Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? As Another Year Draws to a Close....

 

Hi, all!

Wow - it's finally here.  The last Friday of the year!  It's hard to believe that 2022 is almost over, and 2023 just over the horizon, but it's true! And since it's Friday, we need to get our 2022 whoop whoop on one last time.  Let's go!

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I have woefully neglected my blog for the past few weeks, getting caught up in the holiday and all the attendant festivities.  I am so sorry!  But I will make an early New Year's resolution and promise to do better.  I do have a few things to whoop about this week, though, like this...

...a lovely pile of bonus HSTs from the secret sewing project I'm currently working on!  I can't share that project, but I do love having bonus triangles to play with later!

And then there's this - I treated myself today to this fun rolling cart with removable trays for organizing projects!  I've long lusted after a baker's cart with metal trays but I'm too cheap to shell out the big bucks for one - but this fits the bill and was on a great sale!  I'll be starting out right after the first of the year using it to organize the parts for this year's tutorial series - win/win!!

And this was a lovely surprise this week - my wonderful cleaning ladies, who come each week and keep our house looking and smelling wonderful (housekeeping is NOT my spiritual gift!) brought me roses for the New Year!  Wasn't that the sweetest?

And we have a new addition to our family - meet Josie!  After gas prices went up so precipitously this year, and knowing that our aging Venza was bound to start breaking down in the near future, we decided to get a hybrid to replace it.  Josie is a Highlander hybrid with three rows of seating (as requested by the grandkids, who hate sitting crammed in a small back seat) and lots of other fun bells and whistles.

Here's my current favorite - the heated seats!  I have decided that happiness is a warm tushie!

And this year, after putting it off for several years due to Covid and the terrible exchange rate, we've taken the plunge and booked a trip to Italy!  We are counting the days until we leave, studying Italian, dieting, and working out to get in better shape so we can sightsee until we drop.  This is to celebrate our anniversary - we will have been married for 44 years this Sunday - but we won't be going until September, so there's plenty of time to get ready!  I am enjoying studying Italian using the app Duolingo and seem to be making good progress.  The only problem I have is remembering the Spanish word for something instead of the Italian one!

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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little Joy....

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's Friday again, and you know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  I'm ready and I hope you are too, so let's get started!

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This week has been kind of a mixed bag for me - busier than usual, actually so busy that I completely forgot to write my Monday blogpost!  But I did get to do some fun things, and actually made a pretty little quilt for a gift...

And I made a donut charcuterie tray for our quilt ministry Christmas party (with gourmet donuts from a local shop - not my work!)

But best of all, I got to go watch Lilli shoot in an archery competition, where she shot a 267 (out of 300), beating her previous personal record by 13 points!!! She was quietly ecstatic on the court, but rather jubilant once we got outside!

Can you believe that over the life of this blog, we've seen her grow from this....

...to this!  Today this lovely young woman turns fifteen, and we start in on a whole new phase, teaching her how to drive!  I'm so proud of her - she's smart and funny and focused on what she wants in life.  Plus she makes amazing chocolate chip cookies! Happy birthday, Lilliana!

So - - - can we 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

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

 

Hi, all!

Guess what?  It's Friday again!  And not just any Friday, but the second Friday in December - only two more until Christmas!  And Friday means that it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on - are you ready?  Let's go!

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It's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!  Let me take you on a tour and show you some of my decorations...

As you come up to my front door, you will be greeted by a cute little wooden reindeer standing in a grove of trees!  I found him in a gift shop in East Tennessee for $11 several years ago, and he's one of my favorite decorations!

The beautiful wreaths on the front doors came from the tree farm where we got our live tree!

When you come through the front door, this tree stands in all its glory. (There's a wire to the wall that makes sure it stays standing!)  It holds our collection of official White House ornaments, which my husband receives each year from a business contact.  This year's ornament smells like gingerbread!

The dining room is just off the entrance, and I have my favorite Kate Spain table runner on the table.  It just makes the room so festive!

Our living room has buffalo check pillows in red and black with big white snowflakes on them, and the hurricane lanterns hold little snow scenes with gnomes, tiny bottle brush trees, and kosher salt "snow"!

On the other side of the living room is our piano, where our nativity scene resides.  I made the creche from an old pallet we had lying around, and I'm pretty proud of it!  It took me forever to take the pallet apart - don't let anyone tell you it's easy - but it was worth it for the rustic look it has.

Just past the piano are the stairs.  This is a new place for me to decorate, and I wrapped the handrails with strings of poinsettias in red and white and tied a big bow at the bottom.  (Excuse the gate and items on the stair steps - this is pre-party mode!)

Before we move into the den, let's divert to my bedroom and my Christmas quilt!  It's made of Kate Spain Christmas prints and has a wool batt, so it is super light but very warm.  This year I added a wonderfully soft and warm blanket for those super-chilly nights! The quilt on the headboard is a Christmas Trip Around The World that I made many years ago to "use up all my Christmas fabrics" but even that didn't do it!

Next up is the breakfast nook and table, where you will find this cute little gnome, the newest addition to my Christmas crap!  I love that his hat is an Advent calendar - there's a tiny snowflake on a ribbon that you can move from pocket to pocket to mark the days!

This fun wreath hangs on the door to the porch, right next to the breakfast table!

This little tableau is my grandkids' favorite part - aside from the presents, that is!  The teddy bear will read the entire "Night Before Christmas" poem if you press his hand, moving his head and mouth as he reads.  Emmy made sure that Nathanael learned how to make him do that this year!  The little gift bag is one of my favorites - it has a note to Santa on it - and I use it to hold the Christmas cards we receive.  

Here's our fireplace with the handmade cross-stitch stockings that I've made for each of us over the years.  I love bottle-brush trees, too, and you can see more of my collection on the ends of the mantle.

And last but certainly not least, here's our second tree, which is where all the presents will reside.  I don't dare start wrapping them yet, though, because we're fairly certain that Bree will discover the joys of un-wrapping them!  So in the interest of wrapping them twice, we are holding off until much closer to Christmas to add the presents!  This tree holds our family ornaments including the ornaments I've bought for the kids each year.  They love to look at the tree and see which ones I've hung up each year!

So now that the house is all decorated, just in time for the parties to begin....

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... Using Scraps For Good!

 

Hi, all!

Recently I was contacted by a nurse who works for a local oncology clinic.  She had received a quilt from our quilt ministry in the past, and thought our group might be able to help her out.  She was looking for someone who could make port pillows for them to give out to chemo patients.  Now, I had never heard of port pillows, but she sent me some pictures and I went in search of a pattern.

Port pillows are designed to attach to the strap of a seat belt and prevent the belt from irritating a port, which is implanted under the skin of the upper chest to facilitate the administration of chemo.  I found lots of patterns but found one I really liked on a website called createtodonate.org.  (FYI they also have a lot of other really good patterns if you are looking for other things to donate!)  This pattern is super simple, as you'll see below!  So here's how I made them...

The first thing you'll need is two pieces of fabric, cut 4" x 7".  I used scraps that I cut off the end of a quilt backing for this, and it was a great way to use a middling large piece of scrap!  You'll also need two pieces of sew-in hook-and-loop tape (Velcro), each 3.5" long.  It probably goes without saying, but when I refer to a "piece" of hook and loop tape, it consists of both a hook side and a loop side.

I found this nice assortment of colored hook-and-loop tape on Amazon, but be careful - they state that this is 24 yards of hook and loop tape.  However, it is 12 yards of hook (one yard each of 12 colors) and 12 yards of loop.  So essentially, it is only 12 yards of hook and loop tape.  But it was still a really good deal, price wise.  You can get five sets of two from a yard of hook and loop tape. I thought I had a really good stash of leftover hook and loop tape, but it turned out that all of mine was sticky backed - not good for this particular purpose!

There are probably many ways to attach the velcro to the fabric, but I found that by putting the two pieces together in a 4" strip, then attaching them, I didn't have to deal with it sticking together where I didn't want it to.  Fortunately, I had a 4" ruler that was perfect for this, so I laid the loop side even with one end and clipped it on, then lined the hook side up even with the other end of the ruler and carefully pressed it down on the loop side.  Now my tape was put together and not likely to catch on anything else, AND was exactly four inches long and ready to be sewn on.

With the loop side facing up and lined up with the right side of the fabric, I measured 1.5" down from the top and stitched 1/8" away from the end, just to hold it in place.  Then I flipped it around and, measuring once again, stitched down the other side.  

Repeat on the other end of the fabric so that you have two pieces of hook and loop tape attached.

Now lay your second 4"x7" piece, right sides together, on the first piece.  Pin if you feel so inclined (you can see how I pinned it above) and, leaving a 2" opening on one of the short ends, use a scant 1/2" seam to stitch the two together.

Now, this is a step I added to the on-line pattern, but I trimmed my corners diagonally, which makes it turn nicely!  I use a chopstick to turn mine, and also to stuff them, but maybe you have another trick for turning.  Do whatever works best for you!

Cheap polyester fiberfill works really well, and a one pound bag goes a long way!  I've made 18 already and haven't made a dent in my bag.

And here's the last step - sew that opening shut!  I did mine on the sewing machine - just pushed the fiberfill back, held the two edges together, and stitched right next to the edge.  If you do this, be sure to catch both edges all the way!  Or you can hand sew this seam - it only takes a few minutes.

And voila!  You have a port pillow! These are so easy and quick to make - it takes me about 10-15 minutes to make one from start to finish.  I cut out a bunch of fabric pieces and hook and loop tape strips and put them together assembly line fashion to make them in bulk.  It's a fabulous way to use up scraps - you could even sew strings together and cross-cut them into the 4"x7" pieces, or use two different fabrics for each port pillow, different on each side.  If you had a bunch of 4" orphan blocks, you could add fabric to the top and bottom to make your 4"x7" piece.  The possibilities are endless - but this can definitely be a scrap buster that will make a serious dent in your stash. And you can do good with it as well!

Want to join me in making life a little bit easier for chemo patients (and emptying your scrap bins a bit in the process)?

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Let The Festivities Begin!!

 

Hi, all!

My last quiet weekend for December is in the rear view mirror - from here on out it's time to entertain!  I have three big gatherings here at the house over the next three weekends, and I am so excited - we bought this house right before Covid started, and we haven't done any of the entertaining we anticipated when we bought it.  But we're going to make up for it this month!

But first - let's see how last week's list went....

1.  Finish the inside Christmas decorations.

2.  Decorate the front porch.

Done!  I'll post pictures on Friday, since I don't anticipate finishing anything else up before then!

3.  Quilt Lilli's quilt.

Done!  And I LOVE it!  You can see more pictures on last Friday's post.

4.  Package up those Christmas gifts for my sewing sisters!

Done!  And I had a pretty red bowl to arrange them in, too!

5.  Make port pads for a local oncology office.

In progress!  I've made about 18, and have another nine already cut out.  I'll make enough to fill up a good size box, then send them off!  I'll be writing a post about them on Wednesday, if you are interested.

So all in all, a good productive week!  This weekend I'm having my sewing sisters from church over for a brunch on Saturday morning, so I'll be getting ready for that this week.  I've still got to finish cleaning up the studio, but I keep getting distracted by fun projects!

Here's my to-do list for this week...

1.  Clean and vacuum the studio.

2.  Keep working on port pads.

3.  Take pictures of all the Christmas decorations!

4.  Keep Bree occupied this week as it rains and rains and rains and rains....

5.  Write and attach labels on all the grandkids' quilts.

6.  Take Bree for a bath and her rabies shot.

That list seems a little skinny, but I've got a couple of doctor's appointments this week in addition to Bree's, so I'll be spending some time in the car or in waiting rooms.  Nothing bad, just regular check-ups.  But it does put a crimp in the quilting time!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Three for Three!!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's arrived - the first Friday in December - and we all know what that means!  It's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Let's get started....

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Most of you know by now that I make each of my grandkids a quilt each Christmas, usually themed with something they liked or did that year.  There's also a special label I put on the back of each one, telling what they were like that year, some things they did or special memories from the year.  And yes, before you ask, they have a LOT of quilts, which, yes, makes my daughter nuts - so this year I am also giving them each several deflatable storage bags so they can store some of their quilts under their beds!

And yesterday, I got started early with Lilli's quilt - the last of the three - on the frame...

Lots of lovely loose random meandering!  Then I moved over to the sewing machine to add the binding...

And then, it was finished!!

I do love a classic patchwork, don't you?  

I found a fun backing fabric that will fit in well with Lilli's love for simplicity, too!

And now, a little bit about this quilt.  The fabrics are glorious shot cottons from Kaffe Fassett, and they are so beautiful and soft.  If you aren't familiar with shot cottons, they have one color thread for the warp and a different color for the weft, making a fabric that changes color as you fold or move it.  The colors reminded me of old time-y library books.  Lilli has often said that she really wants a wood paneled library for her own bedroom, but since that's not in the cards, I thought I'd make her a quilt that reminded me of the warm color of books on a shelf!

The other day, I went on Amazon to add some Aurifil thread to my Christmas wish list, and spotted this gorgeous variegated thread that matches the quilt perfectly!  I've never had good luck quilting with variegated thread in the past - it tends to break a LOT in my machine - but this thread didn't break once!  OK, I'll admit it, Aurifil is worth the price!

I used a washable wool batting because I wanted it to be lightweight, but very warm, and because I love the definition that a wool batt gives your quilting. 

It also makes a pretty swirl - and will be even prettier once I give it a wash!  The only drawback with a washable wool batt is that, while it is washable, it really isn't dryer-able!  You need to have a spot to spread it out for several hours to air dry.  I expect to use the bed in one of the spare bedrooms to dry this one!

And Bree did a good job entertaining herself while I did all this - at least for part of the time!  My daughter tells me that this particular position - lying on her stomach with her legs extended behind her - is called splooting.  Bree does it frequently and very well and I wish I could be as comfortable as she looks when she does 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