Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? There's Lots Going On....

Hi, all!

It's been a busy busy week, and here we are again at Friday!!  And we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready? Well, then, let's get started!

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

It's been a busy and slightly disjointed week, as I got several projects started, but very little finished.  Christmas commission jobs have started lining up, so my busy season is getting ready to begin.  However, I'm going to choose to celebrate the little victories!  So here's the first one...

...a baby quilt-in-the-making, having reached the flimsy stage.  It still needs quilting, but I am tickled pink (or in this case, blue) that the quilt math worked the first time!  The dark blue star and white background around it are made with smaller blocks than the remainder of the quilt, and somehow, I made it work out right!  Whoop whoop!!

This customer quilt, on the other hand, suffered from a lack of good quilt math, as I cut the dark red strips too narrow.  But fortunately I had enough of the fabric to recut them, and now all the blocks for this large quilt are ready for assembly!

You may have seen earlier this week that I pulled fabrics for all three grandkids' annual quilts, and yesterday (thanks to some amazing instructions) I got all the bazillions of pieces for this cute penguin quilt cut out!  

And last but not least, I got some happy mail!  This cute pattern from Hunter Design Studio, AND a great new sticker to add to my car window!  I can't wait to give this pattern a try, but I currently have five new quilts in the works, so I really should wait.  Time will tell!

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... But Not A Stash Problem!

Hi, all!

It occurred to me this week that (a) it is only slightly more than four months until Christmas (!!!!) and (b) I had not yet thought about what I was doing for my grandkids' annual quilts this year (!!!!!!!!).  For those of you who may not know, I make each of my three grandkids a quilt for Christmas that reflects in some way what they were like or what they liked that year, with a fun label that tells a little bit about them, their likes, and sometimes something funny they did that year.  It serves as kind of a yearbook for them, and I love the thought of their own kids reading the labels someday and learning about their parents when they were little. 

So - time to get to work!  Emmy was the easiest - at seven, she is a total drama queen this year.  

I had seen Wendy's wonderful "drama llama" and knew that it would make a wonderful quilt!  Off to Sew Fresh Quilts with her fabulous selection of pieced animal quilts, and I picked up the pattern.  Then I went to the stash, and pulled these fabrics...

...which are ever so much prettier and "dramatic" in person!  This is going to be a fun quilt to make, once I get through the detailed cutting instructions.  

Nathanael's quilt took a bit more research.  He always loves the color green, but he has several green quilts, so I wanted to do something a little bit different.  Then I remembered Penguin...

...Nathanael's best buddy!  He carries Penguin with him almost everywhere, and I've had to sew his flippers on several times.  So I started looking for a pieced penguin pattern.  As luck would have it, Elizabeth Hartman had an adorable version, and my stash yielded loads of cute penguin body fabrics!

I guess it pays to hoard black and white fabrics for years and years!

Lilli was a little bit more of a conundrum.  She's in her moody tween stage and doesn't seem to like much of anything lately - this picture is pretty indicative of her mood lately....

But - - - she still likes the color blue, and I still like to make her quilts, so I started looking for a pattern that would work with fabrics I had on hand.  I looked through my Pinterest boards, and didn't see anything that sparked my fancy - and then I remembered my Wedge Play Workshop book by Christina Cameli!  There are a bunch of quilts I want to make in that book, and while I didn't settle on the one I remembered when I thought of the book, I did find one that I loved....

...AND I found beautiful fabrics (after many many changes in the pull) to make it with!  I had originally settled on a slightly different array, but when my daughter realized it was for Lilli, she suggested removing the purples (apparently Lilli is NOT fond of purple these days) and adding back in a couple of prints I had pulled out.  I'm happy with this pull and think it will be a fun and beautiful quilt!

So - no scrappy sewing, but I am at least playing in my stash and preparing to use up fabric!  What have you been working on this week?  Are you also getting into Christmas mode?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Staying Cool!

Hi, all!

My new best friends these days are the two fans in my studio!  One is a floor stand model that turns from side to side - that one moves the air around the whole room.  And then there's the battery powered clip-on personal fan that is currently clipped to my sewing machine.  Between those two and the air conditioning, I'm managing to stay cool and get lots done!  It's hard to believe that August is shaping up to be the hottest August in recorded history (following the hottest July and the hottest June) but I'm grateful that I have plenty to do inside to keep me busy!

That being said, let's see how last week's list went!

1.  Make the baby quilt top.

2.  Quilt it if there's time!
Done!  I'm super excited about how this turned out, but I'm not going to show you the whole quilt now - it's a gift so I'll share more pictures after I give it away!

3.  Meet with a friend who needs binding on a quilt.
This didn't happen - she got busy and needed to reschedule.

4.  Write an estimate for a quilt commission.
Done!  The fabric is on order, so I'll be starting on this one soon!

5.  Quilt a quilt for the ministry.
Done!  I'm working through our stash of Christmas tops for a special project - three more to go!

6.  Quilt another UFO (that stack is getting smaller!)
Done - and I'm happy to say there's only one more top in the UFO stack!  More pics to come on this one, probably Friday.

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

Done - and it was a VERY busy week!

This quilt went to a gentleman in a nursing home...

...and this quilt went to a gentleman who went in the hospital for a procedure and had complications. He is now in the ICU.

This quilt went to a woman diagnosed with cancer...

...and this quilt went to a lady in rehab who is confined to a wheelchair, but loves bright colors!

This quilt went to a two-year old girl going through some serious health issues...

This quilt went to a new baby boy...

...and this one went to a man who was seriously injured in a farming accident.

And last but not least, this quilt went to the husband of one of our ministry members, who is headed to a rehab hospital.

Whew!  I told you it was a busy week!  And this week is shaping up to be another just like it.  Commission jobs are starting to line up, plus I realized that I hadn't even thought about the kids' annual  quilts yet!  I'm trying to get my own things done before the commissions get started.  So let's see what's on my plate this week!

1.  Start on the commission quilt when the fabric arrives.

2.  Start on another gift baby quilt.

3.  Pull fabrics for Emmy's quilt.

4.  Pull fabrics for Nathanael's quilt.

5.  Decide on a pattern for Lilli's quilt.

6.  Quilt the final UFO top in the stack!

7.  Quilt at least one more quilt for the ministry project.

8.  If time allows, start cutting fabrics for one of the annual quilts.

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

So much going on!  But it definitely means I don't get bored.  And there's so much fabric to play with - the hard part is just choosing what to pull out next!

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

Hugs!

Sarah