Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Twin Quilts for Twin Girls!

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday again, and you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!!  Are you ready?  Just a reminder, it doesn't have to be a finish (although finishes are good!)  It can just be something you're proud of accomplishing this week - making progress on a project, or even bringing some order to your sewing space!  So find something to whoop about and let's get started!

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This is my beautiful niece Ashley.  That baby bump she's showing off is twin girls, due sometime the last half of September!  Of course, when I found out we had twin girls coming, I went into quilt-y overdrive....

...and created a pair of twin quilts!  

I used the "Sparkle Plenty" pattern from Connecting Threads to create these two quilts.  The stars themselves are made using prints from the Tiger Lily collection by Heather Ross (don't you just love her whimsical prints?) and the backgrounds are two different Kona solids.  The binding on each matches that quilt's Kona color, with a bit of the sister quilt's background color added in for fun.  

I love the backing fabric I found at Joann's!  I originally went looking for a sweet simple baby print - something light and airy.  Couldn't find what I was looking for in the baby section, so I went over to look at some of the other quilting fabric.  When I spotted this print, I knew immediately it was perfect!  All the colors coordinated with the prints in the quilt, and it's fun but a little bit sophisticated, too.

I'm so happy I finished these before the arrival of two sweet little girls - and I can't wait to see pictures of them with their quilts!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop??

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

via GIPHY

What's making you dance 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

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I May Have A Scrap Problem... Pillows!

Hi, all!

This week I found a great pin on Pinterest and immediately put it in my Oh Scrap! page - but it got me started thinking about another great way to use your scraps!

Isn't that a great pillow?  It's even finished in my favorite way - with binding, just like a quilt.  This is a quick, easy way to refresh your house, even providing seasonal pops of color.  Here are some scrappy pillows I've made recently...

This pillow was made literally from the tiny scraps left over from a quilt I made...

...and this one was made with bonus HSTs and narrow strips left over from another project!

This pillow and the one below were also made with bonus HSTs.  FYI bonus HSTs are created by sewing a second line when you are putting corners on a block, such as a snowball block, and creating a small HST out of what would normally be thrown away.

Here's another example of pillows made from bonus HSTs - are you sensing a theme here?  Seriously, though, I just can't bear to throw away perfectly good fabric...

And this pillow is made from the simplest kind of scrap block - an easy two-fabric block done large.  If you have orphan blocks hanging around, this kind of pillow is even easier!  Just add strips around your orphan block until it reaches the size you want.

The next two are a little bit different, but are good examples of up-cycling...

My daughter made the embroidered piece that is the center of this scrappy pillow cover - originally, a wall hanging set in an embroidery hoop.  When she redecorated, she wanted to save her handiwork, and asked me make it into something useful.  I had a lot of scraps left over from Emmy's pennant quilt and created a postage stamp "frame" for the needlework piece.  Definitely a win-win!!

And this pillow was made using a long-treasured piece of needlepoint I found in my grandmother's stash, turning a piece stored for years into a useful and beautiful pillow that reminds me every day of the woman who taught me to love the fiber arts and do them well.

A simple envelope closure on the back means you don't even need to find a zipper!  It's also a great way to use up those random fat quarters hanging around your stash - I usually make my backs by folding two 22" pieces of fabric in half so that the back is actually a double layer of fabric.  And there's usually binding scraps in my box to finish off the pillow cover.

And when you want to switch your pillow covers out for a fresh seasonal take, they store easily either laid flat on a shelf or hung from pants hangers in your closet, ready to be brought out again when your mood or the season changes!

Feeling inspired yet?

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And yes, I'm still working on my Gypsy Wife quilt!  This week I added Pershing to my Color Wheel block...

One more and it will be a party!  This week's block went pretty easily - I cut some of the pieces a little larger to allow for distortion and trimmed as needed to keep it square, and still used a very scant 1/4" seam, but other than that it's right by the pattern.  And I'm loving how the Latitude scraps are looking in these blocks!!

Take that, you little scrap monster, you!!!

Hugs!

Sarah

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Make-A-List Monday - Time For A New Normal!

Hi, all!

It's hard to believe it, but the day has finally arrived - tomorrow the littles start full time kindergarten, and I'll have a new normal - not quite so much child care, which means more time for sewing and home DIY projects!  I'm trying to figure out what this new normal looks like, but something tells me I'll find a way to fill up the time....

OK - let's look and see how last week went...

1.  Work on the twins' quilts.
Done!  They are actually finished and ready to mail, if I could only get a little bit of sunshine (or even just a dry moment!) to take some good pictures...

2.  Enjoy my last week with the littles before they start kindergarten.
Done!  We had some good times, ate some good food, watched some good movies, did a little car karaoke - I'm going to miss spending lots of time with them all!

3.  Mail off the prizes for the 12 Days of Christmas in July winners.
Done!  So glad to have them all sent out!

4.  Update the Tutorials and 12 Days of Christmas in July pages on my blog.
I didn't get to this one yet.  Bummer!

5.  Quilt some charity quilts.
Done!  I quilted two at church Wednesday night, put the binding on another one at home, and quilted and bound the Stash Builder Box group quilt today!  

6.  Keep up with any needs that come up for the quilt ministry.
Done!  It was a slightly insane week for quilts this week... 

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

...and this one went to a woman recently diagnosed with cancer.

This quilt went to a woman who just suffered a massive stroke...

This quilt went out Wednesday night too, but for the life of me I can't remember who it went to, and apparently I forgot to write it down...

This quilt went to a family that lost their father this week...

And this quilt went to a gentleman just diagnosed with colon cancer.

These two quilts went to newborn twins...

...and this quilt went to a woman who broke her hip and is now in rehab.

And last but not least, these six quilts went to our local general hospital, to be distributed in the baby nursery and chemo wards.

Whew!  What a week!  I also started my Gypsy Wife quilt and kept working on a design for a new project for Free Spirit Fabrics, so there really was no rest for the wicked!  Let's see what's planned for this week...

1.  Quilt the final two quilts for Hands2Help.

2.  Complete the Free Spirit Fabrics design and figure out fabric requirements and cutting directions.

3.  Work on the next Gypsy Wife block.

4.  Meet with a new customer about a horse show ribbon quilt.

 5.  Mail the twins' baby quilts.

6.  Do some blog maintenance.

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

Something tells me that other things will come up, but this is definitely good for a start!  Plenty to keep me busy here!

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

Hugs!

Sarah