This and That

Yesterday I had to take Hunter to see his podiatrist because he has been having a lot of pain in his left foot.  He has special made inserts that he has to wear all of the time and I had just bought him a new pair of Nike's last week so I figured it was because of the new shoes.  She said he was having the pain because of a growth plate in the heal area that was strained, irritated, and inflamed.  So he is now on crutches for 10-14 days.  She told him that it would not get better unless he stayed off of it.  This is only day 2 and he is about to go crazy!  :(  He is very active so it is hard on him not to be outside running through the woods.  He went back to school today and he hated it.  To make him feel a little better last night I put some camo duct tape on his crutches and made him a little pouch that attaches to one of them so that he can carry his little cars and such around.  :)  Today he said that his friends thought his "camo crutches" were cool.  Things we do to make our kids feel better....

I'm still plugging along on my quilts...here is my Hugs & Kisses.  I only have a little over half of the blocks made.  In the end, I'm hoping for a king size quilt.  

A few more of the blocks...

I'm still working on the hand applique on my Dresden's during the evening while sitting with the family.  

A few of my Butterscotch Pie blocks.  Only one of these are actually sewn together.  The others are just on the design wall so that I could lay them out and spread my colors around.  

A close up of the ONE that is completely sewn together.  

That's all for tonight, I have to run downstairs to get ice for Hunter's foot.  A mother's job is never done...
Kristie

Sewing Right Along...

 I've tried for a couple of days to get this post up.  My Internet is coming and going and will not stay on long enough to do much.  So this morning I finally got 3 photos loaded for this post.  

The weather here has been pretty nice and you can tell that Spring will soon be here.  Saturday was my birthday and we spent most of the day outside having a little cookout with the family.  It was so nice to be outside and not freezing to death.  Actually I got a sunburn!  :)  I think today it is only supposed to be in the 50's.

I still haven't finished that antique quilt that I have on the frame.  I worked just a little more on it since my last post and look at what I am dealing with now!  LOL!  The border issues that I mentioned before, I just took a big pleat in them and went on.  That was the best that I could do with it.  I don't even have a clue what to do on these stars.  I'm thinking that I may unroll it a little and take my ironing mat and starch/steam these to see if I can get them to shrink a little.  Of course you can see that I will probably still need to pleat these too.  

I've also been working on my Hugs and Kisses quilt.  Here are a few of the blocks up on the design wall.  I have somewhere close to 35 blocks finished.  That would put me a little over halfway.  It will be a king size in the end, I really like large quilts....maybe that is why I have so many UFO's.  I want to make them big and then I lose interest in them because it takes so long.  :)

I have oodles more strip sets to press and subcut.  I also have several more to sew together.  

 After I get this baby finished, I want to get back to my Butterscotch Pie quilt.  I also have another one that I want to start....I know I need to start another quilt!  LOL!  I've been trying to be good, I finished my string quilt and I will also have this Hugs and Kisses finished so that would be okay, right?  :)  

I guess that is all for this morning...
Kristie

Quilting an antique top...

Shewwww....it has been a long day of quilting.  First off let me start with the quilt that I had loaded on the frame in my last post.  I had mentioned that I was afraid that I might have some problems with it because the border fabric was not quilting fabric but upholstery fabric and also the backing was a very tight weaved bed sheet.  I use bed sheets all of the time but this one was very tight and stiff.  Anyway, I got it quilted and would you believe that it quilted up just fine!!!  I didn't have any skips or problems of any kind.  I had 2 thread breaks in the whole quilt but both times were my fault.  I already did the binding and returned the quilt to its owner yesterday.  

 I loaded my next one on the frame and it has been very slow going.  Right now I'm at a dead stop and probably will not pick it back up until tomorrow....maybe.  :(  This quilt belongs to a friend of mine and as you can see it is an antique top that has been hand pieced.  It has pleats and puckers all over it.  I dreaded quilting it when I first saw it but silly me decided to do it anyway.  Now I wish that I hadn't.  Most of the time I pin the quilt top on the roller and roll it up, but this one I couldn't because when I did that one end was about 5 inches shorter than the other.  So I decided to just float the top which so far is working out better for that part.  

 This is just a close up of one of the blocks.

 You can see a little more of the top here.  I have it stretched out pretty well but the border is where I am having most of my trouble.  

You can see here it is very wavy.  The border is not even the same size.  I checked one of the side borders and it starts out at 4 inches and ends at 6 inches.  :(  

I called her and explained this to her and she said, "just do the best that you can with it"  So I am trying...

 Look at this....see what I am talking about....

 I put the ruler beside it and there is a 2.5" bump there.  What do I do with that????  This is where I have stopped for today.  I just need a break from it and try to think on how to quilt this baby.  Btw...it measures somewhere around 80x90 but not exact.  

 At this point any ideas would be welcomed.  I mentioned taking the border off and trying to fix it that way but she doesn't want it removed because it is an old top and all hand pieced.  I also thought about just cutting that border right there, cutting some of it out and sewing it back together but I'm not sure she would want that either. I haven't mentioned it to her yet.  

Now on to other things...Andrew is on his way to Louisville, KY as we speak.  It will be a 7 hour round trip for him plus a 2.5 hour concert.  He and a friend of his are going to a Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang concert tonight at 7:30pm.  Andrew is a big fan of Buddy Guy which is a great Blues player.  You know how kids are he left right after class today, the concert will be over around 10pm, then a 3.5 hour drive back and then class again in the morning at 8am.  :(  He is killing me!  The worst part is they are forecasting bad weather tonight.  So please say a prayer for him.  I just pray that the Lord watches over him and he has a safe trip back home...
Kristie

Log Cabin Quilting

 Yesterday I spent most of the day quilting this quilt.  It is not mine, but belongs to a friend.  She did a wonderful job piecing it.  I still have to do the binding on it.  Which would you use the cream or the blue?  Those are my only two choices.  

A close up of the quilt.  It is a big one, 98 x 116.

This morning I am starting on this one.  I hope to have it quilted today, it is not really that big.  I think it is a lap/twin size.  It is hard to tell by the photo but it is 2 panels sewn together with 3 borders on it.  I haven't started it yet but I'm a little worried because the outer border with the vine on it is a very thick fabric.  Not sure what you would call it but it seems almost like upholstery fabric.  Another thing is, I don't mind at all using a bed sheet for the backing because most of the time they work well with my machine but the weave on this baby is very tight.  Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck.  :)  It is actually a cute quilt.  I think she said she was giving it as a gift.  The panels have little houses on them.  

 As you can see here, my string quilt is still hanging on the design wall.  I have the borders cut and ready to sew on, I just haven't gotten to it yet.  

 I finally got Richard to work on the upstairs bathroom!  :)  I am soooo excited!  My sewing room is upstairs and every time that I make a trip up those stairs I have to go potty so back down the stairs I have to go...  Anyway...I want that bathroom finished!!!  We've had everything to finish it for over a year but he has just been busy with other things.  So here he is laying the tile.  

 This is once he got the tile down but hopefully sometime this weekend he will grout it.  It is hard to get the exact color of the tile but they are a pearl grey.  My walls are white and the tiles are pearl grey, the fixtures are white and the lights and such are chrome.  I already have the towels, rug, shower curtain and everything else ready to go in it.  It is funny, this is the only room in my house that has white walls!  LOL!  I'm more of a cream/beige girl.  I like warm tones so this white and grey is really not like me at all.  :)

Praying that Hunter has a safe trip today.  As I mentioned in my last post he placed 2nd in the district Science Fair so today he was headed to the regional Science Fair down at the local college over in the next county.  He was a little cranky this morning, I think he was tired and nervous.  I wished him luck and told him that I am proud of him no matter what happens today.  Richard had to have him in town this morning at 6am to catch the bus to take them down to the college.  :)  I'm always proud of my boys, they both mean the world to me.  I feel very Blessed that the Lord let me be their momma.  Okay enough of that I'm feeling sappy....I'm off to get started quilting!!!
Kristie