Make-A-List Monday - Back to the Real World!

 

Hi, all!

Monday is here once again, and I'm STILL stuffed from Thanksgiving!  Those leftovers are the best, aren't they?  We had a great holiday and I wasted a lot of time, but sometimes that's just the best thing, isn't it?  So let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Finish piecing the second half of my Christmas postage stamp quilt.  I plan to quilt each half separately, then join them together like QAYG blocks.  My frame isn't large enough to handle a quilt that big in one piece!

I did manage to finish all the piecing on this quilt...

2.  Prepare the labels for the grandkids' annual quilts so they can be printed when I get home.

...but I didn't get to this one.  Looks like I've got a start for this week's list!

3.  Research extensions for my quilt frame to take it to true king size.

It looks like it would be quite cost prohibitive to extend my frame,even if I could find the parts to do it. I don't make that many king size quilts,so I'm going to save my pennies for somethingelse - like an arch light for my frame!

4.  If time permits, work on my snowflake quilt UFO from last year.

I didn't get to this one either - just wasn't feeling it!

It was kind of a strange week - my husband threw out his back and we ended up going home early because he thought he'd be more comfortable there.  It was ok, though, because I got to do a lot of Christmas decorating...

I'm really excited that we have a BIG tree this year!

The ceilings in our old house were very short - some I could reach without standing on a ladder - so we haven't had a tall tree in a long time.  I actually got to put the stars on the top of the trees, instead of tying them way down the top!  

I did a little shopping too - found these at Cracker Barrel!  My husband said that apparently I have been missing being able to shop, but I just couldn't pass them up!

And our joint Christmas present arrived today!  We splurged and got a SleepNumber bed - tonight we get to try it out.  I'm excited!  And as a bonus, my daughter and her husband have volunteered to house-sit for us the next time we go out of town, just so they can try out our bed.  If I'd known that's all it took, I'd have bought one years ago....

OK, so my list suffered last week, but I did have a good time and a productive week, too.  Here's what I'll be working on this week...

1.  Make the labels for the annual quilts and attach them.

2.  Quilt my Christmas quilt.

3.  Quilt a gift quilt.

4.  Finish up the Christmas decorating and put the storage 

tubs back in the attic.

5.  Start working on the next String Therapy quilt.

Definitely enough to keep me out of trouble for the week!  Maybe a little too much, but it will be fun to try to get it all done.

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little Bit of Progress...

 

Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again - and I imagine most of us are "rolling around" too after stuffing ourselves on Thanksgiving!  It's been a short week for me, as we've been traveling, but I didn't want to let Friday go by without a chance to see what everyone is working on - - so let's get our whoop whoop on!

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As I said, it was a short week, but I did 

have a chance to work on my Christmas quilt...

It's amazing how working in a different location can

show you ways to do things that you hadn't tried before!

I was able to lay out an entire column at a time

which worked a treat!

And after three days of sewing, I finished the second half

of this monster sized quilt!  I plan to quilt it in two sections,

then join them together - since my quilt frame isn't

large enough for one this large.  If my plan

works, I already have another, year-long version,

of this quilt in mind. Fingers crossed!

So - - - 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

Make-A-List Monday - An Easy Week!

Hi, all!

I'm writing this tonight from a cabin near Chattanooga, where we are enjoying a week away from it all!  We are still basically sheltering in place, just in a different place, which is nice for a change.  We have a beautiful view of Nickajack Lake...

...and on that hill down below us (very very steep, which makes our deck very private!)...

...some beautiful horses, running, or more accurately, walking and grazing, free.  It's fun to watch them!

But enough of that for now - let's see how last week's list went!

1.  Quilt at least one of the remaining annual quilts.

Done!  And not just one, but two!  Here's Lilli's...

...and here's a sneak peek of Emmy's!  Both are finished, so now all I have to do is print the labels for all three annual quilts.

2.  Strip piece and cross-cut the remaining Solstice jelly roll.

All those strip sets are sewn and cross-cut, and I am working hard on sewing them together!

You can see the stacks of 5-piece strips on the right.  I found a great way to set up each column to sew on the long table at the cabin.  It should go quickly now!

3.  Sort through and press the leftover binding strips.

I didn't get to this one...

4.  Pack up sewing necessities for vacation.

But, of course, I got to this one - and so far, I haven't found anything I forgot, at least as far as sewing goes!

5.  Address Christmas cards for my husband!

Done, and not only done, but in the mail! It's nice to have that particular job off my plate.

6.  Start decorating the house for Christmas.

It appears that in more than forty years, my husband has finally made it impossible for me to decorate before Thanksgiving!  That, or I just ran out of time last week, which is more likely.

Well, I didn't get to everything last week, but I'm okay with that.  It was a good and productive week!  This week will be less full, but I do have a few things I want to get to...

1.  Finish piecing the second half of my Christmas postage stamp quilt.  I plan to quilt each half separately, then join them together like QAYG blocks.  My frame isn't large enough to handle a quilt that big in one piece!

2.  Prepare the labels for the grandkids' annual quilts so they can be printed when I get home.

3.  Research extensions for my quilt frame to take it to true king size.

4.  If time permits, work on my snowflake quilt UFO from last year.

A light week, but I don't want to spend all of my away time quilting!  Some time for us to sit and enjoy the scenery is in order, and enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family.  I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving, even though it is certainly a different holiday for all of us this year.  Stay safe and healthy!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? When in Quarantine....

 

Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again - and not just any Friday!  Do you realize that Christmas is six weeks from today????? So it's crunch time!  But before we all get down to the hard stuff, let's take a few minutes to whoop it up!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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

As you know if you saw my blogpost on Monday, my husband and I have been in quarantine this week, because we both tested positive for COVID.  Not to worry, though, he is better and I never had any symptoms, so our quarantine officially ends today.  Hooray!  That's definitely whoop-worthy!

But while I was in quarantine, I managed to make some serious inroads in my stack of quilts to finish!  First up was Nathanael's annual quilt...

Wow!  That went well!  And since I was on a roll, I decided to load Lilli's monster Harry Potter quilt on the frame next.  It took a bit longer, but...

Isn't that cool?  The guest bed was the only place I could find to really show it off, it's so big!  I'll get some better shots later for a full post.  

And then Emmy's quilt was calling my name.  Hers is a whole cloth panel that I immediately knew would be her quilt, and I hope she loves it!  I had a lot of fun quilting this, and will definitely share some more pictures in a later post...

So now all three annual quilts are quilted and bound - but I still need to prepare the labels and attach them.  But oops - I ran out of label fabric and forgot to order more, so that will have to wait.  Thank heavens for Amazon Prime!

And one last thing I did this week - I made bread!!!  This recipe was touted as "Miracle No-Knead Bread" and I have to say that it was the easiest bread I have EVER made!!  Patience not being my virtue, I don't usually have much success with bread, which definitely takes patience - but this was so simple absolutely anyone could make it.  Now I just need to get my own dutch oven, since I had to borrow my daughter's.....

So - - - 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

Make-A-List Monday - Quarantine Days!

 

Hi, all!

Monday has rolled around again and what a week it has been!  Both my husband and I tested positive for COVID last week (he's been mildly sick, I'm asymptomatic) and we've been in quarantine for a week now, continuing until the end of the week. Just goes to prove that even if you wear a mask, you can get it - but I'm guessing the mask may help reduce the exposure and make it a lighter case.  

Quarantine makes for lots of sewing time, though, so let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Quilt at least one of the annual quilts.

Done!  Nathanael's quilt went on the frame, and was all finished up today (well, except for the label!)

2.  Plan some vacation sewing!

More about this one in a minute....

3.  Do some cleaning and organization in the studio.

Oh, did I clean! First I found this counter and floor area...

...and then I found the floor in front of the fabric shelves!!

It feels really good to have the studio in better order!

4.  Work on the next String Therapy idea.

While I was cleaning, I realized that my leftover binding tub is running over, so I think it will be the start for this quilt...

I bet there's more than enough in that tub to make one of these! It should be fun to play with the design and see if I can come up with one as pleasing to the eye.

And now about that vacation sewing - while I was cleaning up, I came across several Solstice jelly rolls (a Christmas line by Kate Spain) that I've been hoarding for years now.  Well, I got a wild hair, dropped almost everything, and started a king size postage stamp quilt!

Strip piecing is amazing, makes the quilt come together so fast!

I've still got a ways to go, but it's halfway pieced now.  I've done the strip piecing of two of the jelly rolls, and cross-cut them into 5-square strips.  I still have a bunch of those 5-square strips left, but at this point I'm thinking that I will strip piece the remaining jelly roll and cross-cut it, then take all those 5-square strips with me on vacation to piece the other half of this gigantic quilt.  We have a new bed coming the end of this month and it will be nice to have a new Christmas quilt to put on it!

So here's my list for this week....

1.  Quilt at least one of the remaining annual quilts.

2.  Strip piece and cross-cut the remaining Solstice jelly roll.

3.  Sort through and press the leftover binding strips.

4.  Pack up sewing necessities for vacation.

5.  Address Christmas cards for my husband!

6.  Start decorating the house for Christmas.

I do love this time of year, and since my husband has given me the go-ahead to start decorating early, I figure I'll do a little bit at a time over the next few weeks.  It will be fun to find places in the new house to put all my Christmas treasures!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

 

Hi, all!

The days are flying by as we near the end of the year, and guess what? It's Friday again!  And that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on - - - are you ready?  I sure am!  Let's get started!

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

It's been a big week around our place, with some finishing going on! With the sale of our old house, I finally got the itch to finish unpacking and organizing my studio, getting rid of some of the piles that had accumulated....

Isn't that a lovely corner?  So nice and clean now.  I ran out of steam/found a new project to work on before I finished the wall immediately to the left of this picture, but I'm slowly but surely getting to that one too.  Maybe I'll have another picture next week!

And here's the new project that stole my attention - I decided it was time to quit hoarding my Solstice jelly rolls and turn them into a king-size quilt for our bed this week!  This is about a quarter of the size I need but it's as far as I got before writing this post.  I do love a postage stamp quilt, don't you?

And here's my finish for the week - the reindeer quilt is in the books!

These blocks were so much fun to make - the pattern is by Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts, from her free Christmas quilt-along. 

It was especially fun to give each reindeer its own personality.  This is Rudolph, with his red nose and Christmas text antlers.

After debating long and hard about the quilting, I decided that finished was better than perfect and went with a swirling meander. It gives it a really nice texture!

The back came completely from stash - I don't think I'll ever manage to work through all the Christmas fabrics I have on hand! But it felt good to use some big pieces in this one.

And in the center of the back?  The names of all those reindeer on the front!  Thank heaven for printable fabric and great graphics on the internet!

And just for fun, take a look at my photography assistant today!  Fly was definitely curious about what I was doing, but just laid there calmly supervising all the activity.

So - - - 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... Inspiration!

 

Hi, all!

I have to admit that I haven't been playing in the scraps much lately, but I have seen some amazing inspiration on Instagram that has me wanting to dig them out!  Here's just a few...

This "round robin" style quilt really caught my eye!  I'm still analyzing why it is so appealing to me...

This one is really interesting too - the design is subtle, rather like a faded old oriental rug.

And what a wonderful explosion of color this quilt is!  I would name it "Fireworks"!

This lovely sunny quilt uses bricks in a size I've already got cut out - and it may be time to drag them out and put them to use!

Have you been following along with the Scrap Mountain QAL? This is a really pretty example of what they've been making - this quilt is definitely on my "must make" list! I mean - look at how many scraps it consumes!

So now that I've done my job of enabling, go forth and tackle your own scrap mountain!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Back On The Long Arm Again!

 

Hi, all!

Welcome to Monday!  I almost let it slip by - it's been weird week - but then I remembered the day and really want to share what I've been working on!  So let's see how I did on last week's list...

1.  Finish quilting a Christmas gift quilt for a friend.

Done!  This is such a sweet quilt, and I love her plan for it.

2.  Decide on a a quilting plan and quilt the reindeer quilt.

Done, and done!  I finished the binding on this one this afternoon! More pictures to come on Friday....

3.  Quilt a vintage quilt top.

Done!  This quilt was a real learning experience, but turned out wonderfully. And it's always a pleasure to save a treasure!

4.  Transfer the warranties for the old house.

Done!  That was the last thing I had to do with the sale of the old house - hooray!!

5.  Plan the quilting for the annual quilts.

I think I have a plan for all three - now just to get to it!

6.  Start thinking about vacation sewing projects.

I didn't really have a chance to do this yet.

So a pretty good week, all in all!  It was good to get back on my long arm machine again.  And I learned something today - Jolene (my long arm) has expensive taste!  I had trouble with my thread breaking repeatedly on the Christmas quilt, so I thought I'd change color for this one and see if it was the thread.  A lovely lady gifted me a large cone of white Aurifil recently, and I decided to put it on and see how it did.  Well, Jolene REALLY likes Aurifil - not one break in the whole quilt!  

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

1.  Quilt at least one of the annual quilts.

2.  Plan some vacation sewing!

3.  Do some cleaning and organization in the studio.

4.  Work on the next String Therapy idea.

Not a long list, but plenty to do!  I'm in the mood to clean, I think, so I may tackle the studio work first while the mood is there.  Of course, who knows what I'll feel like in the morning?

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

Hugs!

Sarah