Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? The Last for 2017...

Hi, all!

It's Friday again, and amazingly, the last one of 2017!  Here's your chance to share all those beautiful secret sewing projects you've been working on and hiding all month - I hope you'll link up below and get your whoop whoop on!

I'll be missing out on sharing a project, but whooping it up in New York City for a few days with my husband.  I'll share lots of pictures when I get back!

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

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

via GIPHY

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... 2018 Scrap Attack Goals!

Hi, all!

We've made it to the last Wednesday of 2017 - hard to believe, isn't it?  I'm ready to share my goals for Scrap Attack 2018, and I hope you are too!  

If you're just now hearing about Scrap Attack, here's the skinny.  The idea is to make a list of twelve goals for 2018, things you want to get done during the year specifically related to scraps.  Some big, some small, but all are things that need to be done.  

So here's my list, in no particular order...

1.  Scrappy double wedding ring quilt, using my new templates (a Christmas gift!)

2.  Sort through the solids scrap tubs and make a project using them.

3. Sort through scrap tub "A" and make a project using those scraps.

4. Sort through scrap tub "B" and make a project using those scraps.

5. Sort through scrap tub "C" and make a project using those scraps.

6. Sort through scrap tub "D" and make a project using those scraps.

(I'm sensing a theme here...)

7.  Use this tub of green "bricks and blocks" to make another quilt.

8.  Trim and square up bonus HSTs and make a project using them.

9.  Cut denim scraps into long strips for a quilt.

10.   Use T-shirt scraps to make at least one more beach blanket.

11.  For one month, always cut and sort scraps ta the end of projects. (A habit-builder, hopefully!)

12.  Mail someone a large flat rate box full of scraps.

At the beginning of each month, I'll draw one of these tasks from my little box of projects (one of hubby's cigar boxes - useful things, those!) and get to work on whatever project it is, in addition to anything else I'm working on that month.  

I hope you'll link up and share your twelve projects with us - I'm really interested to see what everyone is planning to work on this year!  And I'm hoping that my twelve projects can help decimate the mountain of scraps that is threatening to take over my sewing room!  

Just a note, too - starting in January, I'll be featuring six great simple scrappy designs as part of the lead-in to this year's Hands2Help Challenge, too - designed to inspire you to make quilts for charity.  Some good inspiration if you need ideas for using those scraps!

So link up below and share your goals!  And next week, I'll share which project I drew from the box for January...

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Taking a Break!

Hi, all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas - I'm sitting here in a food coma, feeling  highly unmotivated to do much of anything!  Santa was very, very good to everyone at our house, and we've finally finished all the festivities for the weekend.  

And Wednesday morning, my husband and I are headed to . . . New York City to see HAMILTON!!!  I'm so excited, but there is so much to do tomorrow before we are ready to leave, so I'm going to take a break from Make-A-List this week and just work on enjoying my weekend in the big city!

I promise to take lots of pictures, which will probably show up on Instagram - you can find me there at @fabricaddictquilts.  I do hope you'll peek in occasionally!  I'm so excited about seeing all the decorations for Christmas and maybe even some snow!

So - - - see you next Monday!

Hugs!

Sarah

The Angels Waited.....

As you go to sleep tonight, instead of thinking of hooves on the rooftop and a jolly old man saying “ho ho ho”, think of this….

A brisk cold winter’s night, the air so cold it chills all it touches.  Sheep drowsily resting on a hilltop, watched by equally drowsy shepherds.  Silence spreads across the landscape, but there is an air of anticipation in the silence…

And in the town below, in a small stone stable, a young woman labors to give birth.  The animals surround her with the low sounds of chewing and breathing, a gentle background to the sounds of pain as she struggles to bring forth her child.

In the heavens, all of the angels are watching and waiting for the fulfillment of the promise made by God over the centuries.  Watching to see what will happen in the tiny town of Bethlehem….

And then they hear the tiny cry of a new born babe!  Unable to contain their shouts of joy, the angels burst forth in song, praising the Glory of God born to set man free.  All of creation joins in the song that cannot be silenced, the song that still goes on today - for the work of that tiny babe has been completed on the cross, and mankind has been redeemed for all time. 

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? The Last Annual Quilt (for this year...)

Hi, all!

Friday is here again - the last Friday before Christmas!  And you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!  I hope you've got something you can share, but if it's still secret sewing, be sure to come back next week and share then!  For now, though, let's get started...

Here's the last of the annual quilts for my grandkids - at least for this year!  This one is for Nathanael, who needed a new twin-sized quilt for his bed.

I really love these over-sized plus blocks - made of 8" squares.  It really packs a punch in the primary colors!

The colors were chosen based on this great superhero sheet we found at Pottery Barn Kids a couple of years ago.

Superheroes are his favorite!  Remember his Batman quilt from last year?  I hope he'll love this one just as much...

And here's the label for his quilt.  

Can I get a whoop whoop??

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

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... A Scrappy Finish for Christmas!

Hi, all!

Christmas is just around the corner, and I am so excited to have a scrappy finish of my own ready to go under the tree!  

As you may have read earlier in my blogposts this month, each year I make an "annual" quilt for each of my grandkids to commemorate their year.  As Lilli has gotten older (she just turned ten) I've given her some say in what her quilt looks like.  This year, after changing her mind three times, she settled on dolphins - she wanted a dolphin quilt!  Now, if you've ever looked for dolphin fabric, you'd find that there isn't much, and what is available isn't what I wanted to work with.  But then I saw the Athena pattern from Gotham Quilts and eureka!  I had the beginning of an idea!   And hallelujah, it could be made from scraps!

A little bit of surfing around on Pinterest and I found the picture above - a dolphin tattoo!  Fortunately, my son-in-law saved the day and printed it out 36" tall for me to use as a pattern.  After raiding the blue scrap tub and piecing the background, I cut out the pieces for the appliqué and put them in place.  I'm very thankful for the blanket stitch on my Singer - it made attaching those pieces much easier!

Lots and lots (and lots and lots) of wavy line quilting around the dolphin creates the illusion of water!  And adds a lot of fun texture, too.

And look at that backing - isn't it just perfect?  It reminds me of the scallop shells we used to find at the beach when I was a kid.

And of course, the quilt isn't truly finished until the label is sewn on!  The labels I make for these quilts are like a little "time capsule" - I tell something about what they were like during the year.  I love to think of their children reading these labels some day and imagining their parents as little kids!  

And one last shot, just because it's pretty!  I think Lilli will really like it - it's a dolphin quilt, but it's kind of grown-up, too.  And even if she doesn't, I'm really happy with it.  I love it when I manage to create what I see in my mind's eye!

Next week I'm planning to share the twelve (or more) projects I'm putting in my "draw jar" for the Scrap Attack challenge.  Are you working on choosing yours?  I'm really excited about this - the thought of getting twelve scrappy projects done is getting my creative juices going!  I do hope you'll join in.  You can read more about the challenge by clicking on the link above in this paragraph!

See you next week!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Christmas is So Close!

Hi, all!

I know it's hard to believe, but just one week from today at this time, Christmas will be over!  All the work, anticipation, gift buying, wrapping, cooking, cleaning - I know I'll be sitting down with my feet propped up surveying the wreckage one week from right now!  But we're not there yet - so let's look at last week's list and see how it went...

1.  Make a weighted blanket (commission job).

Done!  And of course, as usual, I forgot to take a picture before delivering it!  But my customer was very happy with it.  If you are interested in how to make one, there's a tutorial at the tope of this page, right under the header picture.

2.  Make a dolphin pillow cover.

Done!  I absolutely love the way this turned out...

3.   Order supplies for the t-shirt quilts.

Done!  Those should be here in the next few days, all ready to be started on after Christmas!

4.  Make labels for the kids' annual quilts.

Done!  They are sewn on, too!  Hooray!

5.  Quilt the annual quilts.

Done!  I shared Emmy's last Friday, I'll share Lilli's on Wednesday, and Nathanael's this coming Friday.  It sure feels good to have them finished!

6.  Wrap packages.

Not yet - I've set aside Wednesday for this particular project!

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

Done.  This quilt went to a man with terminal COPD...

...and this quilt went to a woman who suffered a lot of injuries in a fall.

This quilt went to a woman just diagnosed with breast cancer...

...and this one went to a woman in the end stages of cancer.

8. Find the joy!!

I'm working on it!

So not a bad week - only a little bit to carry over into this week.  Here's my plan for this week....

1.  Wrap packages!

2.  Quilt some quilts for the ministry. (We are completely out of finished quilts!)

3.  Work with DH and Lilli to make lots of Christmas goodies!

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

5.  Spend lots of quality time with my grandkids!

So that's my list for the week - and now the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? The First of Three...

Hi, all!

Wow, it's already Friday again!  Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?  And you know what Friday means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

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

Before I share, let me give a little back history for those of you who might not be familiar with my favorite Christmas tradition.  When I started making quilts in 2009, I decided to make my one and only granddaughter a quilt for Christmas.  I made her one the next year too, and by 2011, she told me that the only thing she wanted from me for Christmas was her new quilt!  So making a quilt each year for Lilli, and then for Emmy and Nathanael too when they came along, has become a tradition.  One that's worrying my daughter, who pointed out to me this year that if I make each of the kids a quilt a year for eighteen years, they'll have fifty-four quilts at their house by the time they graduate!  Now I ask you - is that really a problem???

With all that being said, today I'm going to share the first of this year's three annual quilts...

This one is obviously for my little mermaid, Emmy!  Three gorgeous mermaid panels form the focus of this quilt, with lots of patchwork surrounding them.  

Haven't you always wanted to know about the secret life of mermaids?

A panel from the same fabric line added a little interest to the back the quilt, too!

And I even busted into my Heather Ross Goldfish in Bags yardage to make her a pillowcase.  I hope she knows how much I love her!

Two more to come, as soon as I finish them!

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

I did have one other fun finish this week - a friend of mine saw Lilli's dolphin quilt, and asked if I could do the same design on a pillow cover.  Well, yes!

Just FYI, it takes almost as much time to cut out a 6" tall dolphin as it does to cut out one 36" tall!  Lots of wavy straight line quilting on this one...

And how great is it to find the absolute perfect backing fabric in your stash?  Look at that beautiful little mermaid!

And there it is - the finished pillow cover!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop??

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

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

via GIPHY

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 celebrate with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah