Make-A-List Monday #70! Time to get back on the horse...

Hi, all!


Monday's here again, and I have to admit, it's time for me to get back on the horse and start riding again!  I didn't do so well on last week's list, so I need to buckle down this week and get back to work!  Let's look at last week's list...

1.  Quilt at least two more quilts for the quilt ministry.

Nope.  Ran out of batting, and the new roll didn't 

come in until Friday!  

2.  Piece at least two backs for ministry quilts.

Nope!  Didn't do this either.  Total fail!

3.  Quilt the zig-zag quilt.

Done!  You can see more of this on my Friday blogpost - 

it's my entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

4.  Bind the two ministry quilts from last week.

Done!  You'll see these on my Wednesday blogpost, because

they've gone on to new homes already!

5.  Bind the zig-zag quilt.

Done!  Pretty stripe-y binding, too!

6.  Work on my friend's seat cushions.

Well, I did work on these - I went to the store to buy 

the foam for the cushions and found out that 4" thick,

24" wide high density foam is --- get this ---

$59.99 a yard!!!  So now I've got to wait for this

coming weekend, when it's on sale for 50% off....

So I'm still ripping out the seams in the futon cover.

And in my defense, Sunday afternoon I did put two borders

on a brights quilt for the quilt ministry, and start pinning

another ministry quilt on the quilting frame

so I can quilt it this week.  So I didn't totally 

fritter away the day!!

So now, for next week, here's what I hope to get accomplished...

1.  Finish loading the Coach's quilt on the frame and quilt.

2.  Make a back for the brights quilt.

3.  Quilt the brights quilt.

4.  Cut out pieces for a pair of commission quilts.

5.  Make two quilt backs for the ministry quilt flimsies.

6.  Finish deconstructing the futon cover, 

and hit that foam sale this weekend!

I'm quitting while I'm ahead - and hopefully next week I won't have to put "fail" by any of these items!!

So what are you working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

PS Looking for the winner of the Traveling Stash? Click here!

Finally - The Winner of The Traveling Stash!!!

Hi, all!


So sorry it's taken me so long today to get this posted - but there is a winner for the Traveling Stash!


Little Miss Random did her thing and chose number 38, who said...

38 

Shannon said...

Oh boy!! I would love a chance to win those apple cores. They are even in my favorite fabrics!!

October 25, 2011 10:27 PM 

One of these days, I'll learn how to put a picture of Little Miss Random's result up, but until then you'll just have to trust me!

Shannon, who blogs over at Nunu's Quilt World, was one of the participants in the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge - this past spring and summer I really learned to love her!  She's featured her H2H quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this time around and you can see it here.  It's a great design by Lisa of Shiner's View - if you want her tutorial, click here.

Shannon, I'm so glad you won and that those lovely apple cores will find a good home!!  They made me feel guilty every time I saw them....  ;-)

Everyone else, be sure to keep an eye on Sharon's blog so you can enter again when she passes it on!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I get a Whoop-Whoop?? Blogger's Quilt Festival Starts Today!!

Hi, all!


Friday rolls around once again - time to get your whoop whoop on!!  And it's a very special Friday today - the beginning of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy Ellis over at Amy's Creative Side!  If you've never participated in this, you ought to check it out - lots of amazing quilty inspiration to be had, and anyone can enter!  So here's my finish for this week, which also happens to be my entry into the Quilt Festival...

This quilt has been dubbed the Charlie Brown Quilt by my husband - every time I've referred to it, he says, "Oh, the Charlie Brown quilt!"  But I guess I can see what he means - and it makes me smile to think he named it!

About six months ago, I won a beautiful 5 yard bundle of Nancy Mims Free To Grow by Robert Kaufman from Form & Fabric.  Since then, it's been sitting on my shelf waiting to become something wonderful.  Last Sunday I brought home a bolt of Kona Coal, saw that bundle of fabric, and realized that they went together beautifully!

This great quilt design tutorial from Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts, a couple of manic days, and I had a beautiful quilt top!

A little digging in the stash turned up this wonderful IKEA fabric that I picked up on my last trip to Atlanta and, combined with leftover blocks from the front, my back was complete!

Some random meandering across the quilt.....

....some bright striped binding....

And the Charlie Brown Quilt was born!  I think this one is going to stay at my house - it makes me smile!!!

<@>@<@>@<@>@<@>@<@>

So what have you been working on this week?

What has made you smile...

Do your happy dance...

Made you want to Whoop Whoop?

Share with us!  The more, the merrier!!

(Remember, it doesn't have to be a finish - 

and you have until Saturday night to link up!)

And don't forget to check out the other links 

and share the love!

Hugs!

Sarah

And just a reminder - if you're interested in getting in on the Traveling Stash, check out my post here!  I'll be drawing for its next destination on Sunday!

What's Cookin' at The Sweatshop, Week #11

Hi, all!

Time for another update on the quilt ministry!  It's been an easy week - not too many requests, which has given us a chance to work on getting ahead a little.  But we did have a couple of quilts go out this week....

This pretty quilt went to a young woman in Mississippi who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer.  Since she received that diagnosis, she's been told that it may be an infection, so they are doing further testing.  

And this beauty, pieced by Sharon, has been sent to a young woman who is suffering from debilitating headaches that they can't seem to find a cause for.  Hopefully the soft colors in this pretty quilt will bring her some peace and comfort!  After taking these pictures on a very windy day, I decided to name it Geese On The Wind......

We're in the process of finishing up a bunch of quilt tops that have been made by the ladies or donated to us, so we can get ahead of the need before the holidays.  Lots of quilting and binding going on around here!

We're also getting ready to host Bee Crafty at our church, as a way to introduce some new folks to what we do.  A Saturday morning to learn some new skills that they can turn into Christmas presents and home decor items.  I'll be sure to get lots of pictures - it should be a lot of fun! 

So that's what we've been up to in The Sweatshop this week - not too sweaty, but getting ready for the holidays!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Oh - one last thing!  Don't miss out on a chance at The Traveling Stash, which has landed on my doorstep - you can enter the giveaway here anytime before noon on Saturday, October 29th!   The winner will be posted on Sunday, October 30th.  Join in the fun!!

Make-A-List Monday #69! Time for some "me-time"....

Hi, all!


Monday again - did you have a good weekend?  Do lots of fun stuff?  I went with some of my sewing sisters to a (very) small local quilt show nearby on Saturday - it was a great learning experience!  The ladies managed to pick out the best-made quilt in the room and wondered why it hadn't won first place - I was so proud of them!  (Turns out the quilt was a shop-hop quilt from the previous year, pieced by a shop owner and professionally custom quilted.  It wasn't eligible to be entered for a prize, probably because the shop owner was also hosting the show.)  They also learned that nobody's perfect - they noticed small piecing irregularities on the prize-winning quilts - and now feel a lot more confident about their own quilting skills.  I'm hoping next year we'll all be entering some quilts in this show!


But since it's Monday again, it's time to review last week's list and see how I did....

1.  Bind the soft-colored quilt that was quilted Sunday.

Done!  This beautiful top was pieced by Sharon...

2.  Quilt and bind a bright top for the quilt ministry.

Turned out we were able to use a quilt that was already taken

to church for the October prayer service to fill this need.

3.  Deliver both tops to church to be sent to their new homes.

Done!

4.  Work on seat cushions for a friend's new house.

Started!  I've bought the fabric, and started taking apart

the existing futon cover to make a pattern.  I know what I'm

going to do, just need to get to it!

5.   Make sample gift items for our November open house.

Done!  Or at least a few of them are done. I'd like to make more!

6.  Make some quilt backs for some of those 25 flimsies!

Didn't do any of these this week, but....

7.  Quilt at least two more quilts for the ministry this week.

I did quilt two more quilts for the ministry!  These just

need the binding put on them, and they'll be ready to 

go to their new homes.

And I took a little "me-time" this weekend 

and pieced this pretty top!!

No intended recipient, I just felt like making something new and exciting!  I used Amanda Jean's wonderful tutorial to make this, and it was so simple and quick - and a great way to use some fabric I won about a year ago!  When I showed it to my hubby and he asked who it was for, I told him it didn't have a home - I just made it for fun - and he said, "Hey, maybe WE could keep it!"

So what's my plan for this week?

1.  Quilt at least two more quilts for the quilt ministry.

2.  Piece at least two backs for ministry quilts.

3.  Quilt the zig-zag quilt.

4.  Bind the two ministry quilts from last week.

5.  Bind the zig-zag quilt.

6.  Work on my friend's seat cushions.

I think that's enough for this week - maybe I'll get more done if the list is a little less ambitious!!

And now - - -

Just in case you missed it yesterday - - -

The Traveling Stash has landed at my house!

Check out yesterday's post to enter

in the drawing to be the next place it lands!

Hugs!

Sarah

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesdays over at 

Quilt Story - be sure to check

out what everyone's working on!!

The Traveling Stash Giveaway - You Know You Want It!

Hi, all!!


Guess what?  The Traveling Stash has landed on my doorstep - and now it's your turn to get a chance at receiving this yummy box of goodness!!  It doesn't really look as romantic as that picture above - wouldn't it be cool if it did, with stickers from all the places it's been?  But it looks great inside - lots of fabulous goodies!!  Here's a teaser of what's in it....

I don't want to show you too much, because half the fun is opening it up and going through it!  Here's what I found and had to keep....

Some beautiful fabrics for the stash in blue and purple, a black and white piece to add to my "B/W Quilt Someday" collection, a charm pack of Birch Lodge, a great sort-of retro print for a dress for Miss Lilli, some seasonal prints for a fall table topper, a Christmas print, and some interesting notions - two flexible thimbles, a pair of quilt clamps, and some more flat-headed pins (you can never have too many!)  It felt like Christmas!!


And here's what I put in to replace all that goodness....

99 apple core pre-cuts in '30's repro prints - I won these a while back, but have come to the realization that I will never have time to actually sew them together, and they're so pretty, they deserve to become a quilt!  Three really cute quilt patterns, and a charm pack of Fairy Tale Friends....

...five great patriotic prints (there's enough for a quilt top there!) and a yard each of Buzz Lightyear and Woody the Cowboy fabric!


So......  do you want a chance at all this lovely loot?  The rules are simple - first of all, you have to be an active blogger.  Secondly, after you take what you want from the Stash, you must promise to pass it on promptly, after adding back in comparable items in comparable amounts to what you removed.  Please use good quilt shop quality fabric, and put in things you would want to receive yourself!  (The Golden Rule is a good guide for the Traveling Stash!)  Easy peasy.   (One more thing, and I'm sorry for this, but this giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada - the box is getting heavy and I can't afford to send it overseas. So sorry to all my lovely overseas readers!!)


How do you enter?  Even easier!  Just leave me a comment.  You can become a follower if you want (see how close that number is to 500?  I bet there'll be a giveaway when I get there!) but you don't have to.  You can also get an extra entry if you blog about the Traveling Stash giveaway!  Just leave an extra comment saying you have, with a link to your blogpost.  So you can have up to two chances to win!


Entries will close on Saturday, October 29th at noon Central Standard Time, and Little Miss Random will choose a winner that evening sometime.  I'll post the winner next Sunday, October 30th!


Hugs!


Sarah

Can I get a Whoop-Whoop?? Lazy Week....

Hi, all!


How did Friday get here so fast?  It seems like my week has just disappeared - probably because I've been a bit lazy!  But after wracking my brain, I did come up with a few finishes (or at least near finishes!) to post about!!  So here are my little finishes for the week....

I call this a small finish because I received this pieced top from Sharon this week, and all I had to do was quilt it!  Such a beautiful quilt - it was so windy today that I had a hard time getting a good picture, but it did give me an inspiration for the quilt's name - Geese On The Wind!  This quilt is for the quilt ministry - I'll be sharing more about it on Wednesday next week.

I also made this mini's - a placemat and two mug rugs - as samples for an open house we'll be having in November to introduce some new folks to quilting - although we're calling it "crafting"!  I need to make some more, but this is what I've done so far.  It's so much fun to just play with scraps - I love doing these!  I was definitely inspired by P. over at The Way I Sew It - she made so many pretty mini's this month!  If you haven't seen them, be sure to check them out!


Oh, and here's a great example of what happens if you don't keep your work area clean.....

No, that's not a shadow - somehow I managed to pick up an extra piece of fabric between the backing and the batting, and didn't notice it until I was pressing the binding down!  Guess I'll name this one Oops!!


So that's what I've been working on this week - I can see that I'm going to need to buckle down tomorrow and get some stuff done!  Oh well, I work best under pressure!!

So, now it's your turn!

What have you been working on this week?

Link up and share - 

We all want to see 

and

Give you a Whoop Whoop!!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday #68! How many flimsies?????

Good morning, all!

Monday has come around once again, with a new week to accomplish lots of stuff!!  I don't know about you, but I'm getting quite a quilty backlog of things to do...

First, though, let's see how I did on last week's list....

1.  Quilt three flimsies made for 100 Quilts For Kids.

2.  Bind those three plus two others quilted over last weekend.

Done!  Here are all seven of the quilts we made for 

100 Quilts for Kids - they were donated to the 

Middle TN Downs Syndrome Society!!

3.  Finish sewing down the bindings on the blue quilt and

the batik quilt and deliver them.

Done!  Both these quilts have headed to their new homes - 

the batik is going to a farmer in Central Florida diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the light blue quilt is going to a woman

dealing with complications of diabetes.

4.  Choose pattern and fabric for a woman's quilt for the ministry.

I lucked out on this one - turned out we had a quilt that ended 

up not being needed for its original recipient, so we used it to 

fill this need.  This quilt went to a woman who has been 

dealing with ongoing complications of cancer 

for a very long time.

5.  Make backs for all completed flimsies on hand.

Complete and total fail!  And this one is going to take 

a while - I counted up the other day, and I have twelve

quilt tops made by my sewing sisters that are ready for 

quilting.  Add to that the thirteen (yes, thirteen!!) quilt tops that 

Sharon V. sent us this week, and I have twenty-five tops on 

hand ready to quilt!!  What a blessing!!  I hope to get 

many of these quilted in the next two weeks so we have

a stock of quilts ready for new homes during the holidays!!

So now - what's on tap for this week?

1.  Bind the soft-colored quilt that was quilted Sunday.

2.  Quilt and bind a bright top for the quilt ministry.

3.  Deliver both tops to church to be sent to their new homes.

4.  Work on seat cushions for a friend's new house.

5.   Make sample gift items for our November open house.

6.  Make some quilt backs for some of those 25 flimsies!

7.  Quilt at least two more quilts for the ministry this week.

Once again, an ambitious list - but I'm feeling really energized right now (who knows how long that will last? Better take advantage of it while it's here!) so we'll see how much I manage to get done!

So - - - what are you working on this week?

Oh - and I had a comment this week that I haven't been featuring the Princess on my blog enough lately - so here's a couple of cute pictures of her.  She's going through a phase where she doesn't want to have her picture taken, so it's a little hard to get one sometimes - but I'll tell her that I have to have it for my blog!  

Hugs!

Sarah