Make-A-List Monday - Can We Make Time Slow Down?

Hi, all!

Does anyone else think that we need to slow time down just a little bit?  It seems like the days are just flying by the closer we get to Christmas.  If anyone knows a way to make that clock move slower, please let me know!

Well, it's Monday, so I need to take a look at last week's list to see how much actually got done...

1.  Quilt a friend's top - a year old UFO that was supposed to be a Christmas gift last year!  We're going to make sure it gets to its new home this year.

And we did!!  Here's the finished quilt - which turned out gorgeous!

2.  Sew up Nathanael's Christmas stocking.  I found the cross-stitched front on my sewing table when I cleaned up the other day, and realized that I still needed to get it finished!

Done!  Here you can see all of our Christmas stockings all hung up together - on our stairway bannister instead of the fireplace.

3.  Quilt two quilts for the quilt ministry.

Done!  These two were added to seven more twin size quilts that will be used by our church's Compassionate Hands ministry, a room-at-the-inn type ministry to homeless people.

4.  Pick up some donations for the quilt ministry.

Done!  Here's a little video showing the total awesomeness of this donation - a friend was closing out her on-line shop and divided her remaining inventory between our ministry and another local church's ministry.  What a sweetheart!

5.  Piece alphabet blocks for Nathanael's quilt.

Done, sort of.  I decided to appliqué the letters on instead of piecing them, and finished that on Sunday afternoon. 

I also found this great piece of fabric in my stash that I've decided to put between the blue strips in the picture above.  I think it will make a great back!

6.  Assemble the back for Lilli's quilt.

Well, I've started!  I printed out the story of The Princess and The Pea on fabric, and created a frame for it so I can put it into the back.  This back should be pretty simple but I just didn't get around to putting it together.

7.  Assemble the back for Emmy's quilt.

Also started, but not finished.  I found this awesome vintage embroidered tablecloth in an antique shop earlier this year, and saved it just for this purpose.  When I pulled it out to start sewing the back, I found a stain on it, so had to soak it in Oxi-Clean for a while. Fortunately, the stain came out, and it's ready to be sewn up now.  Just have to get enough time to do it!

8.  Finish decorating the house for Christmas - we have two Christmas parties at our house on Saturday!

Done!  You saw the stockings above, and here are some other spots I took pictures of, too!

9.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up!

Also done!  We gave away a lot of quilts this week, starting with this pile...

52 quilts that are going to an orphanage in Ethiopia at the end of this month!  We made these with just two layers of fabric and no batting, but they are quilted.  Cot size so they will fit in the cribs they use at the orphanage.

This quilt went to a man who has cancer in his spine.  He is going through chemo treatments and is always cold.

This quilt is going to an artist who had a stroke.  She has trained herself to fingerpaint since her stroke, but was recently diagnosed with colon cancer.

This is the stack of quilts that is designated for the Compassionate Hands ministry at our church.

This quilt was given to a young boy who is battling a serious illness.

And this quilt was donated to be used as a fundraiser for a local first responder who was severely injured in the line of duty.

Whew!  That's a lot of quilts this week!  And a very busy week. I didn't get everything on the list done, but I spent two mornings helping friends finish their quilts on Jolene (my long arm machine) and had a hard time focusing on my work with good friends to talk to!  But I'll do better this week - there's a lot less going on so I should be able to knock out some projects! 

So now let's see what I need to get done this week - and by the way, I really appreciate your indulgence in putting up with my lists each week.  It helps me get my brain organized and I get more done - plus I don't want to admit to you that I didn't get something done!  OK, here's the list...

1.  Finish the back for Nathanael's quilt.

2.  Finish the back for Lilli's quilt.

3.  Finish the back for Emmy's quilt.

4.  Quilt at least two of the kids' quilts.

5.  Try on and take in my outfit for hubby's office 

Christmas party if needed. (Oh the joys of losing weight!)

6.  Try to finish up my Christmas shopping.

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

I'm trying to keep it simple this week because I really want to finish those quilts for the kids this week!  That will take a huge weight off my shoulders.  But we'll see - I'm trying to learn to go with the flow lately and adapting to things as they come up.

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

Hugs!

Sarah