Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Finally Gifted!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's finally Friday - and having just finished working the early voting polls Thursday evening, I can really appreciate Friday!!  It's been a long fifteen days!  That being said, though, we all know what Friday means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on and wow and I ready!  So let's get started!

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Here's my first whoop whoop of the week...

That blue envelope contains the closing documents for our old house!

I'll miss this beautiful old house, but I'm so happy that a young couple has bought it and plans to start their family there!  

And to start them off in a proper fashion, we gifted them with this quilt as their first housewarming present....

You probably remember all the teaser shots I shared as I worked on this pretty quilt. It's a simple postage stamp quilt, pieced in strip sets.

Simple cross-hatch straight line quilting gives it great texture.

And I'm absolutely in love with this marbled rose colored backing, which matched the roses in the prints perfectly.

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 - Still No Sewing, But a Finish!

Hi, all!

Well, it's Monday again and I haven't had any time to sew for the past week - yowzer!  It's a weird feeling, but it's only a few more days and then early voting will be over.  

But even though I haven't been sewing, I DID have a finish today...

We finally signed the closing papers to sell our beautiful old house to a lovely young couple.  Here's hoping they create as many happy memories there as we did, and many more beyond that!  

Just to give you an idea of how I feel right now!

So now I really want to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? I'm Counting on You!

 Hi, all!

Well, here we are at Friday again, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  I haven't had any time to sew this week at all.....

...because I've been working the polls this week instead!  It's exciting to see all the first time voters, all shiny and new, and the senior citizens who make the difficult effort to get to the polls in person to cast their vote.

It's hard work and long hours, but so worth it.  If you are able to volunteer to work your county's polls in the future, I highly recommend it!

Because I haven't had time to sew, I'm going to rely on all of you to inspire us with what you are whooping about this week!

And I'll leave you with this - go vote!  Offer a ride to someone who may have a hard time getting to the polls.  Drop by your local early voting location and bring them donuts!  (They'll love you forever!)  Encourage your friends to vote, too.  It's your right, your privilege, and your responsibility.  Use it!

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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 - No Time To Breathe, Much Less Sew!

 

Hi, all!

Monday has arrived, with the start of a new week, but for me it will look a lot like last week.  And that didn't include much time for sewing!  Let's take a look at what did go on last week...

1.  Keep working on the strings project.

I did get this to a good place before I stopped having time to sew...

The more I look at this, the more I love it.  AND I've already got an idea for the next prototype that I'm itching to try!!

2.  Finish repairs on the old house.

Done, and we've gotten past the inspection contingency on the house sale.  Hallelujah!  Next up, the appraisal!

3.  Plan and execute meals for while I'm working.

This has gone pretty well!  We had pot roast and noodles one night (thank you, slow cooker!); picked up Chinese for supper the next night; my husband made excellent chili on Friday; and then we had Chinese again on Saturday with the grandkids (because it's one of the few things all of them will eat without complaining!) So I had it pretty easy last week. I have some more crockpot/instant pot recipes to try this week, and a couple of air fryer meals.  So grateful for modern conveniences!

4.  Find a hand project to take with me for quiet times at early voting.

I didn't do this, but wouldn't have had time anyway!  We have three registrars at our polling location, and we have all three been processing voters as fast as we can from opening at 9 am until we close at 6 pm.  The election officer tag teams us for lunch and breaks, but it has been a steady flow with no time to even chat with each other, much less do needlework!  But it makes the time go quickly, so it's all good!

This week I'm not even going to try to make a list - there just isn't time during the day, and I don't have energy at night when I get home, to do anything at all.  I miss my sewing room, but I think working the polls is important!  The sewing will be there once the election is over.  This is what I want to work on next, I think....

So now I want to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Rights, Privileges, and Responsibilities..

 

Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again, and that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  It's been a busy week as we move into fall and election season, and I've got a special whoop whoop this week - so let's get started!

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This week, I've had the honor of working as a registrar at an early voting site for my county.  It has been an eye opening experience, and mighty humbling.  

While we haven't had the hours-and-hours long lines that some locations have seen, we have had a constant flow of people keeping the three registrars busy since we opened at 9 am on Wednesday.  We tag team with the election officer for breaks, and in the first two days we saw over 1800 voters come through our doors.  

Many of those have been first time voters - fresh-faced, a little nervous and unsure of themselves, but excited to be voting in their first election!  They are an inspiration!

And then there are the older voters - many of them unable to stand in line, but rolling along in seated walkers or moving a chair from stop to  stop in the line.  The oldest of them, as near as I remember, was 93 years old.  She wanted to be sure to vote in this election as she had at every other opportunity in her life.  These folks are an inspiration!

I'm also inspired by the people I'm working with.  One gentleman has worked the polls for 43 years!  They are all committed, hard working, and excited to see all of the people coming to vote.

It is hard work, long hours with no "down" time, but it is so rewarding.  I highly recommend taking the time to work with your local polls if that is an option for you in the future.  They are always in need of poll workers!  You won't regret it for a moment.

And as always, remember that voting is a right, a privilege, and a responsibility.  Exercise your right to vote!  Be kind to the poll workers - remember they are working hard to get you through that line as quickly as possible.  It isn't a cushy job!  And if you are required to wear masks or gloves or practice social distancing at your polling place, please just grin and bear it - it won't kill you, and it makes voting safer for your fellow citizens and for the poll workers who are there to make it possible for you to vote!

So - for all those newbie voters, and all those elderly folks who make the trek to vote because they know how important it is, and all the ones in between - 

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... But I'm Working On It!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it has been a heck of a week - I not only got last Monday's list all finished, but I had time to play with scraps!  And it felt so good...

I started out with a mess of 1.5" wide strings...

Sewed them together jelly roll style....

Cut that long strip into a bunch of squares and arranged them on the wall...

Wasn't so sure about that look (or size) so I bet you can guess what I did with them next....

And here's what's on my design wall now!  It's not completely sewn together, and I may fiddle around with it a bit more, but you can get the general idea.

Looks like I've got sunshine on a cloudy day!

And I may have to love it this way for a while, as I'll be working at the polls for the next two weeks - not much time to sew, or probably even to surf the internet for inspiration.  So if I'm not here for the next two Wednesdays, don't worry, I'm just busy!  But I'll try to find something to post, just to stay in touch.

So what have you been working on this week?  

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - A Productive Week!

 

Hi, all!

Wow, last week was very productive!  I guess I just need to know I have a very limited amount of time and lots to do to get motivated.  So without further ado, here's last week's list and what I did...

1.  Baste and quilt the special project quilt.

Done!  It's all ready to go, and I'll share more about this one after it is gifted.

2.  Make a back for the reindeer quilt.

Done!  And I managed to make it using fabrics I already had on hand - win/win!

3.  Make a back for Emmalyn's annual quilt.

Done - and not only Emmalyn's quilt, but Nathanael's too!  His is the one on the far left, and hers is the next one over.  The tops are hiding underneath the backs, because the kids play in this room when they are at my house.  And aren't my "to-be-quilted" racks great?

4.  Assemble the dinosaur quilt top.

5.  Choose an additional fabric to make borders to bring the dinosaur quilt to a more usable size.

Done!  I added the plaid border to make it a full lap size quilt, and I love how it makes all the colors just pop!

6.  Make a back for the Harry Potter quilt.

Done!  This was a tricky one, because I didn't have nearly enough of the Hufflepuff fabric to make the back, but with some serious quilt math and some extra black fabric, it all worked out!

7.  Decorate the front porch for Halloween.

Done!  I'm happy to bring the Life Was Good Dude out of retirement for my new front porch!

8.  Deliver the donations to church.

Done!  No picture, but it was a big load of great stuff that had accumulated at my house over the summer.  Hopefully we'll be able to start meeting together again soon....

9.  Organize house documents for the new owners.

Done!  Everything is in labeled file folders, and I know exactly which companies I have to contact to transfer lifetime warranties to the new owners!

And I worked so hard and fast, I got all of that done by Thursday!  So nice to have my motivation mojo back.  And I even sorted out my scrap basket of shame before Thursday!

And once all that was sorted and stashed away in the appropriate color drawers, I found that I had a lovely, clean, organized work space for a change!

So with my extra time, I decided to start on one of the prototype quilts for the String Therapy tutorial series!  I pulled out my warm tone bright strings, trimmed them into 1.5" widths.......

...cut them into varying lengths, no longer than 22"...

...and after sewing the strips together, this is what I've got started on my design wall!  I'm having fun with this one, and can't wait to see how it ends up!

OK, so that was last week.  And a good time was had by all!  This week will inevitably not be as productive, because come Wednesday I will be working as a registrar for early voting.  But I do have a few things on my plate that I'd like to get done...

1.  Keep working on the strings project.

2.  Finish repairs on the old house.

3.  Plan and execute meals for while I'm working.

4.  Find a hand project to take with me for quiet times at early voting.

Not much of a list, but not much time to play this week.  It's ok, though - I feel like it's really important to make it as easy as possible for people to vote this year, and if working the polls can help even one person, it's worth it! I hope you've made a plan to vote this year - maybe you have even already voted.  Encourage those around you to vote, and maybe take someone to the polls!  Voting is your right, your privilege, and your responsibility.  Cherish it!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? It's Been A Good Week!

 

Hi, all!

Hard to believe it's already been a week since we last got together to do a little whooping, but here it is, Friday again!  And that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on - are you ready? I know I am!! So let's get started!

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When this week started, I shared my incredibly long to-do list - generated as a result of the very limited amount of sewing time I'll have this month.  You see, I'll be serving as a poll worker starting next Wednesday until almost the end of the month, and then again on election day.  I'm looking forward to it, but it's going to put a real crimp in my sewing time!  So I pulled together a very ambitious list of things I wanted to get done this week and posted it early Monday morning.  And I'm pleased to say that as of Thursday evening, I completed everything on the list and then some!  Here are just a few highlights of my week...

I finished this quilt...

I actually cleaned out the Scrap Basket of Shame!

And then I cleaned off my work station!

Now this one has a funny story.  I set out to make a back for Lilli's Harry Potter quilt Thursday morning, but when I looked for the quilt and the leftover fabrics, I. Could. Not. Find. Them.  I remembered putting the quilt "someplace safe" (hah!) and spent a very frantic fifteen minutes or so turning my studio upside down trying to find it.  Fortunately, it turned up (whew!) in an odd spot, and I was able to make...

...a really cool back for her quilt!  Lucky girl - she's going to have a two-sided quilt for sure this year.  The background material is Hufflepuff themed - her house, and her choice, although she tells me the colors are wrong.  It took a bit of finagling, as I didn't have enough of the Hufflepuff fabric to do the whole back, but I did manage to finish it using fabrics I had on hand - score!

That's not all I did this week - you'll have to come back Monday to see all of it - but I'm certainly whooping it up over here!

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