Make-A-List Monday - the Last Week of 2014!

Hi, all!

Can you believe it's the last week of 2014?  This year has just flown by - I found my resolutions list from last January, and unfortunately not much on it got done, because we went into adoption mode in March and that took over the time allotted to most of my grand plans.  But I wouldn't change a thing!  It's been wild ride and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store.

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

1.  Finish the weighted blanket I've started for Emmy.

Done!  I gave it to my daughter for Christmas, though - in hopes that it would give HER a good night's sleep!  She thought that was funny….

2.  Rewrite the weighted blanket tutorial to include new, clearer pictures and a few additional tweaks. 

I'm working on this - hope to have it done very soon!

3.  Get the house ready for a visit from my sister and her daughters after Christmas!

Done!  It was still pretty clean, so this was an easy one.

4.  Eat too much, open lots of presents, take lots of pictures, and have fun!

Definitely done!  We had such a ball on Christmas and in the days following…

Emmy with her quilt...

Lilli with hers...

The nieces showed up for a visit...

My sister, the ironing minion…
hooray, I have minions!

And sweet sisters loving on each other
when they came over to play today!

5. And, as usual, keep up with any ministry needs that may arise.

Fortunately, this was a quiet week for the quilt ministry.  We only gave away one quilt…

This quilt went to a woman with breast cancer.

And I did manage to do one small thing in the sewing room this week…

A new ironing board cover!  Hopefully this one will last longer than the muslin ones I've been using - it's an IKEA canvas print.

I also did some major cleaning in the sewing room - but I've barely begun!  I'm hoping to get a lot more done this week, and post some pictures.

OK - so now let's see what's on the agenda for this week…

1.  Work on the re-organization of the sewing room.

2.  Start planning the quilt-along for Hands2Help 2015.

3.  Press and cut scraps for the quilt-along samples.

4. Quilt at least two and hopefully five quilts for the quilt ministry.

5.  Order interfacing for a commission t-shirt quilt.

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

That's plenty for this week - I'm also planning to go see several movies with my wonderful husband and maybe a special date night as we celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary!  

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Successful Christmas!

Hi, all!

I hope your Christmas was as much fun as our was!  We started out with breakfast at my daughter's in-laws' house with this cutie…

…and this one!

Then it was off to our house to open packages!  The girls loved their quilts...

And I got a few really nice things - my husband knows how to shop for a quilter!

Then we had dinner with the extended family again!  A busy day!  But the best part was seeing the girls' faces as they enjoyed all their presents….

There's nothing better than seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child!  

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

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

And now it's your turn!  

What are you excited about this week?

Maybe something you couldn't reveal before now?

What's got you dancing 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

We Have A Winner!!!

 

Hi, all!

Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments on my "5 Years, 800 Posts, 1000 Quilts" blogpost!  I feel so encouraged and I have a huge smile on my face - a great way to start Year #6!  

But I'm sure you all are more interested in who won the "Peppermint Candy" quilt…

…and the winner is Patti, who said….

2. PattiDecember 24, 2014 at 3:25 AM

   Does fudge count? I love it really any time of the year!

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   PattiDecember 24, 2014 at 3:28 AM

   I'm an "old" follower!

   
   

Patti, I'll be contacting you via email for your snail mail info!  Thanks again to all of you who joined in the fun and shared your favorite candy - I think I put on ten pounds just reading all the comments!!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Hugs!

Sarah

Merry Christmas!

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, 

and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,

and they were filled with fear.

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom he is well pleased!"

I love this part of the Christmas story - can you imagine how the shepherds felt, seeing the sky suddenly fill with a multitude of angels, all praising God!  Awe, amazement, fear, maybe even an overwhelming desire to join in the praise!  

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.    Luke 2:8-16

This Christmas, may we each feel the amazement and joy of the shepherds, and the desire to share the story 

of the baby in the manger with the world!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, 

and the government will be on his shoulders.  

And he will be called 

Wonderful Counselor, 

Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas to all!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - oops, Tuesday!!

Hi, all!

Well, I'll be the first to admit that the holidays always get me turned around a little backwards.  My husband is usually home the last two weeks of the year, and I don't usually have the grandgirls on the same schedule, and so, just like yesterday, I forget what day of the week it is!  I woke up at 2 am and thought, "Wait a minute - yesterday was Monday, wasn't it?"  So here I am, at 6:45 am, writing my Make-A-List Monday post!

OK - so let's see how last week's list went…

1.  Hand-stitch the labels on the girls' Christmas quilts.

Done!  I'm not very fond of hand stitching, but these went on quick and easy… Here's a pic of one of them!

2.  Take great pictures of those quilts for Friday's blogpost!

Well, I can't say they're great - we haven't had much sunshine in the past few weeks, and it makes for gray pictures - but those pics are done! You can see more about these quilts and the other quilts I've given the girls for past Christmases here…

Lilli's quilt

Emmy's quilt

3.  Work on a special surprise.

Done!  I made this quilt to give away to one lucky reader to celebrate 5 years, 800+ posts, and 1000 quilt ministry quilts!  You can read more and enter the giveaway here - but hurry, the giveaway closes at 5 pm CST Christmas Eve!  Winner will be announced on Christmas day.

4.  Wrap Christmas presents and decide what else I need to get.

Almost done!  I think we're finished shopping, but I've still got a few to wrap.  Whew!

5.  Prepare lots of good food for a family get-together this Saturday morning!

Done!  My daughter and her family weren't able to come - Lilli came down with the flu (she's better now) but we had a good time with way too much food!

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

Done!  It was a busy week down on the farm…

(Insert five hour break in here while we did a lot of this…

…AND we're back!  This quilt went to a lady who started chemo for lymphoma this week...

This one went to a 13-year old girl who had a brain aneurysm...

This one went to a lady who just went through a stem cell transplant...

This one went to a lady who suffered some serious burns...

This quilt went to a gentleman with throat cancer...

This lovely scrappy quilt went to a lady with stage 4 breast cancer...

This one went to an elderly gentleman who is currently dealing with pneumonia and other unsettling changes in his life….

And this one, pictured with it's designer and creator, Callie (our youngest quilt ministry member), went to a new baby boy, born premature but fortunately thriving!

Whew!  We blew past that 1000 mark, for sure - we've given away 38 quilts so far in December - more than double any past December and tied for the most of any month this year!  

OK - now what's up for this week?  It should be an easy week, but there are a few things to do…

1.  Finish the weighted blanket I've started for Emmy.

2.  Rewrite the weighted blanket tutorial to include new, clearer pictures and a few additional tweaks. 

3.  Get the house ready for a visit from my sister and her daughters after Christmas!

4.  Eat too much, open lots of presents, take lots of pictures, and have fun!

5. And, as usual, keep up with any ministry needs that may arise.

Like I said, an easy week, but next week will be much busier as I give my sewing studio a much-needed cleaning and organizing!

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

Hugs and Merry Christmas!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? This Year's Quilts Are In The Books!

Hi, all!

It's Friday again, and I am so happy to say that it's time for all of us to do some whooping - and today I have something to whoop about!!  The girls' annual quilts are done!

For those of you who may be new around here, I started quilting shortly after my granddaughter Lilli was born, and I decided that I would make her a quilt every Christmas.  That way when she grew up and moved out, she'd already have a stack of quilts for her house.  Well, as usually happens, along came another granddaughter, and I started making a quilt each year for her too!  Here are some of the quilts I've made them…

Lilli, 2010

Lilli, 2011

Lilli, 2013

Emmy, when she was born.

Emmy, 2012

Emmy, 2013

Try as I might, I can't find pictures of two of Lilli's quilts!  Anyway, each year I try to find fabric that reminds me of what they were interested in that year.  I make labels for the quilts that tell them about that particular quilt and what they were like that year.  

Here are this year's quilts - first of all, Miss Lilli's!

Lilli chose her own focus fabric...

…white unicorns on a purple field.  Because every princess needs a unicorn!

Here's a shot of the pieced back.

I found this cute ballerina print for the back.  Lilli likes to show me her ballet positions all the time (her cousin taught them to her!)

And take a look at the wonderful "I Love You" paper-pieced block that Terri made for Lilli's quilt!  It's hard to see, but the fingernails on the hand are sparkly - Lilli knew immediately it was made for her!  Thank you, Terri!

And here is Emmy's quilt - same pattern, but a different focus fabric and snowball corner color.  Amazing how different they look, isn't it?

Emmy's been all about boats this year - so I found some cute boat fabric for her focus fabric.

She's also been rather fond of horses since about mid-summer - so of course I had to have some of the Cotton & Steel Mustangs for the back!  And when I was cutting the pieces for her quilt back, I found the coolest thing on the Mustang selvage...

…that fit Emmy so well it became part of her label!

And of course, Terri also made an "I Love You" paper-pieced block for Emmy's quilt, too.  This is one of Emmy's favorite ASL signs - she's finally learned how to do it herself, but when she does it, she says, "I you too!"

(Terri does the most amazing paper piecing - if you've never visited her blog before, you really should!)

So - - - can I get a Whoop Whoop?

And I wasn't the only one doing whoop-whoop worthy things this week - we've had a few at church, too!  I'd  better only show you one, though - the other is a Christmas present and I'd hate to inadvertently spoil a surprise.  I'll save that one for next week!

Meet Callie!  She's Rita The Quilting Queen's granddaughter, and the reason that Rita got started with us.  Callie was in our summer camp quilting class two years ago, and went home to her grandmother and told her she ought to come try it out!  That little quilt is Callie's fourth or fifth quilt, and it went to a new baby this week.  I think it's safe to say that Callie is the youngest active member of the quilt ministry!

So let's give Callie a big whoop whoop too!!

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

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping this week?

Are you doing the happy dance?

Share - because it's more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight,

so I hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - Just in case you missed it, I'm having a 5-year, 800-post, 1000-quilt giveaway!  You can enter until 5 pm Wednesday, 12/24, so hop over to this blogpost and throw your hat in the ring!!