I May Have A Scrap Problem... Here's A Solution!

Hi, all!

I had a fun experience this week, and since it has everything to do with scrappiness, I want to clue you all in on it too!

Sunday night I received an email from Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps blog, BluPrint classes, QuiltCon, and loads of other places.  Now, I love Christina to pieces - I met her in person in one of her classes at QuiltCon in Savannah and we spent two hours at lunch sitting on the grass outside, eating and talking up a storm.  She's fun and sweet and a very talented quilter and teacher.  So when I get an email from her, I sit up and listen!  She was a victim of the recent BluPrint closing, having prepared a class that was due to be filmed right about the time that they announced their closing - so she decided to film it herself!

If you've ever taken one of Christina's classes, you know she's a great and engaging teacher, managing to keep the attention of long-time quilters while not overwhelming the newbies.  

In her email, she asked me if I would preview her soon-to-be-released self-filmed class and give some feedback.  Of course I said yes!  And I am here to tell you that this is a class you need to take!

I mean, look at those gorgeous pillows!  The technique is great for using some of your favorite little scraps, and quick enough that you could easily knock out a couple of pillow covers in a day.

You probably know already that Christina is a great teacher of free motion quilting, and in this video she takes you through how to learn a new quilting design (doodling is your friend!) and makes it all look easy.  She demonstrates this design, and also explains how to do the straight line quilting you can see in the pillow in the class icon.

She even shows you how to finish your pillow cover with an envelope closure back, and has the neatest. trick. ever. to get beautiful corners.

And the very very best part?  If you go to her blog (click here) she has a code for a 25% discount on the class fee that's available for the next week!  

So thank me later, but go over and sign up for her class - you won't be sorry!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Finally Finished...

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday!  It's been quite a week, with lots of sewing going on around here - I hope you can say the same!  And Friday means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on, so let's get started!

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I'm so happy to be able to report that I have finally finished a project I started a couple of months ago...

This was on my scrappy "want to do" list for a while - with intentions of making a whole quilt. Once I got this much done, though, I decided I could live with just this much and be able to say I had done a double wedding ring design!  

I love the Make Life fabrics by Sweetwater - I had a few random fat quarters that I decided to use for this project.  Those text prints are awesome!

I decided, since this was a fairly small piece, to do some pretty intense quilting on it, as you can see from the back.  I did matchstick quilting in the "orange peel" pieces, and small stippling in the large centers.  

I love the way it balances so nicely with the hurricane lanterns!

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 - The End is In Sight!

Hi, all!

Here we are at Monday again!  And May, to boot - how in the world did that happen?  My grandkids tell me they only have thirteen days of school left, but it only seems like a few months ago that they were starting the school year!  Oh well, there's always summer fun to look forward to, right?

Let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Definitely work on the vintage quilt!

I was SUCH a good quilter this week - I made some serious progress on this project!  Here's where I was at the beginning of the week...

All those pink post-it notes are spots where I need to appliquéd a new piece of fabric.

And this is how it looked yesterday afternoon!  Today I wiped out most of the spots on the lower left and a couple on the right - I've only got about five left to do tomorrow.

2.  Finish the solids HST quilt top.

Done!  I love love love the way this came out!

3.  Quilt the Hygge Sparkle Pop quilt.

Done!  This was so much fun to quilt - you can see more pictures of the quilting on this blogpost.

4.  More yard work - unfortunately mulch won't spread itself!

Well, I got the planter weeded, the landscape cloth laid out, and the mulch spread - but ran out of mulch about two bags shy!  I've got more now, so tomorrow will see this bed finished.

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

Done!  We gave away a few quilts this week..

This quilt is going to a gentleman recently diagnosed with cancer....

This quilt is going to a woman battling a serious blood infection...

And this quilt is going to a teenager who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor.

So not a bad week, all in all!  I also made this pillow using an orphan block - some straight line quilting and an envelope back and binding, and it's done!

And here's what I'm planning on working on this week...

1.  Finish the repairs on the vintage quilt.

2.  Cut out a hopscotch quilt for the kids.

3.  Work on sorting one of the scrap tubs.

4.  Hands2Help administrative work.

5.  More yard work!

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

I really want to get the vintage quilt finished this week - I have so many projects I want to work on right now, and with that one out of the way, I can do them without guilt!  

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Hygge Sparkle Pop Finished (And Explained!)

Hi, all!

Guess what?  Friday has rolled around once again, and you know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  I hope these beautiful spring days have inspired you to be creative - I can't wait to see what everyone is working on!  So let's get started!

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Last week I showed you my linen quilt top...

Well, yesterday I loaded it up on the quilt frame and finished it up!

I had so much fun quilting this!  I thought about doing a geometric pattern, but in the end, preferred to just "doodle" all over it!  

It's a long way across the quilt when you are doodling - takes a good bit of time!  Fortunately, I had a day with no other obligations, so I just parked myself at the frame and quilted for six hours!

This picture not only shows the quilting, but also shows the colors really well.

I was so excited to take it off the frame, I jumped right into the binding so it would be FINISHED!

And here it is, in all its glory - Hygge Sparkle Pop!

Now let me explain about the name.  I gave you the definition of 'hygge' last week - and some of the fabrics have metallic threads woven in them (which do not photograph well), hence the 'sparkle'. The 'pop' comes from how I felt the day I started working on this quilt - my first day of yoga in several weeks, and lots of my joints were going 'pop'!  My husband said I sounded like Rice Krispies (you know, snap-crackle-pop?) and that got stuck in my head. Plus it has some pretty pops of red in among the softer colors.   Hence the name Hygge Sparkle Pop!

And now for lots of texture shots...

For once, it was not too windy....

...and the light outside was perfect!

It had just finished raining a little bit before I took these pictures, and it was still just a little overcast, but brightening nicely.

It was just the right amount of light to show off the quilting.  Hooray!

Good heavens, I took a lot of  pictures!

Oh well, sorry/not sorry!  Here are some stats about this quilt...

Hygge Sparkle Pop

Created from a fat quarter bundle of Essex yarn-dyed linen, 20 fat quarters in the light color way.

A postage-stamp quilt made with 2" finished squares, finishing at approximately 60" x 70".

Hobbs Tuscan washable wool batting.

Graffiti (wild) quilting, as taught by Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps.

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

(I'm linking up with Michelle's Creative Compulsion linky party today - come join me!)

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

Because.....ARYA!!!

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? Well Begun is Half Done...

Hi, all!

Welcome to another Friday!  Arguably the best day of the week, the beginning of the weekend, and most important of all, time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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Well, I don't have a finish this week, but I do have a start!  Wednesday afternoon, I loaded Gypsy Wife onto the quilt frame...

...and Thursday I started quilting her!

I'm using a wool batt again, so I'm doing a lot of heavily filled areas to make other sections stand out.

It's fun coming up with ideas to fill in the spaces!  I've had a lot of help from some good friends...

I'm combing these books, by Christina Cameli, Angela Walters, and  Amanda Murphy, for Quilting ideas.  Excellent quilters all, and they are so good at sharing their techniques!

This is an early shot taken shortly after I started.  I've worked on some of the larger blocks here, and you can see that it's going to show some pretty definition!

 

A close-up shot of that corner.

The heart was a fun one to quilt.  I really like the bottom corners of that block!

By the end of the afternoon, I had finished most of the first pass.  Fatigue was starting to set in, though, so I killed the electric lights and took some pictures in the natural daylight.

As you can see, I decided to stitch in the ditch between the vertical strips.  I like the definition it gives, but I'm still trying to decide if I want to do anything else in those spaces.

It is amazing how the quilting can change the looks of a block!

I really like seeing this picture of the upper left corner, taken after I added the vertical background stitching.  Look back at the earlier picture of this corner and you can see what a difference it makes!

So in the spirit of "well begun is half done", 

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

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