Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? I've Got My Work Cut Out For Me...

Hi, all!

Finally Friday - and I am unbelievably pleased to be able to say that I am in San Diego, where it is cool - and not in Nashville, where it is predicted to be 108 degrees today!  Our weather has been unbelievably hot for this time of year, but fortunately it has been very dry - which keeps it from being too horribly oppressive. But everything is very dry - the grass is crispy! and fires are a constant worry, especially with the 4th of July holiday coming up.

This week I managed to get a lot of quilts ready to be quilted - some needed borders, all needed backs.....

...well, except for the top one that Pam made a back for!  Of these seven quilts, two are for the church quilt ministry, and the other five will be going to Operation Wood Hollow.  I also have one other quilt that will make it into this stack, as soon as I pick up a wide backing!  It will also be going to Operation Wood Hollow.  If you haven't heard about this worthy project, you can read more about it here.  So this is my "work cut out for me" stack for next week - hopefully I will be able to get these all quilted and bound, and then sent on to their intended recipients!  But I'm very glad to have them at this stage right now.

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Next, did you see where Amy of Amy's Creative Side posted pics of her sewing area and dared her readers to post pics of their own to see if they were as messy?  Well, these aren't pics of my sewing area, they are pics of my "junk room" which houses a lot of the overflow from my sewing room - and I'd say it's as messy as Amy's, at least!

In and among all the patterns, boxes of fabric, craft supplies, and books, there is a potter's wheel that I'd love to uncover!  Hopefully soon.....

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Did you hear about Beth's new blog, Quilts Are For Giving?  It's a place where quilt bloggers who make quilts to give away can post about their efforts!  What an awesome idea!!  And starting next week, there will be a linky party on Tuesday for folks who want to link up rather than write a whole post on the blog.  So stop by next Tuesday and join in the fun!!

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And one last thing - - - here's a picture of my three girls!!

Aren't they gorgeous??  Although I may be a little bit prejudiced...

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All right - now it's your turn!

What are you whoop whooping about?

What has made you do a happy dance this week?

Share - we want to join in the celebration!!

The linky party will remain open until Sunday night -

plenty of time to post and link up!!

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop?

Hi, all!


I hope summer is treating you well so far!  It's been as hot as all get out here (yes, that's a southern saying and I have no idea what it means!) so it's been easy to stay inside and sew.  We've been making kits for summer camp, and finally tonight got the last one made, so we're all ready for the kids (I hope!)  


We've been fortunate that there haven't been as many quilt requests this week, which gave us time to get those kits done and finish up some more tops and backs.  Here are the quilts we've made this week...

This beautiful quilt was pieced by Melissa and found a good home with a woman who is going through a difficult recovery from surgery.  Hopefully it will remind her of the ever present love of God even in difficult times!


The next quilt has kind of a cute story.  We received the embroidered blocks shown below from Sharon, and Cindy just fell in love with them....

She loved the farm aspect - actually I think it was the horse block that really caught her eye - and decided to use them to make a baby quilt.  Lots of scrappy strips later, here's what she came up with...

front...

...and back!

That cute little Debbie Mumm print on the back has been languishing in the stash for a couple of years now, but was just perfect for this quilt, with its cheerful cows and pigs!  This quilt will be going to a baby boy soon to be born at our church.

So that's all the quilts we've distributed this week.  I did finish four quilts that will be going to New Orleans in the fall...

These four tops were sent to us by Katie of Swim Bike Quilt!  Thanks, Katie!!

So that's our week at The Sweatshop!!  Thanks again to everyone who helps make our work possible - we couldn't do it without you!!

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And now, I'd like to let you know about a call for help I received this week.  You may have heard about the wildfires in Colorado, but less well publicized have been the wildfires in Utah.  

Julie of Having Fun Quilting lives in the area very near the wildfires and wants to give quilts to the families that have lost their homes as a result of the fire.  You can read more about this ongoing situation here - she actually was evacuated yesterday because the fires were threatening her town, but today they got to return to their homes.  The fire is only 15% contained, so it's still a continuing danger to the people that live there.  Anyway, Julie's requesting help from the blogging community, in the form of finished quilts, quilt tops, blocks, fabric or cash - anything you can send to help out.  If you leave a comment on her blog, she'll send you her address.  I hope you'll be able to help her!

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And Beth of Love Laugh Quilt has started a new blog aimed at people who give away their quilts for charitable causes.  When I read this post, I immediately thought, "What a great idea!"  So I headed over to the new blog, Quilts Are For Giving, and signed up to join in the fun!  You can be added on as a contributor if you'd like, so you can write a post about your charity quilts, or you can join in a linky party that will be starting up on Tuesdays in July.  Or both!!  Come join the fun and be inspired! 

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And don't forget to join in the 100 Quilts for Kids challenge - Katie has a great summer planned, with lots of guest bloggers joining in a blog hop with ideas for your quilts (I'll be one of them, here on July 9th!) so it should be lots of fun!  You can read more about the challenge here!!  It runs from June 15th until October 15th.

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Wow It's Hot!!

Hi, all!


Wow - it's been scorching hot around here, and only promises to get hotter this week!  Is it hot where you are?  I have to say, at least it makes it easy to stay inside and sew.....




But before I get to the to-do lists, I'd like to call your attention to an opportunity I found out about today.  Julie Anderson, who blogs over at Have Fun Quilting, e-mailed me about the wildfires that are raging in Utah right now.   

She is trying to collect up quilts, blocks, fabric, UFOs, anything that can help her give quilts to the 29 families who have lost their homes so far this week.  You can read her (much more eloquent) post about the situation here.  The quilt blogging community is so generous - please take a few minutes to check out Julie's post and see what you can do to help!




Now let's see how I did on last week's list...

1.  Finish up all the cleaning/organizing I started earlier this week!

Done! My husband was very surprised when he got home-

I got several texts saying things like "where is my wife and

who's been cleaning my house?" so I think he was pleased!

2.  Put together scrap bundles for The Five-Pound Smackdown!

(More about that on Wednesday...)

Done!  We had a great time, but I think it's physically

impossible to cut 5 pounds of scraps in three hours...

3.  Put together more kits for the ministry.

Done - but this is a never-ending task, rather like laundry...

4.  Put together more kits for summer camp.

Done! I think I made four more kits last week - but

still more to make!

5. Quilt at least two kids' quilts for NOLA.

Done!  Actually, I quilted four...

These beauties were donated to us by Kate of Swim Bike Quilt.  If they look familiar, they should - three of them are the pattern she showcased for last year's 100 Quilts For Kids charity challenge. The challenge starts again this summer, running from June 15th to October 15th - you ought to check it out and participate!!  These four quilts will probably go to New Orleans in October, to be donated to school-age children affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

So what's on the list for this week?

1.  Finish making the kits for summer camp.

2.  Quilt a woman's quilt for the ministry.

3.  Work on the upholstery project that's been hanging around since last fall!

4.  Plan a trip to San Diego!

Short list for this week - because (1) I really need to work on that upholstery project and (2) I'm going with DH to San Diego this weekend!  Does anyone know of any good quilt shops to see while I'm there?

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


Hugs!


Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Babies Are Distracting....

Hi, all!


Well, it's Friday again, and unfortunately, I don't have anything to show that you haven't seen already!  I made some more quilt kits for summer camp today, and cut some backs for some small quilts that I will hopefully quilt tomorrow, but other than that, I've just been playing with that baby!

I mean, how can you resist that face?  And she's started smiling at me - she recognizes me now!  How cool!  So she can be a little distracting....  ;-)


So I guess it's up to all of you - show off what you've been working on!  I, for one, need some inspiration to get back in the saddle!!  You've got until Sunday night to link up, so no excuses!  And if I get something done, maybe I'll update this post so I don't look like such a slacker!


Hugs!


Sarah

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop? Quilting & Cutting!

Hi, all!


Well, it's been a while since I did an update on The Sweatshop - so there's some catching up to do! First, let's look at the quilts we've been working on.  Thankfully, it's been a little easier the last couple of weeks - a little summer breather, which is nice, since through May we made 75 quilts this year!  Here are the quilts we've made so far in June...

This beautiful quilt was donated to us by Sue - isn't it gorgeous!  I love that block, that looks like curves but is all straight edges.  It is going to a young woman whose father was murdered recently.  She's having a difficult time dealing with it and we hope this will remind her that there are people praying for her and give her some comfort.

This cheerfully colored quilt was made from a top donated to us by Mina, I believe.  It has found a new home in Chicago, with a young woman who is dealing with some pretty serious medical issues.  She received it the day before her surgery and let us know how appreciative she was to have this reminder of all our prayers and good wishes!

The top of this quilt was larger than we usually make so I took a couple rows off the top and added them to some fabric for the back.  Worked out nicely, I think!

This very nice sudoku quilt was pieced by Pam, and is going to a woman in Florida who has just been diagnosed with colon cancer...

... and this quilt, pieced by Deborah, is going to a woman who's just been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that will require open heart surgery to correct.

This quilt will be going to a woman recently diagnosed with cancer.  As with all of these quilts, we hope that the quilt will remind her that there are many people praying for her, and provide comfort and a reminder that God loves her and has her in His hand!

And then there are the quilts for new babies...

  

Bright and cheerful, pieced by Cindy with donated blocks...

...this beauty pieced by Kathy, using the pattern we will be making with the summer camp kids...

... and this pretty sunshiny quilt, pieced by Deborah.

So those are June's quilts, so far!  We've also been working on quilting tops before they are needed, so we have quilts on hand to give out quickly, and we've also been quilting kids' quilts for New Orleans.  Those will all be shown when they are distributed....

And then last night we had a get together, called "The Five-Pound Smackdown"!  Given the huge amount of scraps we had on hand - the tubs were running over - we decided to have a "girls' night".  

So we pulled out a bunch of chick flicks, grabbed our rotary cutters, and had a race to see who could cut their scraps the fastest.  We put together five pounds of scraps for each person - and believe me, five pounds of scraps is a huge amount!  Three fully stuffed gallon ziploc bags!! 

Even though we were there for several hours, I don't think anyone got through more than one bag - so next time it may be the Two-Pound Smackdown!  

But we had lots of fun and cut a huge amount of scraps - and the tubs will now close again!

So that's what's been going on in The Sweatshop lately!  Thanks again to everyone who helps us out - we couldn't do it without you!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Busy Busy Busy!!

Hi, all!


Goodness, but I've been busy!  DH is out of town, and for some reason the "clean and organize" bug bit me - so in addition to sewing, quilting, and playing with the baby, I've been digging into long-neglected areas in my house!  Bags of stuff to donate, trash, things actually put back where they belong - where will the madness stop?????


OK, now that I've got that off my chest, here's how I did on last week's list...

1.  Make up quilt kits for summer camp.

Done!  But I still need to make more...

2.  Put together more kits for the ministry.

Done - but I forgot to get a pic!

3.  Quilt two more ministry quilts to get ahead.

Done!

4.  Quilt at least three quilts for the NOLA Project.

Partly done...

5.  Work on the junk room.

Didn't even darken the door!

6.  Design a label for the quilts for the NOLA Project 

donated through Hands2Help.

I'm working on this - a friend at church is going to 

help me get a .jpg file set up so I can get them

printed through Spoonflower!

And what's on the list for this week?

1.  Finish up all the cleaning/organizing I started earlier this week!

2.  Put together scrap bundles for The Five-Pound Smackdown!

(More about that on Wednesday...)

3.  Put together more kits for the ministry.

4.  Put together more kits for summer camp.

5. Quilt at least two kids' quilts for NOLA.

I think that's enough for now - I'm having a lot of fun playing with this little girl...

Thats my beautiful daughter making
googlie eyes at the baby....

...and this one!

Her first fishing trip!!

So now the question is.....  what are you working on this week??

Hugs!

Sarah