Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? All Ready For Quilting...

Hi, all!

Friday's here again - and you know what that means!  It's time to get your whoop whoop on!!

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

This week, I'm whooping about the progress that has been made on the Helping Hands quilt!

Just so you can appreciate the whole process, here's what I started with early Sunday afternoon...

...which by Sunday night had progressed to this...

All spread out on my den floor.  Thankfully, I didn't have husband or granddaughters in the house until Wednesday morning, so I was able to spread this out in the only space large enough for it!

Monday morning I started sewing the pieces together...

A small start at first...

...then most of one side.  By the end of Monday, here's what I had pieced together..

...and here's what was left on my "design floor"!

Up bright and early on Tuesday morning, and back to work!  

By noon, this is what I had done - a large part of the body of the quilt.  Large enough for a top but I still had hand blocks left to add...

And by 5:30 on Tuesday, this is what I had - a finished flimsy!  It's so large I had a hard time taking a picture of it - but fortunately it's still small enough to fit on my quilt frame.  My goal for this weekend is to get it quilted.  I'm pouring through my quilting pattern books to get ideas for all the different spaces I need to fill.  I'm planning to leave the hands unquilted, and use background filler patterns to make them stand out.

Can I get a whoop whoop?

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

And now it's your turn!

What are you dancing a happy dance about?

Do share - we want to dance along with you!

(And remember - it doesn't have to be a finish!)

The party will remain open until Sunday midnight.

Be there or be square!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Starting the Helping Hands Quilt!

Hi, all!

Well, summer in Tennessee is definitely here - the temps are in the 90's and it rained the better part of the afternoon here.  Poured, actually, and thundered so much my poor dog hid in the closet!  But that made for a good sewing day, at least!  More about what I'm working on right now at the end of the post...

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

1.  Finish the pillow cover.

Done!  Look how cute it came out...

2.  Put labels on all the H2H quilts, and...

3.  Mail off all the H2H quilts!

Done!  I wish I had taken a picture of the boxes I sent off - the one for Quilts Beyond Borders was 16x16x20, and stuffed full!  And then another box went to Emily for Happy Chemo...

4.  List items in the Etsy shop.

Hallelujah!! Done!!  I've added a framed cross-stitch picture, two toddler outfits, and two purses.  (Finally!)

5.  Cut out vacation quilt.

Started!  I've cut about 1/4 of the pieces needed...

6.  Put together two scrap piles into usable quilt tops.

Done!  One of those piles was made into a cute kid's quilt...

...and the other pile was turned into a stack of blocks and given to another ministry member to be assembled into a top.

As expected, I also had some quilt ministry needs come up, and quilted and bound these three quilts...

And that's what I did last week!

This week promises to be a little different - my DH is out of town from Sunday until very late Tuesday night, so I spread out the hand blocks received for the Helping Hands project on the den floor.

Here's where I started last night - all spread out...

This is what I sewed together today...

And here's what's left to sew up tomorrow!

So here's my list for this week....

1.  Finish stitching the Helping Hands quilt top together.

2.  Continue cutting out my vacation quilt.

3.  Quilt the Helping Hands quilt.

4.  Take care of any ministry needs that come up.

Short list this week, but it's nice to feel a little less pressure than last week!  Still, I'm sure there will be plenty to do even if I get this list done...  I might even have to do some.... HOUSEWORK!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Pillow Talk!!

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday again!  It seems like a long time since we last got our whoop whoop on - I hope you're ready to do it again!  Let's get started!

So hee's what I'm whooping about this week - a finally finished graduation present for a friend!!

Her mom told me that she would be decorating her 

dorm room in navy and coral.

I remembered that great navy and coral floral print

that was tucked away in my stash somewhere.

It took some time to find it!

But I think it was worth it!!

The front of the pillow is a Swoon block, with the center star fussy cut from the floral fabric.

The quilting is straight line in the star and points, 14 inch in from each straight edge.  The straight lines in the center star cross and form a diamond in the center.  The background pieces are quilted with a medium stipple to make the star points stand out.

The back of the pillow is made using a simple envelope closure.

And that's what I'm whooping about this week!!

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

And now it's your turn! 

What has made you dance the happy dance this week?

Show us what you've been working on - 

We want to dance too!!

Remember it doesn't have to be a finish - 

Just what you're excited to have accomplished!

The linky party will close Sunday night at midnight -

Be there or be square!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday -

Hi, all!

Monday has rolled around again - after a wonderful Father's Day weekend, which saw two boat excursions, an afternoon at Man Of Steel, and a good part of Sunday spent with our daughter and granddaughters (my poor SIL had to work!). Check out what Lilli and my husband did together!

Our church had a tent set up in the parking lot with kits from Home Depot for dads and kids to work on together.  They even sent the kid-sized work aprons!  Lilli and Bill built a little tool chest and had a great time doing it.  

I did manage to get some quilting and crafting in this week and weekend, so let's see how I did on last week's list.

1.  Mail off H2H prizes to 19 people!

Done!  I wish I had taken a picture of the huge pile of goodies I took to the post office - but suffice it to say I'm one of their favorite people now!  I've done my part to keep the doors open!

2.  Quilt four more H2H quilts for Ethiopia.

Done!  Take a look at this stack...

Isn't that a gorgeous pile of goodness?

3.  Bind one woman's quilt for the ministry.

Done!

4.  Bind one man's quilt for the ministry.

Done!

5.  Quilt one more man's quilt for the ministry.

Done!

6.  Quilt one more woman's quilt for the ministry.

Done!

7.  Make the pillow for my friend.

Started - just need to finish up the quilting!

8.  List items on Etsy.

Not done, but at least I got started on it today!

9.  Start cutting out my vacation quilt.

Also not finished but I did press all the fat quarters and sort them out preparatory to cutting them tomorrow!

I also quilted two other quilts for the ministry!

I'm really happy with how much I got done last week - it was worth half the week missing my DH!  But no time to crow - let's see what's on this week's list!

1.  Finish the pillow cover.

2.  Put labels on all the H2H quilts, and...

3.  Mail off all the H2H quilts!

4.  List items in the Etsy shop.

5.  Cut out vacation quilt.

6.  Put together two scrap piles into usable quilt tops.

I'm going to stop there because I'll probably end up making a ministry quilt or two this week - the requests keep coming in!

So that's what I'll be working on this week.  Now the question is - - - what are you working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Some more template work...

Hi, all!

It's Friday again, and you know what that means!  It's time to get our whoop whoop on!!  Remember, it doesn't have to be a finish - so share your progress, too!

So this is what I'm whooping about this week!  

A little template work on a pretty quilt

destined to be auctioned off to benefit

Relay For Life!

Look!  I finally did some decent feathers!

I even did some in the borders, but they're 

not as easy to see - which is probably good!

And see the little arcs on each block?

I used my sweet melon shaped template to do those - 

No more drunken quilting!

Here's another shot of the quilting...

And one of the binding!  Aren't those little pennants cute?

And one more whoop whoop...

Look at this wonderful stack of quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders!  Definitely a collaborative effort, these were made by elementary school children and my sewing sisters in our church, and will be going to Ethiopian orphans!  Sixteen of them - whoop whoop!!  (Kind of looks like the bed for the princess in The Princess and The Pea, doesn't it?)

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

So that's what I'm whooping about this week!

And now it's your turn!

What are you doing a jig about right now?

See - it's more fun with friends!!

So share and join in the fun!

The linky will remain open until Sunday at midnight -

Be there or be square!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make--A-List Monday - Taking a Deep Breath!

Hi, all!

Whew!  I am definitely taking a deep breath - the Hand2Help Charity Challenge is finally over!  After a marathon session yesterday afternoon - over six hours of sorting through entries, writing the prize blogpost, drawing the names for 50 giveaways, completing the post, and emailing all of the winners and donors - I can say it was a complete success!  127 quilts donated by 65 quilters - is that not amazing?  

Well, enough of that - let's see how I did on last week's list...

1.  Complete the Sunset on Water quilt I'm currently piecing for the ministry.

Done!  Here's a pic...

My friend, who delivered it, wrote me today, "They loved the quilt and couldn't believe people they didn't even know would go to so much trouble.  It was perfect."  That makes me happy....

2.  Quilt one last H2H quilt.

Done, but I've found four more!  No pics yet...

3.  Finish two men's quilts for the ministry.

One is done... but I think I forgot to take a pic!

4.  Finish a woman's quilt for the ministry.

Actually got to two women's quilts...

5.  Make a pillow for a graduation gift.

I didn't get to this one yet, but I did find my focus fabric and decided on a design...

6.  Finish up the Hands2Help Challenge - giveaway on Sunday!

Yep, it's done!!

7.  Get those items listed in the shop!

Not yet...

8.  Start cutting out the vacation quilt.

Didn't get to this one either!

I really seriously underestimated how much time the H2H Challenge would take up last week, which is why I didn't get to many of the things on my list.  Oh well, there's always this week!   So let's see what's on this week's list...

1.  Mail off H2H prizes to 19 people!

2.  Quilt four more H2H quilts for Ethiopia.

3.  Bind one woman's quilt for the ministry.

4.  Bind one man's quilt for the ministry.

5.  Quilt one more man's quilt for the ministry.

6.  Quilt one more woman's quilt for the ministry.

7.  Make the pillow for my friend.

8.  List items on Etsy.

9.  Start cutting out my vacation quilt.

Fortunately for my workload, although unfortunately because I miss him, my DH is out of town until Wednesday evening, so I've got some extra time to work on these projects.  But Tuesday night we're having a "girls' night" at church to meet and work on projects - and of course, eat!  So far, I know people are bringing egg rolls, fried rice, beef enchiladas, and I'm bringing a decadent looking chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries on top!  Should be a fun time for all!!

So that's what I'm working on this week!  Should keep me busy and out of trouble, for sure.

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

Hugs!

Sarah