Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? It's Fall, Y'All!

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday!!  And not just Friday, but the first full Friday of fall!  

Have you done anything you're whooping about this week?  Think hard - there's always something!  Remember, it doesn't have to be a finish - just something you're happy about.  Let's get whooping!!

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First, let's start with an inconsequential but still happy-making thing....

This showed up in my driveway this morning, and when it left, I had a whole new view...

It seems like a silly thing, but living out in the country, that driveway gets muddy after a while, and a new layer of gravel is SO nice!!

And then I got  busy today and set up my photo shoot for the Free Spirit Fabric project!  

It's always fun to find props for a photo shoot.  In this case, I was aiming for a vintage/antique look, so I pulled out the small sofa my great-grandfather used in his law office, and the small boot chair that we think dates from revolutionary times.  Lots of old metal hanging on the smokehouse and sitting on the ground, too!  I'll have to do some careful editing of pictures to take out some "non-vintage" things, but I think it's do-able!  

The post will go up this coming Tuesday, introducing Free Spirit Fabric's new line, Boston Commons.  I hope you'll stop by!

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And before I show you my final whoop for this week, I want to share something I saw on Instagram this week...

This week I am just bowled over by how much good you all have done!  Wednesday night we packed up all the pillowcases and quilts we have received for A Heart For Texas so that the mission team can take them when they head out on Sunday.

Those are two enormous tubs (I think you could put a person in each one!) and they are jammed absolutely to the brim with pillowcases.  I lost count, but I'm pretty sure there are more than 600 pillowcases in those two tubs.  (Thankfully they are on wheels or they'd be too heavy to move!)  And the two spacesaver bags on the shelf contain 23 quilts!  You are all so awesome!!  Keep up the good work - let's change the world one quilt at a time!

So I'm going to give you all a great big 

WHOOP WHOOP!!!

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

                                                                                                                                                  

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you - 

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem... Progress!

Hi, all!

I am feeling so excited at busting some stash this week!  It's such a good feeling to see progress.  It's not scraps - at least not most of it - but it is some long-held stash bits and pieces, usually a yard or less.  

But first, here's my Gypsy Wife block for the week - actually two of them this time!

This block is called "Puss In The Corner" - a traditional block - but one I hadn't ever tried before.  It was quick and easy, and it was so much fun to pick out the fabrics!  I really love these Kate Spain Latitude batiks...

And now for my stash busting...  I dipped into my Christmas fabric stash and made eighteen pillowcases...

...and then I made these two pillow covers using some of the smaller pieces that were left over from the pillowcases!  

I found the embroidered centers stashed away in a drawer and they were just perfect for this project!  I did have to go to the store and buy a piece for the backings (I used all my yardage in the pillowcases!) and for the bindings (because I really couldn't pass up that red and white stripe!) but since my Christmas fabric shelf now looks like this...

...I don't feel so guilty!  I wish I had taken a "before" shot - it would have shown two stacks of folded yardage literally stuffed in there so tight I couldn't put in one more piece.  It's certainly much better now!

I also found a Halloween charm pack I won a couple of years ago stashed away in a drawer, and cut it into 2.5" squares and made these three cute pillows!  I had so much fun with these (and sold them right away!) that I ordered more Halloween fabric to make some more!

So it's been a fruitful week for sewing my stash and using up some things that would have hit the scrap bin!

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I also found some great pins and Instagram pics for inspiration this week, too!  

I absolutely love this quilt, and it's so so simple!  Just 4-patch blocks alternated with squares, and all scrappy.  I want to make a king size version of this RIGHT NOW!!!

And here's another great idea from the Queen of Scrap herself, Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts.  I love this bag for its fabulous use of the sweet little pieces you just can't bear to throw away, and the straight line quilting gives it so much texture!

Now here's another simple idea and a great use for scraps - 9-patch blocks alternated with snowball blocks...

And this quilt is another design by Amanda Jean Nyberg, called The Remainders quilt.  All those tiny half square triangles I've been hoarding would be perfect for this, and I could pair them with the bolt of silver Kona I bought earlier this year....

So that's what I've been doing to tame the scrap/stash monster this week!  I'm going to give myself a little pat on the back because I've been trying to whittle down that Christmas fabric yardage for a long time now, and maybe I can eke out a few more pillowcases from what's left Then it will be time to open up that plastic tub and cut all of it into patchwork squares... but that's a job for another day!

How's your little scrap monster doing?  Are you feeding him, or is he on a  diet?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Not Enough Hours in the Day...

Hi, all!

Welcome to a brand new week!  I love the feel of a new week - on Sunday when I update my wall calendar, I see all the opportunities ahead and it makes me smile.  How about you?

I feel like I had a really good week last week - but let's compare it to the list and see how it went...

1.  Finish three more pieces for the Free Spirit Fabric project.
Done!  I can't show any of them right now, but stick around for next Tuesday for the big reveal!!

2.  Make some pillow covers for a project for church.
Done!  And I also made some Christmas pillowcases for the same project.  Here's what I've been working on...

I'm having a ton of fun digging through my stash and finding some long lost treasures to work with! (And using up a LOT of the Christmas fabric stash!)

3. Keep working pillowcases for A Heart For Texas.
Wow is this going well!  We've got more than 500 pillowcases already and more arriving every day, plus more than twenty quilt.  Our mission team will be leaving on Sunday for Texas, so we'll start packing them up this week.

4. Photograph, count and tag donations for A Heart For Texas.
This has been keeping us busy, but the very best kind of busy!

5.  Quilt a special quilt for the quilt ministry.
I still didn't get to this one...

6.  Work on replenishing the stock of finished quilts for the quilt ministry.
I did manage to quilt one for the ministry this week.

7.  Start work on a new commission t-shirt quilt.
Supplies are on order!

8.  Make a donation block for Michael Miller Fabrics.
Done!  I'm happy to have this one off my plate.  It's the one on the right - the other is for my Gypsy Wife quilt.

9.  Start planning the photo shoot for the upcoming Free Spirit Fabric post.
I'm still looking for just the perfect spot for this shoot - I really wish the leaves would start turning!

10.  Start posting some quilts on Facebook for The Great Quilt Destash!
Bad on me - I haven't done this one yet!

11.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.
Done!  This quilt went to a woman going into rehab after surgery...



...and these two went to sisters who lost their mom this week.






This quilt went to a family that suffered a devastating loss this week - their adult daughter was killed in a car accident.

 

So, while I didn't get everything on the list done, I did get a bunch done.   And I got to spend some fun time with these three munchkins...

And here's what I'm hoping to get done this week...

1.  Make the next block for the Gypsy Wife quilt.

2.  Label and pack up all the pillowcases to go with the mission team to Texas.

3.  Keep working on pillow covers for the project for church.

4.  Quilt a quilt for the project for church.

5.  Photo shoot for the Free Spirit Fabric project.

6.  Post quilts for the Great Quilt Destash.

7.  Work on the commission t-shirt quilt.

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

I have a feeling I'm forgetting something important, but if so, I'll squeeze it in somehow!  

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Pushing the Season...

Hi, all!

Wow, it's Friday again!!  Can you believe it? And you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

This week, I kind of "pushed the season" and made some cute Halloween pillow covers...

These were pretty simple - I took a charm pack of Halloween fabric and cut it into 2.5" squares, then added enough solid orange to have enough squares (192) to make three 16" pillow covers.  I laid the squares out on fusible interfacing, then ironed to secure them down.  I folded the fusible interfacing on the first vertical gridline (where the squares touch) and stitched a 1/4" seam.  Repeated for all the vertical lines, then cut them open and pressed them open.  Repeated the whole process for the horizontal lines, and when I was finished I had perfectly matched corners and a piece just the right size for a 16" pillow cover!  I found the silhouettes on Google Images, printed them out and traced them onto fusible webbing and applied to black Kona cotton.  Backing and binding and aren't they cute?

And they already have a new home!!

Whoop whoop!!

And I had another whoop whoop moment today...

My new Kona color chart came today!!!  Aren't those colors just gorgeous?  It makes me smile just to see it...

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem... Not Getting Much Better!

Hi, all!

Wow, it has been a week!  I had so many commitments, and so many other things going on, that I didn't get much done on the scrap sewing front.  Boo!

I did, however, get my Gypsy Wife block for this week done!  This block is called Indian Hatchet, and the one on the left is for my GW quilt.  The one on the right is for the Michael Miller Friendship Quilt project, and is made from fabrics provided by Michael Miller Fabrics at QuiltCon.  The fabrics have been sitting on my worktable since February and it feels good to have it done!  The only requirement was that the block be 6.5" unfinished, and since Indian Hatchet was the same size, I just cut out two and sewed them both up together!  This block will go in the mail today.

Then I did some "sew my stash" sewing - I need to make some pillow covers for an upcoming Marketplace, and when I was looking through a drawer, I came upon a charm pack of Halloween fabrics that has been sitting unused for a couple of years.  I cut the charms into 2.5" squares, grabbed some fusible interfacing, and laid out simple patchwork.  Fused the squares onto the interfacing, then folded and sewed.  I love this method, and I've used it a lot for 1.5" squares, but this is the first time I've tried it with larger squares.  It is so fast, and the intersections of the squares are always perfect!  I'll be adding appliqués to these to make some really unique pillow covers, and hopefully they'll be a popular item!  

You can see my tutorial about this technique in this post - just scroll down a ways, because there are several techniques described in the post!  

Oh, and I almost forgot - this quilt went to Stash Builder Box today for this quarter's donation to Project Linus!  I finished it a while ago, but I don't think I ever shared it here.  This was a group effort by my Heart Builders team - we each made a block or two from our scraps, using the Japanese X and Plus block pattern.  Everyone sent them to me and I put them together into this cute quilt! It's a great scrap buster!

So not much scrap sewing, but I hope that will change soon as I get some projects finished and clear the tables a little bit!  Do you hit patches where you have so much "got to" sewing that you can't do any "want to" sewing?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Waiting To Get Caught Up!

Hi, all!  

I'm happy to say I survived the weekend, and the local quilt show is behind me now!  That's a huge load off my plate, but now I've got more projects to concentrate on.  I don't know about you, but the fall is such a busy time for me!  Sometimes it's hard to wrap my brain around everything that needs to be done, but my Monday list really helps!  So let's see how last week's list went.

1.  Put maker/state tags on all the donated pillowcases and quilts as they come in.
Done!  At least, up to today's mail, which I haven't picked up yet.  The current count is over 400 pillowcases and 9 quilts!  A lovely group of ladies from Crossville, TN drove over Friday to deliver 102 pillowcases they made. Isn't that amazing?  Six more boxes came in today, so that number should rise dramatically tomorrow after I check them in. 

2.  Make pillowcase kits to be used on Wednesday night and at our hands-on ministry area at our small-town festival this weekend.
Done!  We had a great time in our hands-on area, even though it was quiet because the weather outside was so good.  Here's a pic of one maker with her pillowcase.  It was her first time at a sewing machine, and she loved it so much, she and her mom were going to go find her one to use at home!

3.  Finish preparations for the quilt show this weekend.
Done!  Unfortunately, I was so busy Saturday I didn't get any pictures!  Bummer....

4.  Finish piecing the quilt top for the Free Spirit Fabric project.
Done!  And not only pieced, but completely finished!  Here's a teaser shot - the full reveal will be on 10/3!

5.  Quilt a top for a friend.
Done!  

6.  Quilt tops for Stash Builder Box's September donation.
Done!  These three tops were all pieced by Joyce L., a fellow Heart Builder!

7.  Quilt tops for the quilt ministry to replenish our stock on hand.
I didn't get to this one, but after all, there are only so many hours in a week!

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

Done! Only one this week - this one is going to a gentleman suffering from multiple health issues...

So that was last week.  Let's see if I can wrap my brain around what I need to do this week...

1.  Finish three more pieces for the Free Spirit Fabric project.

2.  Make some pillow covers for a project for church.

3. Keep working pillowcases for A Heart For Texas.

4. Photograph, count and tag donations for A Heart For Texas.

5.  Quilt a special quilt for the quilt ministry.

6.  Work on replenishing the stock of finished quilts for the quilt ministry.

7.  Start work on a new commission t-shirt quilt.

8.  Make a donation block for Michael Miller Fabrics.

9.  Start planning the photo shoot for the upcoming Free Spirit Fabric post.

10.  Start posting some quilts on Facebook for The Great Quilt Destash!

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

See what I mean about it never slowing down?  But at least the push of the quilt show is out of the way.  I made some good progress on things today and have a nice quiet week to knock some things out this week!

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

Hugs!

Sarah