Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Pushing the Season...

Hi, all!

Wow, it's Friday again!!  Can you believe it? And you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

This week, I kind of "pushed the season" and made some cute Halloween pillow covers...

These were pretty simple - I took a charm pack of Halloween fabric and cut it into 2.5" squares, then added enough solid orange to have enough squares (192) to make three 16" pillow covers.  I laid the squares out on fusible interfacing, then ironed to secure them down.  I folded the fusible interfacing on the first vertical gridline (where the squares touch) and stitched a 1/4" seam.  Repeated for all the vertical lines, then cut them open and pressed them open.  Repeated the whole process for the horizontal lines, and when I was finished I had perfectly matched corners and a piece just the right size for a 16" pillow cover!  I found the silhouettes on Google Images, printed them out and traced them onto fusible webbing and applied to black Kona cotton.  Backing and binding and aren't they cute?

And they already have a new home!!

Whoop whoop!!

And I had another whoop whoop moment today...

My new Kona color chart came today!!!  Aren't those colors just gorgeous?  It makes me smile just to see it...

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem... Not Getting Much Better!

Hi, all!

Wow, it has been a week!  I had so many commitments, and so many other things going on, that I didn't get much done on the scrap sewing front.  Boo!

I did, however, get my Gypsy Wife block for this week done!  This block is called Indian Hatchet, and the one on the left is for my GW quilt.  The one on the right is for the Michael Miller Friendship Quilt project, and is made from fabrics provided by Michael Miller Fabrics at QuiltCon.  The fabrics have been sitting on my worktable since February and it feels good to have it done!  The only requirement was that the block be 6.5" unfinished, and since Indian Hatchet was the same size, I just cut out two and sewed them both up together!  This block will go in the mail today.

Then I did some "sew my stash" sewing - I need to make some pillow covers for an upcoming Marketplace, and when I was looking through a drawer, I came upon a charm pack of Halloween fabrics that has been sitting unused for a couple of years.  I cut the charms into 2.5" squares, grabbed some fusible interfacing, and laid out simple patchwork.  Fused the squares onto the interfacing, then folded and sewed.  I love this method, and I've used it a lot for 1.5" squares, but this is the first time I've tried it with larger squares.  It is so fast, and the intersections of the squares are always perfect!  I'll be adding appliqués to these to make some really unique pillow covers, and hopefully they'll be a popular item!  

You can see my tutorial about this technique in this post - just scroll down a ways, because there are several techniques described in the post!  

Oh, and I almost forgot - this quilt went to Stash Builder Box today for this quarter's donation to Project Linus!  I finished it a while ago, but I don't think I ever shared it here.  This was a group effort by my Heart Builders team - we each made a block or two from our scraps, using the Japanese X and Plus block pattern.  Everyone sent them to me and I put them together into this cute quilt! It's a great scrap buster!

So not much scrap sewing, but I hope that will change soon as I get some projects finished and clear the tables a little bit!  Do you hit patches where you have so much "got to" sewing that you can't do any "want to" sewing?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Waiting To Get Caught Up!

Hi, all!  

I'm happy to say I survived the weekend, and the local quilt show is behind me now!  That's a huge load off my plate, but now I've got more projects to concentrate on.  I don't know about you, but the fall is such a busy time for me!  Sometimes it's hard to wrap my brain around everything that needs to be done, but my Monday list really helps!  So let's see how last week's list went.

1.  Put maker/state tags on all the donated pillowcases and quilts as they come in.
Done!  At least, up to today's mail, which I haven't picked up yet.  The current count is over 400 pillowcases and 9 quilts!  A lovely group of ladies from Crossville, TN drove over Friday to deliver 102 pillowcases they made. Isn't that amazing?  Six more boxes came in today, so that number should rise dramatically tomorrow after I check them in. 

2.  Make pillowcase kits to be used on Wednesday night and at our hands-on ministry area at our small-town festival this weekend.
Done!  We had a great time in our hands-on area, even though it was quiet because the weather outside was so good.  Here's a pic of one maker with her pillowcase.  It was her first time at a sewing machine, and she loved it so much, she and her mom were going to go find her one to use at home!

3.  Finish preparations for the quilt show this weekend.
Done!  Unfortunately, I was so busy Saturday I didn't get any pictures!  Bummer....

4.  Finish piecing the quilt top for the Free Spirit Fabric project.
Done!  And not only pieced, but completely finished!  Here's a teaser shot - the full reveal will be on 10/3!

5.  Quilt a top for a friend.
Done!  

6.  Quilt tops for Stash Builder Box's September donation.
Done!  These three tops were all pieced by Joyce L., a fellow Heart Builder!

7.  Quilt tops for the quilt ministry to replenish our stock on hand.
I didn't get to this one, but after all, there are only so many hours in a week!

8.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Done! Only one this week - this one is going to a gentleman suffering from multiple health issues...

So that was last week.  Let's see if I can wrap my brain around what I need to do this week...

1.  Finish three more pieces for the Free Spirit Fabric project.

2.  Make some pillow covers for a project for church.

3. Keep working pillowcases for A Heart For Texas.

4. Photograph, count and tag donations for A Heart For Texas.

5.  Quilt a special quilt for the quilt ministry.

6.  Work on replenishing the stock of finished quilts for the quilt ministry.

7.  Start work on a new commission t-shirt quilt.

8.  Make a donation block for Michael Miller Fabrics.

9.  Start planning the photo shoot for the upcoming Free Spirit Fabric post.

10.  Start posting some quilts on Facebook for The Great Quilt Destash!

11.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

See what I mean about it never slowing down?  But at least the push of the quilt show is out of the way.  I made some good progress on things today and have a nice quiet week to knock some things out this week!

So now the question is - - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah