Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Another Chance to Take Home a Quilt!!

Hi, all!

Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?  And here it is, Friday again! Are you ready to share what you've been working on?  We're ready to give out some whoop whoops!!  So let's get started!!

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I shared this quilt last week, but since then I've taken some much better pictures….

This postage stamp quilt is made of 1,225 two-inch squares of Modern Roses by Moda, in a totally random arrangement of the colors and prints.  After washing, it measures 68" square.

Such gorgeous colors!  Salmon, teal, yellow, beige, gray and white.  I love that it's low volume, yet not quite low volume.  Just enough color to make my heart happy!

The back is a tone on tone, with a strip of the 2" squares running from top to bottom.

A shot of the back with the sun shining through it - such a glow!  You can also see the quilting well in this picture - I did it in what I like to call "girly swirlies" - a random spiral pattern that looks like paisley in spots.  

Isn't it beautiful with the sun shining on it?  

As you have probably read here in the past few weeks, my daughter Nancy has a booth in a local craft show this weekend, working on raising funds for the adoption of our Chinese grandson, Nathanael.  As part of her efforts this weekend, she is raffling off this quilt - and she's asked me to open up the raffle on my blog, too!  So if you want a chance at another pretty quilt, this is it!

Here's the skinny on how to participate…

The raffle runs from Friday, August 29th through Sunday, August 31st at 4 pm CST.

Entries in the raffle are only $1 each.  

You can enter as many times as you want!

We appreciate your support more than you know!

You can make a tax-deductible donation to their adoption fund by clicking here or on the picture in the top right sidebar.  Be sure to leave a message with your full name so we can contact you if you win!

BUT - if you make your donation on their site using PayPal, please email me at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know how much you donated!  This is a quick raffle, ending Sunday at 4:00 pm CST, and PayPal donations don't show up right away.  We don't want to miss entering you in the raffle because we don't know about your donation in time! 

If you prefer, and don't want or need the tax deduction, you can make a donation directly to Nancy's PayPal account as a "friends and family" payment by going into your PayPal account, clicking "Send & Request", and then choosing "Send Money to Friends and Family".  Nancy's email is cornwell.nancy (at) gmail (dot) com.  Put your name and email address in the comment section on the second screen so we can reach you if you win!  If your donation comes from your PayPal balance or bank account (rather than a credit card) there are no fees attached to a payment of this type, either to you or to Nancy.

Easy-peasy!  

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And on the adoption front, we've got a big whoop whoop!!

The kids are officially…

D T C!!

For those of you (like me) who are uninitiated in the terminology of the adoption process, that means Dossier To China.  Their package of documents (the dossier) has been sent to China (with an enormous check) and will now be translated and then reviewed by the Chinese government!  That's a big step closer to bringing Nathanael home!!

Whoop whoop!!!

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And now it's your turn!

What are you whooping about this week?

Not our little boy, but cute all the same!

What's got you dancing the happy dance??

Share with us - we want to dance with you!!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight

(but the raffle is only open until Sunday 4 pm CST)

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - for those of you who are in the Middle Tennessee area, the Burlap & Berries Barn Sale Market is being held at 7941 Couchville Pike in Mount Juliet, TN.  The hours are Friday, 8/29 from 4 pm to 7 pm, Saturday, 8/30 from 10am to 4 pm, and Sunday, 8/31 from noon to 4 pm.  Hope to see you there!

Make-A-List Monday - Gearing Up For a Barn Sale!

Hi, all!

Summer is almost over - can you believe it?  Labor Day is almost here, and the lazy days of summer will be behind us. But there's still time for one last blast!  My daughter is participating in a Barn Sale this weekend, and I'm working on some things for her related to that.  It'll be a great way to end the summer!  

But first, let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Finish up the quilt for my daughter to raffle at the craft show!

Done!  It came out really pretty - low volume, but rather modern…

She'll be raffling this quilt off at the sale over the weekend.  I'll be listing it on the blog, too, so if you want to take a chance on winning it, tune in on Friday!!

2.  Send off the quilt estimate.

Done!

3.  Unpack and process fourteen boxes of fabric donations received this week. (WOW!)

We started this - it was a lot of fabric, and we've only made it through about half of it.  We should get it finished tomorrow!

4.  Quilt at least two quilts for the quilt ministry.

I didn't quilt any for the ministry this week (thanks to Rita, who has quilted a bunch!) but I did quilt three quilts for Nancy to auction off for the adoption fund.  Pictures soon!

5.  Start cutting out the girls' annual quilts.

Nope.  Didn't get to this, at all!

6.  Keep up with quilt ministry needs as they arise.

Done!  

The first three quilts above are going to the directors of orphanages in Africa when our mission team goes there in a few weeks.

These two quilts went to a mother (top) and daughter (bottom).  Mom has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and is a single parent to her 7-year old daughter.  We thought both could use a good quilt-y hug!

This quilt went to a fairly young man who had a stroke.  They are unable to find the cause of the stroke, and his family is having to deal with many financial problems as a result of his illness.

And this quilt went to a lovely older woman who has been diagnosed with untreatable cancer.

A good week, even if I didn't get everything done that I wanted to get to!  As you may have seen in my Friday post, we had a pretty major storm on Wednesday, and lost a lot of trees in the yard.  Saturday morning a whole bunch of people from our church came over with chain saws and lots of energy, and we spent Saturday morning cleaning up the yard and cutting up the trees.  Needless to say, Saturday afternoon I wasn't good for much!  

This week, as I said, I'm helping my daughter get ready for her barn sale.  So that's going to be the biggest part of my week this week.  Here's the list!

1.  Finish the chevron table runner for Nancy's display table.   Here's what it looks like so far…  only 22 more rows to go!

2.  Make a bunch of yo-yo's for Nancy to use in making hair pins to sell at the show. Here's her inspiration...

3.  Quilt a top for a friend - sort of a commission, because the money for this one will go to the adoption fund.

4.  Take care of the girls while Nancy works the show!

5.  Reorganize the fabric at church by color.  It's gotten really jumbled up and needs a complete re-do.  

6.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that arise.

I think that's going to have to be it for this week - that table runner has 432 half square triangles in it and it's taking a lot longer to put together than I thought it would!  So now I'm off to make some yo-yo's…  and my question is…

What are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Close Call, and a Quilt….

Hi, all!

It's Friday again - are you ready to get your whoop-whoop on?  I am - it's been an eventful week, and I've even got a finish!!

So first of all, the close call. Summer weather in Middle Tennessee can be up and down - the heat and humidity can cause afternoon thunderstorms, but we usually have some warning when severe thunderstorms are heading our way.

Yesterday morning, the weatherman said there was a 10% chance of rain, and the temperature would be in the low 90's.  Nothing to worry about, right?  Well, about 3 pm I started hearing thunder in the distance.  Didn't think much of it, because Jolene is on a UPS to protect her electronics and my computer wasn't plugged in. Then a few minutes later I started hearing things slam against the back of the house, and the power went out.  Looked outside and the wind was blowing sideways ferociously!  Grabbed my computer and purse, ran downstairs and kicked the dog out of the one safe spot in my house during a tornado (my bedroom closet) and called my daughter to see if there was a tornado warning for my area.  She said there was only a severe thunderstorm warning. Well, there was definitely a severe thunderstorm going on!  The sound of the wind started dying down a few minutes later, so I went to look out my bedroom window….

…and here's what I saw!  That tree sits about eight feet from my bedroom window on the bottom floor, and my studio window on the upper floor!

Here's a couple of shots from this morning…

And a picture of the giant oak in my neighbor's yard that is now laying in my back yard!

We're very thankful that none of the trees that came down hit the house, but it's going to be a lot of work cleaning up the mess.  Fortunately, there's a lot of guys with chain saws at my church who love a good excuse to chop things up!  And there's plenty of excuse at my place - about six trees came down…..

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I do love a "stained glass" shot!

But now on to the quilt!  This quilt will be raffled off by my daughter at the upcoming Burlap & Berries Barn Sale here in Mount Juliet on Labor Day weekend.  All proceeds will go to her adoption account to help #bringNathanaelhome!

It's a 2" postage stamp quilt, measuring about 70" square.  

The fabric is Modern Roses by Stephanie Ryan for Moda.

The back is a tone-on-tone cream with more of the 2" squares to break up the expanse of cream. 

Quilted in what I like to call "girly swirlies"..

It has great texture!!

  

And someone will be taking it home on Sunday, August 31st!

We'll probably open up the raffle participation to this blog and Facebook, too - so stay tuned for more information!

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That's what I'm whooping about this week!

What's making you smile?

What's making you dance the happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight

so there's plenty of time to join in.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Whew!!

Hi, all!

Whew!  I made it through last week and this week looks to be much more relaxed. Woohoo!!  I was so busy last week I didn't even look at my list - so I was really happy to see how much stuff got done!  Let's see how it went...

1.  Make the quilt for my doctor's wife.

Done and delivered!  I was very happy with the way this turned out and I hope it will be a comfort to her….

I used my collection of grunge solids...

And did straight line quilting.  Love the texture!

2.  Finish an antique top for a friend's father-in-law.

Done!  I think this turned out well.  I was a little worried about the age of the flimsy, but it held up through quilting and washing!

3.  Work on the quilt for my daughter to raffle at the craft show.

Accomplished!  In fact, the top is almost finished - here's what it looked like this morning… and I hope to have it completely assembled by tomorrow morning early.

4. Write up an estimate for a commission quilt.

Almost finished!  I need to check over my math and write a cover letter to go with it, then it's done!

5.  Help my niece finish some quilts to take with her to Canada (she's moving to Calgary for five years to work on her PhD)

Done!  We finished this quilt…

…and this quilt...

…and this one!

She should be set now for those cold winters in Canada!

6.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that arise.

Done, although I didn't do so well getting pictures!  Here are the ones I did take pictures of...

This one went as a comfort quilt to a woman who has suffered some major losses in the past few months...

This one went to a new baby boy...

This one went to a man suffering from Alzheimers...

And this one went to a woman just diagnosed with breast cancer.

We also did a quilt for a woman with MS and cancer throughout her body, but as I said, it went in the mail before I took a picture!

I'm so grateful that Rita, the orphan block queen, has also decided that she likes to quilt - she's been working at church during the week quilting 5-8 quilts a week all summer!  That means that we have a great stock of finished quilts, which makes it much quicker to get a quilt in someone's hands.  It's a good feeling!

And now, here's what's on my plate for this week…

1.  Finish up the quilt for my daughter to raffle at the craft show!

2.  Send off the quilt estimate.

3.  Unpack and process fourteen boxes of fabric donations received this week. (WOW!)

4.  Quilt at least two quilts for the quilt ministry.

5.  Start cutting out the girls' annual quilts.

6.  Keep up with quilt ministry needs as they arise.

It feels strange not to have an overload of things that need to be done!  But I'm going to enjoy it while I can!!  

I'm also enjoying spending serious time with this little cutie…

…who is very serious about her pancakes in the morning.  Butter is a side dish, not a condiment!  She's become very independent - she wants to walk up and down my stairs all by herself!  Not that she gets to - when you live in a 140 year old house, the stairs are challenging at best.  We've had a couple of long discussions about that… handholding is mandatory!  But it's lots of fun to watch her grow and change every day…

OK - so that's what I'm working on this week.  And now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? I'm a Proud Quilt Mama….

Hi, all!

Here it is, Friday again - can you believe it?  It always seems to me that the weeks go faster as summer comes to an end.  I actually saw something on Facebook the other day telling how many weekends it was until Christmas (something I won't share with you because it totally freaked me out!) So I guess it's time to get it in gear, yes?

I hope you're ready to whoop it up - I've got something really fun to share this week!  My niece Heather came to spend the weekend with me before she moves to Canada to work on her Ph.D. at Calgary, and she brought some of her quilty UFOs to finish up. You may remember Heather - I first introduced you to her with this picture…

This was her first quilt - a disappearing 9-patch.  Then she moved on to her "Wicked" quilt - but it became a PIG (Project in Grocery sack) after she finished the flimsy.

Next up, and totally appropriate for this brilliant math whiz, was her Fibonnaci quilt…

…and then her quilt based on the Doppler effect...

Then the quilt she designed for her mom, who we occasionally call the crazy cat lady (when she's not around to hear us…)

…And because no graduate student worth her salt can survive without her own personal Tardis, she designed and created this quilt…

And this weekend, we managed to finish up three more quilts. The first is a gift for a friend of hers who just had a baby…

Cute giraffe fabrics on the front...

…an interesting quilting design - straight line sections alternated with random meander rows...

…and an adorable giraffe print for the back!

Then she moved on to her oldest UFO, the Wicked quilt...

Emerald green fabric pinwheels...

Yes, that really is the Wicked Witch of the West!  And the one turned block in the bottom corner was an intentional design choice.  She quilted this with random spirals.

And then she moved on to this pretty quilt - a block she designed herself.  The fabrics are mostly rainy day prints from Connecting Threads, with one print of books in a spiral.  She said it made her think of enjoying good book on a rainy day!

I'm especially proud and amazed at the quilting she did on this quilt.  She decided that she wanted to do something special and different, not just an overall pattern.  So we loaded it on Jolene and she went to work...

And look at that quilting!  Squared spirals in the largest squares, and a random meander through the other parts of the blocks.  But the bravest thing?  Take a look at the back!!

She used a white thread on a denim sketch backing fabric - which could have shown every error!   But instead she ended up with a quilt that is equally fabulous on both back and front…

Isn't that cool?  Like I said, I'm one proud quilt mama!

Now she has six quilts to take with her to Calgary - hopefully enough to keep her warm through the Canadian winters!  But if not, I'm sure she's got a wicked auntie somewhere who will send her some more…

So - - - can we give Heather a big whoop whoop??

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And now, a message from our sponsor…

From August 15 through August 27, Craftsy is hosting a quilt giveaway!  Which quilt would you love to win?

 

One randomly selected quilter will get to choose their prize, whether it's the starry True Blue Quilt Kit OR the elegant Blue Garden Quilt Kit.  (Psst … the prize also comes with the coordinated backing for the quilt!)

**Only residents of the U.S. and Canada are eligible to enter.** 

Enter to win here: Enter to Win a Quilt Kit from Craftsy 

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And now it's your turn!  

What's got you whooping this week?

What's making you dance the happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you!!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight - 

hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah