Friday Finish: {Hugs}

I finished the hexagon quilt I started in Jacquie's workshop in time to gift to a dear friend who can use an extra hug right now.  I hope the cheery fabrics and quilted messages of hope, love and peace provide comfort to her.

There were times when I wasn't sure how this quilt would turn out, but in the end I am very pleased with the finished product.  I kept remembering some of Jacquie's pointers which really helped:  pin, pin, pin; use the bias to your advantage; sew with previous seams facing up so you aren't sewing blind; sweep seams away; and when finished press all seams down and to the left.  If I ever piece hexagons by machine again, I will stitch with a darker/contrasting thread for better visibility.

The size of the quilt was determined in class basically by filling up the portable design wall with the oversize hexagons I had cut from my fat quarters.  Jacquie and friends helped with the placement of the hexies.  It wasn't until I was home and finished sewing the rows and columns together that I realized the quilt wasn't quite tall enough so I added borders to the top and bottom.

Backing

I used a fat quarter bundle of Technicolor for the hexagons, with the remaining fabric coming from my stash.  The borders are from Connecting Threads; the backing is a Amy Butler Soul Blossom print; the binding is the last of the pink ribbon binding leftover from my mom's Got Pink? quilt.

"hope"

"peace"

You can't really tell (I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing), but I free motion quilted words of "hope", "love" and "peace" here and there among meandering loops.  I used Aurifil 50wt thread for the quilting.  This is the second time I have quilted with Aurifil and I love it.

"love"

 I spent a few minutes admiring the crinkly goodness that comes after washing and drying a quilt before I wrapped it up for gifting.

more "love"

Quilt stats:
Name: {Hugs}
Pattern: Piecing Hexagons by Machine technique by Jacquie Gering
Finished Size: 52" x 75"
Fabric: Technicolor by Emily Herrick; Connecting Threads Quilter's Cotton; Soul Blossoms by Amy Butler
Quilted: Free-motioned loops and words of hope, love and peace using Aurifil 50wt 2024 White thread

Thanks for stopping by!  Linking up with Amanda's finish it up Friday.

Really Random Thursday: Not Much

Browsing through my photographs for the week, I'd say it wasn't very random.  Must have been all that sewing I accomplished ;-)

American Flag from childrens' hand prints

This banner at a local car wash never fails to grab my attention, and I finally thought to take a picture.  The hand prints are from nearby elementary students.  Love this!

Love me some passion fruit

I go through quite a few of these greek yogurts a day.  So glad my neighborhood food store finally restocked the passion fruit variety!  It's almost like dessert....almost.

Outdoor concert

My daughter's school orchestra put on an outdoor concert last weekend.  Like last year's event, the weather was perfect!  The theme was Harry Potter, and the kids did a fabulous job!  My daughter was a little upset that only the high schoolers got to wear Harry Potter scarves though.  Her teacher, her teacher's mom and some of the students made the fun scarves that I didn't photograph.  It was very cool that the mom in question was viewing the concert out of state via Skype.

Pink ribbon clogs

My daughter requested that I not wear my pink ribbon Danskos to the concert (or at any time while on school property).  I realize they are a bit bright, but kind of fun, don't you think?!

Pink toes

Instead I wore open toe sandals to show my bright pink toenail polish.  I only received an eye roll for that decision.

Blingy notepad

 October is almost over, but I am still finding fun pink ribbon products out and about.  While at Staples, these cute notepads grabbed my attention at the register.

Pink stuff

JoAnn's usually has some pink ribbon sewing kits, but the other day I found this measuring tape.  Can never have too many of those lying around.  I also picked up a pair of bright pink quilting gloves.  They technically aren't for breast cancer awareness, but I like them anyway.

Upcycling!

Even my husband contributed to the theme.  He made this pink ribbon from his straw wrapper the last time we dined at Ted's.  

Thanks again Cindy for hosting these Really Random Thursdays!  

So how random was your Thursday?

Thanks for stopping by,

Go Bags

It's gotten to the point that with all the traveling I am doing I have several "go bags" always packed and ready for the specific occasion!  

For example, this past weekend saw another road trip to Tallahassee which meant bringing out the packed and waiting tailgating go bag...

 my things-to-do-while-riding-in-the-car go bag.... happies-for-son go bag....just to name a few. 

.....even Max has a go bag! (Although his go bag takes him to the puppy hotel.)

 You'll notice none of these go bags are hand made by me.  That's because as my sister and I like to point out, "we can't sew"!

Every once in a while, I will forget that fact.

Sorry for these they-all-look-the-same-pictures...it's all I have...the shirt in question is in the wash!

I needed a pink FSU for last weekend's game (it's still October which means I'm still wearing pink), so came up with the brilliant idea to make my own.  How hard could it be?  I had a stash of my favorite t-shirts (yes, I also have a stash of t-shirts) in pink that I bought on clearance for $1!

I was so proud of myself (it doesn't take much....ha) for making and cutting out my own templates.

This Fight Like a Girl fabric in black is the perfect fabric for my FSU letters and in keeping with the Think Pink theme, I thought.  Instead of using a satin stitch around each letter, I just stitched using bright pink thread inside the edge of the letters like I had seen on a store bought shirt.

Things were going along pretty well, until I tried to appliqué the pink ribbon on the t-shirt sleeve.  What a mess!  That's why I had to keep my jean jacket on the entire day ;-)

Now back to quilting!

Have an amazing day! 

This that and the other

I managed to survive jury duty, my every other year annual mammogram, and all the other craziness that was thrown my way last week.  I even found time to sit at my sewing machine and squeeze in a family reunion!

Jury duty was interesting to say the least, but I have officially served and am hoping my average of 25 years in between summons holds!

Continuing with my 31 Days of Pink, I treated myself to a pedicure and pink painted toenails after my mammogram.

The latest addition to my pink ribbon collection is this cool glass trivet from Around the Block Designs.  Thanks Cindy and Mark!  (Michelle, I'll put yours in the mail tomorrow.)

I finally finished piecing this quilt top that is WAY overdue.  Completion didn't happen before graduation, but my niece's birthday is rapidly approaching, and I am determined the quilt will be finished by then.

Another quilt top was quickly made for a needed last minute gift.  I found a big print in my stash and added a wide border to finish at a decent size.

 Sure hope to find the time I need this week to quilt these two tops!

Last but not least, was the quick trip to my annual family reunion in Mississippi!  As one cousin posted on Facebook, our reunion lunch was attended by 73 people from the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Minnesota, Florida and North Carolina!

Michelle and I now have joint custody of our great-grandmother's wooden quilting frame which was recently discovered in a cousin's attic.  Since I traveled by plane, my sister (and her family) took possession, and I am sure enjoyed having the extra "passenger" on the long drive back to Georgia!

Anyone know how to operate one of these quilting frames?!  If so, please tell.

Have an amazing day!

Wyoming Road Trip

I take it all back!  I was less than enthused over my husband's idea of a road trip, but I have to say it was a lot of fun!  That's not just because I spent time in a quilt shop either ;-)

{Warning:  all the pictures in this post were taken with my cell phone...but if you are patient, there are some quilt related photos at the end....ha}

By the way, thank you for all the happy birthday wishes....my husband really got a kick out of those!  We celebrated his 50th birthday with dinner at a local steak place.  Come to find out the owners are from Louisiana which explains the second best gumbo I've ever tasted...the best, of course, is my Granny Harper's seafood gumbo!  

My husband and I both fell in love with the town of Cody!  We discovered an awesome hotel, a fabulous family owned and run boot shop (one of the daughter's helped my husband buy two pairs), a very cool cowboy boutique, and many more shops downtown than we had time to browse.  One shop carried the two Pioneer Woman books which I purchased....figure it's about time I find out what everyone else apparently already knows.  

Who doesn't love a town that strings pink lights on their lampposts?!!!  We even saw some cows roaming on the side of the road with pink tags in their ears....although don't think they were supporting breast cancer awareness month ;-) I'm still upset with myself that I didn't make my husband stop the car so I could snap a picture of those cows!  Another regret is that we had to leave town before the 3 hour homecoming parade through downtown.  What a sight that would be!

At the risk of sounding like a travel agent, I also highly recommend visiting the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (which was the reason for the road trip in the first place).  I admit to being less than excited about this stop on the tour, as I was picturing a cheesy tourist trap type of attraction.  However, the five museums that make up the center is anything but.  The Plains Indian Museum (Mary was right) is my favorite, while my husband prefers the Cody Firearms Museum.  There is something for everyone!

Speaking of something for everyone...it may have been my husband's birthday...but I got presents too!

Tucked away in what they called the flannel room, was a group of Moda Cross Weaves. Yep...I got a little of every color they had in stock;-)  

Have an amazing weekend!!!!

Awareness

If you're a long time reader of my blog, you know I wear pink every day in October.  Traveling this weekend, it was nice to see that I'm not the only one.  All the Delta flight attendants were wearing pink ribbon shirts, and I saw quite a few passengers showing their support with pink attire as well.  I really get a kick out of seeing NFL players wearing their hot pink cleats and other pink accessories on game days in October!

Kickin' Cancer with Creativity pattern from Happy Sew Lucky

 I saw this cool embroidery pattern on Krista's blog and was happy to find that the pattern is available for download from Happy Sew Lucky's Etsy shop.  Best of all, the proceeds go to breast cancer research.  I can't wait to get stitching on this!

I am also waiting for my pink ribbon die to arrive in the mail and wishing I had thought to order it sooner.

I haven't made any pink ribbon projects yet this year, but need to get on the ball because my pink ribbon jeans (from 2009) are about worn out!  Since I use my pink ribbon mug and mug rug year round, I'm thinking I need to make a new pink ribbon mug rug to change things up some.  My favorite pink ribbon project to date is the Got Pink? quilt I made for my mom.

Have you seen any unique pink ribbon items?
 
Have an amazing day!!!!

Pink Ribbon Mug Rug

Continuing in the theme of pink, I made a mug rug for my Pink Ribbon coffee mug.

Again, I am using fabrics from two different pink ribbon collections with some Flutterby thrown in.  The pink background isn't as hot pink and the other colors aren't as washed out as they appear in the photo.  It took me forever to make these few hexagons, and I still don't have the hang of it.    Sewing the fabric around the template seems easy enough, but the sewing them together and taking out the templates without distorting the shape I haven't figured out.  I think I need a personal demonstration. 

 This one's for me so I'm not too worried about it's lack of perfection.  I played around again with some FMQing and stitching around the hexagons.   The backing fabric is becoming one of my favorites.

 As I mentioned last year, this is my favorite coffee mug.  I have searched everywhere for them as I'd like to buy more, but can't find them.  I think I ordered them (only two....now I wish it were more) several years ago from a catalog.  The bottom of the mug says it is Arthur Court made for Neiman Marcus.  I love how the handle is a pink ribbon and the base is butterflies made from pewter.

I like the way it looks on my BRAND NEW LAPTOP TABLE (channeling Price is Right here)!  I actually assembled this all by myself!!!!  If you know me, you know this is quite an accomplishment! This took my allotted sewing time yesterday.  Since we moved, I have yet to find my spot to sit and browse Flickr and read blogs  pay bills, etc.  I think I've found my quiet place, but this table is on wheels so I can roll it wherever I want whenever I want.  Yeah me ;-)

If you haven't already, click on Monday's post to enter my giveaway!

Have an amazing day!!!