I will sew the binding strips together and get them sewn on and then do the handwork. 

 Another pic of this beautiful quilt that she worked so hard on.  The binding is the same as the brown backing.

 Another pic of the back...

 I'm thinking that I am going to have to breakdown and buy a new cutting mat.  LOL!  I've had this one for several years.  This is one of the larger ones and most of the time I just use my rotating mat.

 I also cut a few scraps that will be used for my EPP.  I have a bunch already prepped but I will eventually need these as well.

 Yesterday was a long day!  I woke up at 3:30am wide awake after going to bed at 11:30pm.  No nap at all so by evening I was running low.  I did work on the above quilt, canned the kraut, and did a little cleaning.  

I ended up with 18 more quarts this morning so that makes a total of 64 quarts of kraut!  My house is already smelling like fermenting cabbage.  LOL!  

Today my plans are to mostly work on the binding of the hexie quilt.  I also have to run to town after Hunter gets up so that we can pick something up for Richard for Father's Day.  I also need to load a little Flag quilt on the frame.  I wanted to do that yesterday but it just didn't happen. 

I was thinking last night that after vacation I want to work on one of my UFO's.  I'm thinking I will finish up my Garlic Knots.  I don't even remember how many blocks that I have done.  I know that I have them all sewn together into a quilt top but if I remember correctly it just wasn't as large as I wanted it to be.  So I would like to finish it up soon.  I don't remember if I had decided to sew a border on it or not.  If I do, it will just be a straight border, nothing pieced.  I'll just have to wait and see once I dig it out.  I really liked how it was looking so I would like to finish it.  I would also like to schedule in a couple of my own quilt tops to be quilted.  I have my huge bowtie quilt that has thousands of little bowties in it and it still isn't quilted.  I would love to quilt it as soon as I can.  I will have to purchase a backing for it as I don't think I have one for it.  

It will still be a while before I can quilt one of mine as I believe that I have about 11 customer quilts waiting to be quilted and 3 of them are custom quilts that I have to piece and then quilt.  

I guess this is enough rambling... Richard just left for work and I need to get my Saturday started.  My silly rooster has been crowing since a little before 4am! 

 

This is going to be a busy day!

 Yesterday was a good productive day!  I got about half of this beautiful king size quilt top quilted!

 I am using a panto called, Mint Julep.  I love this panto and it is a big one...somewhere around 15" or so.  I don't remember exactly without looking at it. 

 I hope to get it finished today and off the frame.  I don't have to do the binding on this one.  I usually end up doing the binding on 90% of the quilts that I quilt and I do it by hand.  So that keeps me busy too.  I love doing binding.

 I also still need to square up and do the binding on that Hexie quilt from a couple of days ago.  Then I think I have a Flag quilt up next.  I will have to look at my planner to be sure on that.  The Flag quilt is small so I will do the quilting and binding in one day.  

My sister and I also stained mom's front porch and banisters yesterday before the storms hit in the afternoon.  Let me tell you, it was HUMID!  I came straight home, took some Motrin for my back and got in the shower.  LOL!  Now we have to wait for it to dry up so that we can do her HUGE back deck.  If I can remember I will take a pic because it's big.  I dread it.  LOL!  

While cooling down, I took a few minutes to prep more of these coffin shapes.  I'm loving these!  I have a few sewn together but not many.  Not really enough to show yet.  

 I better close this post as I have a lot to do today!  I have to run to town, finish that quilt and can some kraut!  Busy, busy, busy!

Finally!...this baby is off the frame!

 Finally!...this baby is off the frame!  Shew....it was on there way too long but all my fault.  This is the beautiful Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt made by my SIL, Kellie. 

 She worked on it on and off for about 2 years.

 I don't remember the exact size but it is a large Queen.  All fabrics in this quilt are from the Paisley Park collection and Warm & White batting.  This baby is heavy!

 A pic of the back.  I quilted it with the Lush Leaves panto.  Now to square the edges and get the binding on it.

 I also loaded another quilt top on the frame.  This one belongs to a lady from NC.  She brought me 7 KING size quilt tops to be quilted. 

 I'm going to try to get this one done before the weekend.  Her grandson will be here in KY this weekend and he is taking this back down to her.  The rest of them will be picked up by her daughter that lives here.  

Other than that, I did prep a few more of the coffin shapes and did a little bit of cleaning.  LOL!  As I mentioned before my MIL will be house sitting for us for a week and my house is a disaster!  LOL!  

Today will be a long day.  I have plans of working on this quilt, cleaning on my house and helping my sister stain my mom's front porch and back deck.  Chantal already started on the front porch yesterday but that back deck is huge!  No way of getting it all done in one day.  Hunter will be working for the neighbors again today.  I say neighbor but they live a mile away.  :)  I think today he will be weedeating around the edge of their pond and dam.  

***Comments on my last blog post.  Moneik, for some reason it will not let me respond to your comment....sorry.  Love, yours shows as "no-reply" so I can't respond to your comment either.  Sorry...but I do read and appreciate every one of them.

Blocks and Jam

 After a wonderful Church service yesterday I came home and worked on some blocks.  I ended up with 6 more blocks finished.  This makes 11 blocks and I need 25.  I'm loving these little blocks they go together so fast and easy.

 I was winding a bobbin and look what happened.  I've never had one to break before.  It was an old bobbin, original to the vintage machine so it was probably just worn out. 

 Then last night I settled in to work on more of my EPP.  I enjoy working on these. 

 Here is my stack that I already have in sets of two.  They add up pretty fast.

 Now let me catch you up on the rest of my day other than the above sewing...

We had a wonderful Church service yesterday.  By the time we got out of Church it was already in the mid-90's.  I thought I was going to have a heatstroke in Church it was so hot.  They never keep it cool in there because we have so many elderly members and they freeze.  LOL!  

After Church, I worked on the Fox blocks.  I got a couple of them done and ended up with a horrible headache.  You know one of those that you just have to lay down for a bit.  So I did that and after a bit it eased off.  Then I worked on a few more blocks and made some jam!  Yep!  Peach Cobbler Jam!  It tastes just like Peach Cobbler.  I ended up with 2 batches.

 While I was doing all of this, Richard and Hunter were working on building part of the back deck.  One of the benefits of owning a sawmill is endless lumber but just not enough time to use it.  LOL!  If you've read my blog for years you know that is how we built our house.  Anyway, the back deck was never put on.  It will go the full length of the house 40ft, just like the front porch does.  Right now they are only doing 20ft of it and then will do the rest of it soon.  So they almost got it floored yesterday, just need to finish that up and treat it.  Of course, that doesn't mean there are banisters or steps yet.  LOL!  It will come...

It was just too hot to be upstairs at the longarm so I worked on my fox blocks.  I'm hoping that today I can get up there and get that hexagon quilt finished.  I've had it on the frame way too long.  Now I will really have to rush extra hard to get things done before vacation.  Speaking of vacation...I will have to fill you all in on that soon. 

Quilting and Camping

 My weekend pretty much consisted of this!  LOL!  I had to pick it out because I had a big pleat in the backing.  No clue how I did that.  I've been longarming for about 9 years and this is a first and I'm hoping my last.  LOL!  I'm a little past the halfway point on it now.

 A closeup...

 Richard was off this weekend so Friday night he and Hunter spent some much needed father/son time together.  They went camping!  I stayed home and picked out that quilt.  LOL! 

 They set up camp in the middle of the woods.  They even built a little rustic bench.  LOL! 

 Hunter had a blast and so did Richard.  Next time I will go with them.

 So while they were camping I picked out that quilt and made some Peach Cobbler Jam.  Tastes just like peach cobbler!

 It's early Sunday morning now and I will be getting ready for Church soon.  I'm hoping that after Church I can get that quilt finished and either go ahead and load another one or piece more of the Fancy Fox blocks.  Busy, busy, busy...

GRRR.... I'm so aggravated.

 I can't begin to tell you how aggravated that I am right now!  I should have had this quilt finished days ago.  If you remember, I am on a tight schedule this month.  Look what I am doing now...picking it out!  Yep! 

 I've been a longarmer for 8 or 9 years now and never have I ever had a pleat on the back until now!  Wouldn't you know, it had to happen now.  I don't understand how on earth that I did that.  You can see it in the pic below, it's huge!  Yes, I do use my side clamps and smooth everything out very smooth and keep the right tension so again, no clue how I ended up doing this. 

 So I was halfway through this huge quilt when I noticed it and I am having to pick out the whole left side of the quilt all the way to the beginning row.  I am just sick!  I have it about halfway picked out.  I am days behind now on quilting.  Once I get it picked out and quilt it again on that whole side, you will never be able to tell it but right now I just don't have time for this.  LOL!  I've had a horrible time quilting this quilt and it's not the quilt, it's me!  Everything that has gone wrong with it has been my fault...I'm just aggravated.  

Early this morning I will be going to the grocery store and feed store then come back home and finish picking it out.  Looks like I am going to have to spend a few nights doing an "all-night quilt marathon" to get some of this stuff back on track and finished. 

 Enough about that mess.  I now have 5 of the fox blocks done.  They are so fast and easy to do.  I'm shooting for a total of 20 or 25...not really sure yet.  They go together so quickly that you could easily piece the baby quilt in a day. 

 My MIL called yesterday evening.  She had a doctor's appointment and called to tell us the results of that.  A few months ago she had a heart attack and stayed with us for a bit.  She came home with a life vest and was a little nervous I guess of being alone at that point.  She says that she feels a lot better now but yesterday they removed her life vest and told her that she needed a pacemaker.  That procedure will be done in 2 weeks.  The doctor said that it is usually an out-patient procedure but he is going to keep her overnight just because she lives a good distance from the hospital.  

Richard has already left for work and it is now almost 6am.  I better cut this post off now because I plan on leaving around 6:30am for the grocery store and feed store.  LOL!  I always do my shopping as early as I possibly can since I am already up.  That way I can get it done and get back home before the day is gone.  I end up doing most of my grocery shopping at Walmart, then head on to Food City to get some of their sale items.  The feed store opens at 8am so I can be back home well before 9am.  :)

Fancy Fox...Block 1

 So here is my first block of the Fancy Fox quilt.  Very fast and easy!  I am making this for a customer as she wants it for her grandson due in a few months.  I got it all cut out yesterday and did one block just to see how it was going to go.  Very easy block so it shouldn't take me long to piece the top.  I'll work on it a block or two at a time during the evenings.

 A little peak of my SIL, Kellie's quilt on the longarm.  I didn't get much of it quilted yesterday as I ended up with a really bad headache and had to stop.  So I'll have to hit it hard today.  I just love the texture on this.

 Richard and Andrew are both working today and Hunter is going to an amusement park with his girlfriend.  Shew....my baby is growing up.  I will spend the day cleaning and quilting.  Did I mention that my MIL is going to house sit for us when we go on vacation?  The sad thing is...the only rooms clean in my house right now are the laundry and the pantry!  LOL! 

Quilting Delay...

 Oh what a day!  Shew....my plan was to get half of this hexie quilt quilted yesterday and that didn't happen.  I mentioned before that I am on a very tight schedule this month so I really didn't need this delay.  :(

 After getting it loaded on the longarm all I was getting was thread breaks.  I quilted a pass of about 18" and broke thread 8 times during that.  I was just sick!  Long story short, I am quilting it with Warm & White batting and I had the wrong side of the batting up!  Yep!  Picked it out, flipped it over and sewed perfectly!!!  No breaks at all.  So basically all that I got done was I quilted ONE pass with the longarm and then it was time to fix supper and such.  
So now I'm behind a day and this is only the 6th of the month.  LOL!

Here is a better pic of my new EPP project, the coffins.  I will decide on a different name for this quilt because it sounds dreadful.  I think I'm going to really enjoy working on this one.  I have a few sewn in pairs, a few hundred prepped and more ready to prep. 

 Today will be spent at the longarm, or at least that is my plan.  This is a really big quilt so I am just hoping to get half of it quilted.  Richard is off today so I'm hoping that he doesn't have other plans for me.  LOL!  I need to quilt!