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

Hi, all!

After an absolutely gorgeous weekend, it's Monday again, with a whole new week full of days to fill with lots of fun sewing!  Let's see how last week's list went first, though...

1.  Quilt two quilt tops for Heartbuilders.

Done!  These two are so pretty - pieced by Deborah S. and headed out this week!

2.   Work on piecing my new project, a wedge quilt from Christina Cameli's new book.

In progress - I've pieced all the wedges, and also the denim background (made from old jeans).  At least I can see what it will look like!

3.  Continue cutting up scraps and plan a new scrap project using some of what I've cut!

As usual, this is an "in progress" all the time - but at least my stash of cut pieces is growing!  I've also got an idea rolling around in my head for a quilt but I need to get it on paper....

4.  Package up two more sets of scraps for giveaway and get one in the mail.

Done!  It's been fun giving away some of my scraps as part of the pre-Hands2Help quilt-along!  And it has made a little bit of a dent in all those tubs...

5.  Time to work on some more administrative stuff for Hands2Help - which starts in just a little less than two weeks!

Done!  More sponsors are rolling every day!

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

It was a pretty easy week - only two quilts.  This one went to a woman who may possible have a tumor in her stomach...

...and this quilt went to a gentleman in the hospital with blood and kidney issues.

I'm happy with my progress for last week, plus I got to do a little bit of fun sewing.  I'm loving that wedge quilt, although it may have to be put aside this week for a while as I work on some time-sensitive projects.  Let's see what's on tap for this week...

1.  Press under all the edges of the arches for my Half and Half quilt, and start appliquéing them to the background.

2.  Meet with a new customer about a t-shirt quilt. 
(Graduation t-shirt season starts early around here, y'all!)

3.  Start work on a quilt for a special occasion.

4.  Mail off two Heartbuilder quilts.

5.  Order fabric for several upcoming projects.

6.  Pick a pattern for this month's scrap quilt.

7.  Prep for this Saturday's Piece*Love*Quilt sewing day!

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

Definitely enough to keep me busy and out of trouble - plus Lilli and I will have a movie day on Thursday (no school) as we go to see The Greatest Showman one more time before it leaves town!  We may even sing out loud in the theater....  

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

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have a Scrap Problem... Not Getting Much Better!

Hi, all!

Wow, it has been a week!  I had so many commitments, and so many other things going on, that I didn't get much done on the scrap sewing front.  Boo!

I did, however, get my Gypsy Wife block for this week done!  This block is called Indian Hatchet, and the one on the left is for my GW quilt.  The one on the right is for the Michael Miller Friendship Quilt project, and is made from fabrics provided by Michael Miller Fabrics at QuiltCon.  The fabrics have been sitting on my worktable since February and it feels good to have it done!  The only requirement was that the block be 6.5" unfinished, and since Indian Hatchet was the same size, I just cut out two and sewed them both up together!  This block will go in the mail today.

Then I did some "sew my stash" sewing - I need to make some pillow covers for an upcoming Marketplace, and when I was looking through a drawer, I came upon a charm pack of Halloween fabrics that has been sitting unused for a couple of years.  I cut the charms into 2.5" squares, grabbed some fusible interfacing, and laid out simple patchwork.  Fused the squares onto the interfacing, then folded and sewed.  I love this method, and I've used it a lot for 1.5" squares, but this is the first time I've tried it with larger squares.  It is so fast, and the intersections of the squares are always perfect!  I'll be adding appliqués to these to make some really unique pillow covers, and hopefully they'll be a popular item!  

You can see my tutorial about this technique in this post - just scroll down a ways, because there are several techniques described in the post!  

Oh, and I almost forgot - this quilt went to Stash Builder Box today for this quarter's donation to Project Linus!  I finished it a while ago, but I don't think I ever shared it here.  This was a group effort by my Heart Builders team - we each made a block or two from our scraps, using the Japanese X and Plus block pattern.  Everyone sent them to me and I put them together into this cute quilt! It's a great scrap buster!

So not much scrap sewing, but I hope that will change soon as I get some projects finished and clear the tables a little bit!  Do you hit patches where you have so much "got to" sewing that you can't do any "want to" sewing?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Charity Quilts Galore!

Hi, all!

Here it is, Friday again - and you know what that means! It's time to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's get started...

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

This week I designated Wednesday and Thursday as quilting catch-up days, and managed to knock out some things I've needed to finish for a while...

First up was this quilt top which a friend brought me.  It was partly hand sewn, partly machine sewn; the blocks were cut on the bias so they were stretchy; and the sashing didn't reach all the way out to the side edges in places.  And of course, the green was made so long ago, I couldn't find a match for it in my stash or even the stash at church!  So unfortunately the edges of some of the blocks have been cut off to square it up - but I still think it's a fun bright quilt!  My friend's mother-in-law will be coming to live with her - she's the one who pieced it many years ago - and it will go on her bed. 

This quilt was pieced by Joyce Levengood as part of the Heartbuilders program for Stash Builder Box!  Joyce is on my team and she sent it to me for quilting for this quarter's donation to Project Linus.

I finally found a use for those pretty bright lemons that have been in my stash forever!

Joyce also made this cute red and brown quilt, with little monkeys all over it!  I envision this one on a little boy's bed...

And this beautiful quilt, also made by Joyce, looks like it would be perfect for a tween girl to me!  Such beautiful colors...

And this is the final quilt that will be headed to Stash Builder Box this quarter - it's a group effort by the members of Heartbuilders Team Four!  I love the way all of our bright happy blocks work so well together...  This was a fun block to make and I may make one of these quilts for myself sometime!

And finally, I got some happy mail on Thursday - some fun things I picked out as a treat for myself, as ordered by a good friend!

A small Omnigrid cutting and pressing mat, and a Steamfast mini-iron for piecing fun!  And two new books - The Versatile Nine Patch by Joan Ford for new scrappy inspiration, and Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Ireland, because, hey, two of my favorite things!  I can't wait to see if there are places I recognize in this one.  It's sitting right beside me waiting for me to finish this blogpost and take a look!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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

And now it's your turn!

What's making you whoop it up this week?

What's got you dancing 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 Rest For the Wicked!

Hi, all!

Monday has rolled around again - and the best kind of summer Monday for me - rainy and comfortable temperatures!   It was a good day for sewing!!

I've got all kinds of new projects coming up, but first, let's see how last week's list went....

1.  Print the photos for the memory quilt.

2.  Assemble the memory quilt.
Done!  And not only printed and assembled, but quilted and bound!!  I'm glad to have this monster finished - it measures 95" square!!

3.  Assemble the SBB Special Project quilt.
Done!  This came out really cute, and I love the way everyone's scrappy blocks play so well together!

4.  Cut out the twins quilts.
Done!  And not only cut out, but I got started on sewing them together today, chain piecing the HSTs.

5.  Finish up the 12DCIJ blog hop stuff - giveaways, updating the tutorials page.
Partly done.  I finished up the giveaways, but I haven't updated the tutorials page yet.

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

Done!  We sent this quilt to a woman with stage 3 colon cancer...

And these five quilts are going to a group that works with women recently released from prison. They will be giving them to the women as they return home.  This is an ongoing project, and we'll be keeping them supplied with quilts.

So all in all, not a bad week at all!  Especially since I've been battling a cold all week - a gift from Emmy.  Bless her little pea-picking heart!  Here's what's on tap for this week...

1.  Work on the twins' quilts.

2.  Enjoy my last week with the littles before they start kindergarten.

3.  Mail off the prizes for the 12 Days of Christmas in July winners.

4.  Update the Tutorials and 12 Days of Christmas in July pages on my blog.

5.  Quilt some charity quilts.

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

I'm also working on a new quilt design for a future Free Spirit Fabric project - something more traditional, with LOTS of pieces - but I think it's going to be really cool!!  This one's really got my crafty mojo running on overdrive.....

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Oh, and just because it's cute, here's a grandkid pic - Emmy lost her first tooth this week!  She proudly announced to her mom that she lost her tooth while she was eating ice cream, and now she is ready for kindergarten!!

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

Hi, all!

It's Monday, and time to get back into a regular routine again!!  Hands2Help 2017 is in the books, with a new record - 127 quilters who made 267 quilts!!! There's still a little administrative work to do, but it's mostly finished.  And it will be good to get back to a regular schedule again!  So let's go back two weeks and check out that list...

1.  Finish the t-shirt quilt.

Boy this seems like a long time ago, but it's finished, and they loved it!

2.  Make the seat cushion covers.

Not finished yet, but they are all cut out and ready to be stitched up.

3.  Organize and photograph the prizes for H2H!

Done!  (Good thing, too!)

4.  Quilt at least two quilts for the quilt ministry.

I didn't get to this one.

5.  Quilt my friend's quilt.

But I did get to this one!!  

6.  Keep working on the Long Time Gone quilt.

I've been working on this - using it as a "reward" for getting something else done.  Here's the blocks I've worked on since the last MALMonday post...

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

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

This one went to a woman with cancer...

...as did this one.

We also gave away 25 quilts to our high school seniors!

And I did get a few other things done in the past two weeks - this memory pillow...

front...

...and back. 

A test block for a special Heartbuilders' project...

...and I quilted two quilts in a hurry as a special favor to a fellow Nana who had grandkids coming to town!

I began packing the H2H prizes for shipping off to their "forever homes", too...

That pile's a whole lot bigger after yesterday afternoon's session!

I also started planning this project - a Hipster Cat quilt that will grace the wall of my favorite eye doctor's office! It's just in the planning stages now, but will soon be in progress - as soon as I finish those seat cushions!

Testing for size!

So that's what I did for the past two weeks!  But, as usual, no rest for the wicked - here's what I need to do this week...

1.  Finish those seat cushions!!!

2.  Finish packing, and mail, all the H2H prizes.

3.  Hem three pairs of pants for my husband.

4.  Clean the house before a quick weekend trip so the house sitter doesn't run away screaming!

5.  Keep working on the Long Time Gone quilt blocks.

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

It's sure going to be a busy week, and a short one - I've only got until Friday this week to work on projects - so I'll really need to hit the ground running!  But I'll just be like that little engine - "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......"

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Memories....

Hi, all!

Friday is here again, and you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!  Let's get started!

This has been another week of quilting for me - I've mainly been working on quilting some memory quilts made by a friend of mine...

This was the first one.  Made to look like shirts and ties, with collars and everything, so I quilted a fairly tight meander around the ties and collar points to make them stand out.  My friend will put the collar buttons back on before finishing the quilt!

Next up was this quilt - a simpler design, and it got a simpler, larger random meander quilting pattern.  Such a cute way to use ties and shirts!

And then Thursday afternoon this quilt went on the frame.  I wanted the ties to stand out, so I quilted in a tight small meander around them like I did on the first quilt.  I also changed thread colors for the center of the "star" and for the dark borders.  It really turned out nicely!  

This week I also shipped these five quilts to Stash Builder Box to be part of their donation to Camp Hobe in June.  I quilted these as part of their Heartbuilder program - others in the program pieced them.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Also this week, we received our first HelloFresh box!  I wrote all about it in this blogpost if you are interested in reading more - there's a link to get a $40 discount off your first box there too!

And the biggest whoop whoop of all?  We celebrated two years with this little guy this week!!  (And I think we're also celebrating getting a picture of all five of them smiling at the same time...  😄)

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 dance a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you!

And it's alway more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah