2018 - What a Ride!!

Hi, all!

Do you ever take the time to look back over the past year when you start thinking about making New Year's resolutions?  I thought it might be fun to take a look back at 2018 (which seems to have gone by in a huge blur!) before thinking about what I want to do in 2019.  So let's see some of the highlights!

January saw the advent of Scrap Attack!, a monthly goal for dealing with scraps.  I enjoyed doing this, although there were months when I was too busy to draw another task from the box.  I did find, though, that I really enjoy sewing with scraps, and it showed throughout the year.

And of course, since 2018 was turning out to be the year of the scrap, the theme for the quilt-along starting in late January was Scrumptious Scraps!  This year I had help from some friends (because scrap quilts take a lot longer to make!) and between the four of us, we provided six tutorials for simple scrap quilts that would be easy to make for...

...the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge!  This started in mid-March and ran through the end of May.  Quilters were challenged to join in and make quilts for one of three charities (or a local charity of their own choosing) and it was a rousing success in 2018!  The final posted numbers were 150 quilters participating, making 416 quilts that were donated to people in need!!!  I know that more quilts have been donated since then, as some people who were unable to finish by the end of the challenge have let me know they finally sent theirs on.  I am always amazed by the generosity of quilters!!

Then July brought the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop with 28 bloggers participating this year.  They shared amazing ideas for gifts and crafty things to make your holidays sparkle!!  And I also shared another quickie quilt as a quilt-along - twelve days, one hour per day, and you can have your own Christmas quilt!  

This year I made a lot of memory quilts, pillows, and even a table runner!  I love doing this kind of work because it's so important to the recipients.  

I also had the pleasure of restoring this fun vintage quilt for my friend - she slept under it as a child at her grandmother's house, and wanted to use it in the room she was preparing at her own home for her first grandchild!  It's now restored, and ready for generations of kids to enjoy!

And did I mention I made a few t-shirt quilts?  Whew - I lost count of how many I made this year, but it was a lot!  My tub of t-shirt backs can attest to that...

Quilts for my grandkids rounded out a year filled with scrap quilts, comfort quilts, ministry quilts, and sometimes "just for the heck of it" quilts!  Our quilt ministry gave out a lot of quilts this year, with my favorite large donation being 51 quilts for the teachers at our local elementary school, to thank them each for all they do for the children of our community.  

So that's a quick overview of 2018 - and now I can't wait for 2019 to start!  Tomorrow I'll share some of my goals for 2019 - it's going to be hard to narrow it down to a short list, but I'm going to try.  

I'd love to hear your favorite accomplishment of 2018 - do share in the comments!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? There Be Whales Here!

Hi, all!

It's here - the very last Friday of the year!  And I couldn't let it pass without a chance for all of us to whoop it up.  I know you've got things you can share now that Christmas has passed, so here's your chance!  

I, on the other hand, have not been sewing this week - because I am in Maui, Hawaii!!  So I have something a little different to whoop it up about.   Let's get started!

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We decided back in February to take a trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, and because we both like to be warm in the winter when it's possible, we decided to go to Hawaii, because it's ALWAYS warm there.  

We chose well, because the highs are in the low to mid 80s and the lows in the mid 60s.  The weather has been awesome, and we chose today to go out on a cruise to try to see some humpback whales.

And guess what!  We saw LOTS of whales!  Here's a whale fluke...

...and this one is harder to see, but this whale is lifting his head above the water.  The white cloud you see over his back is the blow from when he came up.  This picture was taken during a "competition", where several whales are competing to be the "primary escort" for a female.  We were very lucky to see several competitions, or "com-pods", during our boat trip.  We had to stay at least 100 yards away (unless the whales chose to come closer) so these are very enlarged shots.  And I missed a lot of much better ones because it was so much fun to watch, I forgot to take pics sometimes!

Here's another pic of a whale's flukes.  It really is amazing - those flukes are about 15 feet across.  The whales weigh about 90,000 pounds, and basically don't eat for the six weeks it takes to get from Alaska to Hawaii, the two to four weeks they stay in Hawaii to breed, and the six weeks it takes to return to Alaska.  The waters in Hawaii are warm and shallow, making them a poor location for predator fish, and thus safe for the calves that will be born here.  (The females who are impregnated here this year will return next year to have their calves.)  But the beautiful blue waters of Hawaii are that color because they don't contain phytoplankton, which is what humpback whales eat.  Water that contains phytoplankton is much greener!  And so the lesson ends.

And then I stopped at a neat little store...

How could I pass this by?

Look how welcoming it is...

And inside it's even better!  

So many beautiful samples, each one a great reminder of a wonderful trip  Gorgeous fabrics, too!  So many beach and Hawaii themed fabrics, and some of the prettiest batiks I've seen in a while.

In the end, I chose one of the pretty sashiko embroidery kits to commemorate our trip and our day - 

I'll share that with you later!

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

Make-A-List Monday - Time for a Nice Warm Break!

Hi, all!

It's Monday again, but it's also Christmas Eve - so there will be lots of festivities at our house, good food, little kids being over-indulged, and then we're all planning to go see "Mary Poppins Returns" to top it all off!  Not much sewing will be happening today, or for the next two weeks - because the day after Christmas, we are headed to Hawaii to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary!  

I may or may not be posting while we are gone - I'm going to play that by ear - but I'm sure I'll be posting pictures on Instagram!  You can see them there by checking my feed - I'm @fabricaddictquilts there.

Just to keep things honest, though, let's look at last week's list real quick...

1.  Wrap those presents!
Done!  And since my husband finally wrapped his gifts, there are some for me under there now too...

2.  Assemble the quilt chests!
Done!  It only took a morning to assemble all three of these - hooray for Target!  This is a Threshold Windham Accent Chest, and they come in several sizes and colors.  I have a larger one for all my quilts.  Love them!!

3.  Spend a birthday day with Lilliana and my DH on Thursday.

Done!  We had a great time - Lilli and I did some stocking shopping for Bill, then we all went for breakfast and off to Opry Mills to wander around the mall and do a little shopping.  Lilli found some interesting stuff!

4.  Grocery shop for cookie baking and Christmas Eve brunch.
Done!

5.  Bind two quilts for the quilt ministry.
Done - although I forgot to take pictures of them!

6.  Keep working on designs for the Rockin' Rectangles quilt along.
Done!  I'm up to two finished tops and one in progress.  Planning to work on some more designs on the flight to Hawaii...

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.
Thankfully, a quiet week.  No quilts this week.

It was a good week - but I have to say I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks with no list!  Just till I get back from vacation, though - then it's back on the wagon again.  But I'll be ready to start the year with a vengeance!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

On This Christmas Eve.....

As you go to sleep tonight, instead of thinking of hooves on the rooftop and a jolly old elf 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? 2018 Annual Quilts Are A Wrap!

Hi, all!

Oh my!  It's Friday, and not just any Friday, but the last one before Christmas!  I hope you've been making great headway on all your Christmas goody making, and have plenty to whoop about this week.  So let's get started!

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As I've share previously, I make each one of my grandchildren a quilt each year at Christmastime, said quilt representing something about their life during the previous year.  I've already shared Nathanael's and Emmy's, so this week it's Lilliana's turn!

Meet my beautiful granddaughter Lilliana!  She just turned eleven this week, and is growing up so very fast.  I took care of her almost every day from the time she was a few months old until she was three, so we are pretty close.  My daughter blames all her bad habits on me (what bad habits??) and I have to admit she is a lot like me.  She is very smart - loves math and science - and that's definitely not like me, but it's good to have someone in the family who can do quilt math!

This year, Lilli wanted a blue quilt.  She approved of the pattern "Summer Wedding" by Jamie Elfert at Black Cat Creations, but I was concerned that the design as Jamie envisioned it, with dark rings on a neutral background, might not be blue enough.  My solution?  Reverse the coloring, using blues as the background and white for the rings.

I'm really pleased with the way this turned out, and I'm especially happy that I was able to use up a LOT of scraps while making this quilt!  Lilli went through and pulled out her favorite scraps from my blue tub, and I added in a few special pieces of yardage too.

Y'all, this is one huge quilt!  I made it for Lilli's new queen size bed, but you can see it here on my king size bed, and it's almost large enough for it!  

Look at all those wonderful blue scraps!  Seriously, I think this was one of my favorite quilts of the year.  I love the double wedding ring look (especially without the work of sewing arcs!) and it feels very virtuous to have used scraps so well.

I did give in and buy an extra-wide backing for this quilt, mainly because it was so big and I was having math issues at the time - I was afraid I'd piece a back that wasn't the right size!  So I found a beautiful pale aqua blue for the back.

And here's Lilli's label for the year.  I love that I was able to find an "I love you" ASL image to put on all three labels - the internet is a wonderful place, isn't 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... There's a Christmas Quilt In There!

Hi, all!

As I write this, I realize that one week from tonight at this time we'll be sitting around replete with Christmas dinner and looking at all our Christmas goodies!  We've just finished watching one Christmas movie (Die Hard, for my hubby), and are watching the second one (Skipping Christmas, for me), so Christmas is on my mind right now.  With that in mind, I think you'll sense a theme in the inspiration pics below...

How about raiding your scrap stash to make a brand new Christmas quilt?  

I think that would be so much more fun than cleaning the sewing studio the week after Christmas...

And then you'd have a new Christmas quilt all tucked away to enjoy next year!

 Most of these would be simple enough to make quickly...

Don't you just love economy blocks?

But even one that would take a little longer would be fun!

Just remember, sometimes simple is best!  Let the fabrics do all the work!

All pictures were found by searching "scrappy Christmas quilts" on Pinterest.  It's amazing what you can find out there!

Have a very merry scrappy Christmas, and may visions of scrappy quilts dance in your head!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Only One More Week!!!

Hi, all!

Oh my!  How did it get to be just one more week until Christmas? Time sure flies when you're having fun - but there's still more to do before I can take a rest!  Let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Work on a special project (that may or may not get done by Christmas).

Well, I got to the point of quilting, and had a plan to finish it in time, and then someone.got.sick. and stayed.home.from.work.  Best laid plans, and all that!  It will be an unfinished present in a box, as I can't quilt it now!

2.  Assemble three quilt cabinets (gifts for the grandkids).

Change of plans - I will be assembling these on Friday, in between a sleepover with Lilli on Wednesday and another sleepover with all three grandkids on Sunday.  

3.  Bind four more quilts for the quilt ministry.

Done!  Happy to have these back at church, and when I delivered them, there were more waiting for this week!

4.  Deliver 46 quilts for a special Christmas gift! 

(More details to come soon!)

Done!  You can read more about this story here, but we delivered what ended up being 51 quilts to our local elementary school, one for each of the teachers at the school.  We wanted to tell them thank you in a tangible way for the very  hard work they do and the love they pour into the children's lives.  They were very happy!!

5.  Wrap Christmas presents!

I didn't get to this one either - unfortunately it's not my favorite things to do and it's easy to find other things to do instead.  No choice this week, though!  Christmas is almost here!

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

Done!  We gave this quilt to a girl whose mom died last week...

...and this one went to a 7-year old who has been diagnosed with bone cancer.

And finally, a happy quilt, for a new baby boy!

But I wasn't just lazing around when I was failing to do things on my list - I actually made two quilt tops for the upcoming series of simple quilts, Rockin' Rectangles!  I will be sharing tutorials for about six quilts starting in late January, to start preparing for Hands2Help 2019.  Hard to believe it's that time already, but it's coming closer day by day!

So here's what's on my plate for this week...

1.  Wrap those presents!

2.  Assemble the quilt chests!

3.  Spend a birthday day with Lilliana and my DH on Thursday.

4.  Grocery shop for cookie baking and Christmas Eve brunch.

5.  Bind two quilts for the quilt ministry.

6.  Keep working on designs for the Rockin' Rectangles quilt along.

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

So that's my plan for the week - and this week it's do or have a very uninteresting Christmas!  I plan to start tomorrow with the wrapping while I think up my grocery list - then it's off to the grocery store to stock up.  

Are you excited about the holidays?  Ready yet? Or will you be scrambling at the last minute to finish up things to go under the tree?  What are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah