Charmed, I'm Sure! Begins - With A Lot of Help From A Friend!

Hi, all!

Well, they do say better late than never, and we sure are getting a late start on this year's quilt tutorial series - but hopefully you will all forgive me!  Moving really threw a monkey wrench in my life for a while, but as you'll see today, a very good friend is helping me out so that we can get started.

This year's theme is Charmed, I'm Sure! and our focus will be on using charm squares.  I don't know about you, but I choose to cut my scraps into pre-cut sizes (2.5", 5", and 10" squares) because I know there are loads of patterns out there for those sizes.  But after cutting them, you really should use them!  So all of our patterns will use charm squares, sometimes in unusual ways.

Today's quilt, though, is just a twist on simple patchwork - 5" squares placed on point!  This pattern is by Amy Smart, who blogs over at Diary of A Quilter, and bless her heart, she has graciously offered to allow me to link to her free tutorial so that you all can make one of your own!  It's a simple and fun quilt to make, and allows you to use some pretty focal prints, too...

...like these dancers!  This quilt was a wedding present for a young woman I have known since she was quite small, and dance was a huge part of her life growing up. So when I found these blocks in my stash, I knew they needed to be part of her quilt!

I'm also terribly fond of these Mendocino mermaids, and was happy that their coloring made them fit right into this quilt!

I used one of my favorite prints for both the setting triangles and corners and most of the backing.

Simple quilting on the long arm finished this off so it will be soft and cuddly!

And I was so grateful for a nice sunny day to show off the pretty colors in this lovely quilt!

So now I'm curious - do you also cut your scraps in standard pre-cut sizes?  Or do you have a stash of charm packs that you just couldn't resist at the last quilt show (hand raised in the air!) Well, it's time to drag them out and use them up!  Be sure to stop by next Sunday for another tutorial using charm squares - hopefully you'll find just the thing to inspire you!

And just a reminder - be sure to leave Amy a comment to let her know you were there!  I can't tell you what a relief it was to me when she said it was okay for me to link to her tutorial - quilty friends are the best!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Things Are Looking Up!

Hi, all!

It seems like forever since last Friday, but guess what?  It's rolled around again, and it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

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

This week has been dedicated to getting things in order at our new home.  Granted, I've been doing that while battling a cold - why do we always seem to get colds at the most inopportune times? But I have made some headway in the process.

First off, I moved some furniture around up in my sewing studio...

...and now I have seating areas for me and all the kids (or guests if anyone wants to come sew with me) and a space cleared out for Jolene, my long arm machine.  Hopefully Jolene will come home this weekend!

We have had a ridiculous amount of rain this week, which has caused some pretty significant flooding - so significant that they have closed school early one day and kept it closed the next.  My eldest granddaughter wanted to earn some spending money for a field trip, so I offered to pay her to help me do some things around the house.  As you can see, she really got into it, helping me re-assemble my large Kallax shelves...

She's pretty proud of herself, and she should be!  It was hard work getting those back together, and it weighs a ton - but together we pulled it all together and got it in place. She's a good hard worker!

Then she got to do what she called the fun part - unpacking my fabric and organizing it on the shelves by color.  She fussed at me because I had too much pink (how in the world can you have granddaughters and have too much pink?) and it's maybe not exactly how I would organize the fabric, but it's possible that having it arranged differently will bring new pieces and new possibilities to the forefront!  There's still lots to do in the studio, but it is starting to come together - I can't wait to get to work in it!

Downstairs, we ordered some new barstools for the counter, and I put them together.  I love Amazon!  I really like these stools, and they are super comfortable.  They're also much more our style than the ones the former owners left behind.

I've also started putting up pictures, which really helps the place feel more like home.  There are still lots more to be put up, but it's nice to have it started!

And although she's not very happy about it, I took our border collie Fly to a new groomer this week, who de-skunkified her, brushed her out and cleaned her up - she looks GORGEOUS!!  I was so impressed that they actually brushed her instead of just going immediately to shaving her, which is what has happened with other groomers in the past.  Hopefully now that she's older, she won't be quite so "nippy" when I brush her, and we can keep her well-groomed!

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!

(Sorry if the link-up isn't there - I'm working on getting it reinstated!)

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... But I'm Working On It!

Hi, all!

I am excited to tell you that I finished my first quilt top in the new house (with a LOT of help from my friends!) and it is a scrappy beauty!

It's a traditional signature block (5" squares with 2.5" snowball corners on the diagonals) and isn't that border great?  It's amazing what you can find when you dig through stash!  This quilt came together last Saturday morning when the quilt ministry ladies met as we cranked out the signature blocks right and left.  I drew the task of assembling the blocks into a top and adding the border, and Rita will do the quilting at church Wednesday night.  It's going to be given to a special person as a quilt-y hug and I love that it is the first top to be assembled in our new home.  Hopefully it presages lots of scrappy sewing in the future!

And now here's some eye candy / inspiration for you!

Isn't this lovely?  There's something about a green quilt that just makes me feel happy.  And wow, what a scrap-buster!

And for those of you who prefer a warmer palette, how about this red top?  

This looks like such a fabulous scrap-buster - it could be done in many different sizes of background squares, depending on whether you wanted a smaller quilt or a really large one!

I think it's the colors in this quilt that speaks me, but it is a great scrappy design, too.  What a great way to use up tale ends of yardage and that occasional stray charm pack!

And here's an ultimate up-cycle quilt - made of squares cut from plaid men's shirts.  There's a huge amount of fabric in an XL men's shirt  - and on half price days at Goodwill, they're an absolute steal!  (That is, if you don't have a husband who has w-a-a-a-y too many shirts already...)

And now, in honor of Valentine's Day....

How about some totally adorable scrappy hearts?  I particularly love the gray backgrounds!

And while this quilt would probably require yardage for the background, you could make it using just one charm pack that's lying around in your stash somewhere!

And last but certainly not least, isn't this lovely?  It just makes me smile.  Once I find my scraps again, I really want to make one of these for myself!

So now you have a mission - go forth and conquer those scraps!

Hugs!

Sarah