6and6in2018 is Getting a Few Results!

The 6and6in2018 for July crept up on me pretty fast. I've been working on my oldest quilt top off an on, trying to get it finished up for this particular linkup. It was part of a series started a very long time ago and one that ended up being monstrously large. So big {105" x 107"} that I never wanted to actually quilt it myself. Do you blame me? What was I thinking?

9-Patch Building Blocks is a finish!

For awhile I planned on having it professionally quilted and then decided it wasn't worth spending that kind of money on. I tentatively decided to hand quilt it and even had a grand stitching plan, special piece of batting bought and everything. Meh.  Still not feeling it and quite honestly, almost gave the quilt top away to a group of ladies I know who make a quilt every year for a fundraiser.

What was holding me back was all the hand work along the edge. That applique border took me forever and was something I felt pretty proud of at the time. It felt so creative!  In hindsight I wish it could have been completed fairly quickly so it could have been one of those celebratory finishes we all love so much. All's well that ends well though as my youngest son really admires the size and simplicity of the design. Yay! It's only been a year and a half since he got a new quilt, but if he likes this one, then I'm a whole year ahead of the gifting-a-quilt-for-graduation thing that I do. Bonus!

It's a big one...

Oh yeah, the details. I finally broken down and decided to sandwich and pin this quilt for machine quilting on my Bernina 740. It has a larger harp than my old machine {the backup these days}, so it seemed doable, at least in abstract. Lets just say that I will probably never, EVER do that again. The machine handled it just fine, no problems there, but the sandwiching, pinning and marking took forever and many more days. Ughh....  Not fun at all.

I used an orange/gold Aurifil thread for stitching and various pieces of green fabrics {pulled from deep down in the stash totes} to make a scrappy binding. It's all done now and washed up in a very loose, drapey feel that my son will love. After he popped a bunch of quilting threads on the last quilt {pushing his feet into it and stretching out like the total dork that he is}, I have given him the big fat lecture on how to properly treat a quilt: Feel free to use it, maul it, snuggle up in and generally wrap up and/or drool on. Wipe your Cheeto fingers on it if you must! but please, please stop with the gross mistreatment!

The basket is my favorite part

And no it wasn't old, sun faded thread or anything like that. It took awhile and much pondering and panicking about other quilts that I've gifted. Would people tell me if their quilts are coming apart at the seams? We finally narrowed it down to the problem child though.*whew! I take care of my threads and don't use garbage for machine quilting so that's that. This new quilt will be a great test quilt to see if he's learned anything or actually even heard a word that his mom said. Hmm... How does this even happen to a quilter? Not sure I'd place any money on this particular bet though and you can be sure he won't be getting a very impressive quilt anytime soon.....

Patchwork Triangles a new quilt top!

The quilt top for Patchwork Triangles is done now too. It was on the 6in6in2018 list as well. Just cut-off triangles in the beginning, but they certainly shaped up into a fun looking quilt top! So glad I challenged myself with these as I always get such a charge out of figuring out something to do with the orphaned bits and pieces. The sharp yellow solid fabric was bought at a quilt show last year just because I couldn't resist. Love seeing it end up in something like this! The top ended up being 62 1/2" x 68 1/2", so a nice sized lap quilt that could be a sweet gift for one of our extended family members some day. Loving the slightly vintage looking vibe of it all and feeling more determined than ever to keep playing with the castoffs.

A good border works wonders

And you've already seen the quilt top pics for the HaHa quilt. So glad that one is finished up and out of my hair for now. I knew it had to be on this list to receive any more attention this year, and yep, that's exactly what happened. I'd look at the list and start to feel guilt pains if I kept pushing it aside. It's so interesting that with some quilts we can't hardly make ourselves quit working on them and others? Wow! Such a slog. Never seriously want to get busy with them, although that doesn't mean we don't like them just as much in the end!

HaHa quilt checked off the list too

I haven't been keeping very good track of new quilts as this list has been more valuable for keeping me on task for finishing. There is never a problem with wanting to start new quilts around here so not gonna worry about that for now!

Washington cherries are the best

My cousin unexpectedly dropped off three boxes of cherries this afternoon. After making a few phone calls and unloading two of them {they needed immediate attention}, I decided to freeze the rest. It doesn't take much time, just have to wash them, pick all the stems off and toss the bad cherries. They don't even have to be totally dry before putting them in freezer Ziplocs and then later in the year they are a great snack for the {bottomless stomach}, youngest son. We ate frozen cherries like candy when we were kids. Junk food? That was for summer picnics and vacation. Linking up with Meredithe and Anne for 6and6in2018-July!