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...

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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?

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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 - Getting Down To Business!

Hi, all!

Whew!  It's been a heck of a weekend, but Monday Tuesday has finally arrived - and it's time to put together another list!  So much to do as we move into the last two months of the year - these lists are going to be my lifesaver!  First, though, let's see how last week's list went..

1.  Quilt and bind the tie memory quilt.

Done!  I'm so happy with the way this one finished up, and the family loved it!

2.  Print the photos for Lilli's annual quilt.

Done - and not only did I print the photos, I finished putting the quilt top together today!!

The color in this pic is terrible - no sun and late in the afternoon - but the border is a red-purple.  Lots of scraps in this quilt - woohoo!!  I'll be putting a tutorial together, probably for a week from this Wednesday....

3.  Photo shoot for my Artisan blog tour post (THIS FRIDAY!)

Done!  I had a lot of fun creating an interesting photo locale with some fall color - here's just one of the more than one hundred shots I took...

And by the way, I ended up writing three posts for my part in the Artisan blog tour, and there are giveaways associated with all three!    There's still time to enter the giveaways - they'll be open until Thursday at noon - so hop over to my weekend posts - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - and join in the fun!  Winners will be announced this coming Friday.

4.  Bind and wash a half dozen quilts for the quilt ministry.

Done!  I didn't take a pic of all six together, but here's one that I took the day that I did the bindings...

5.  Finish writing the tutorial for the Artisan post.

Done!  I actually wrote two tutorials - one for this table cover (which can also be made as a tree skirt)...

...and this lap quilt.

See one you like?  Ask for it in a comment and I'll send you the PDF!

6.  Cut out a Christmas gift quilt.

Started!  I pressed all the fabrics yesterday and started pairing them up for cutting...

7.  Start working on Emmy's annual quilt.

I didn't get to this one yet.

8.  Start working on Nathanael's annual quilt.

I didn't do much on this, but I did buy some more Batman and TMNT fabrics for it!

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

Another quiet week (WHEW!) and we didn't give away any this week.  Good thing - we need to catch up and replenish the stock!

OK - not a completely finished list, but I'm very happy to have finished one of the annual quilts, so that makes up for it!  So - - - new month, clean slate, the Kaffe project is done - - - here's my new list!

1.  Finish cutting and piece the gift quilt.

2.  Bind at least three quilts for the quilt ministry.

3.  Clean up my sewing studio.

4.  Make a back for Lilli's annual quilt.

5.  Write a tutorial for the photo quilt.

6.  Finish answering giveaway emails, and draw for the winners!

7.  Finalize a pattern for Nathanael's annual quilt.

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

That's plenty to keep me busy for the week, but if by some strange turn of events I finish it all, I've got plenty more in the wings!  I think, though, that I need to move the studio cleaning to the forefront - it's such a mess from the last month of whirlwind sewing that I am starting to freak out, and that means it's pretty bad!  So I think I'll go work on that right now....

But first - - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Artisan Blog Tour, Day 3 - Bring on the Bags, and a Giveaway!!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the third (and final!) day of my part of the Artisan blog tour!  It's been a wild ride, helping FreeSpirit Fabrics launch Kaffe Fassett's newest line (available in stores in November - hooray!)  Isn't that picture at the top beautiful?  Brandon Mably posted that on Facebook yesterday from Quilt Market, and I couldn't resist using it.  All those gorgeous fabrics!!

I've shown you a table cover, a quilt, a couple of pillows, and a maker mat - now it's time to show you the bags I made using some of the Artisan fabrics!

First up is this fun, bright bag!  The outside of the bag is made using three different batiks in the Sunny color way.  The chevron print is so cool, with its shading of colors across the fabric.  And the wide stripes I used for the straps were just perfect!  I'm kind of fond of the checkerboard batik, too - the geometric feel of these three work well together.  

I added the dark blue ties on the sides to bring out the blue in the center.  It's lined with a fabulous big circle print from the Artisan line, and the pockets inside (you can never have too many pockets!) are the same circle print in a different color way.  The pattern for this bag is McCall's M6905.

But the next bag is my absolute favorite!  I have to admit, once I finished this one, I put it on my shoulder and I've used it ever since.  I'm going to be a sad, sad girl when it wears out!!

For this bag, I used a free pattern from Lecien Fabrics called the 1 Yard Magic Hobo Bag that I found on this blog.  Using the pattern as a starting point, I made some adjustments to create this eclectic bag.  I cut four different pieces of fabric to create the outside of the bag, creating a quartered piece.  I used a piece of the Artisan ikat fabrics, the plaid, for the interior.  I also added a piece of interlining, a fairly stiff loose-weave canvas, and sewed the three pieces together, turning it right-side out and pressing well.  I then treated it as a solid piece of fabric for the rest of the construction process.  I did make the straps wider, too, and added interlining to those too.  But here's my favorite part...

Look at that fabulous tassel!!  I was digging through a box of "stuff" in my studio one day and came across the leather tassel, one I had salvaged from a purse years and years ago.  Dug a little more and found a box of great beads in colors similar to those in the purse fabrics, so I threaded them onto the leather strips!  Now I jingle when I walk!  There are woven leather buttons on top that I can loop the tassel around if I want to secure the purse closed, too.  But usually just the weight of the tassel is enough to keep it from gapping open.

Isn't it gorgeous?  And it will hold a ridiculous amount of stuff if I need it to, but not look overly large if I'm down to a bare minimum in it.  This was a super simple pattern to make, even with the changes I made, and would make a great gift.  I highly recommend it!

So that's the end of my projects to help launch Kaffe Fassett's new fabric line, Artisan!  Although I don't think it will be the end of my sewing with them - the fabrics are so pretty, you'll see them cropping up in projects in the future!  Watch for it to come out in the fabric shops sometime in November.....

And now for the last giveaway!  I have one more jelly roll of Kaffe Fassett shot cottons for one lucky commenter...

...and, since it's still my birthday weekend, let's throw in one more giveaway....

...I'll draw one final winner and send her this bag!  Here's how you enter:

1.

Leave a comment and confess - are you an early Christmas decorator, a "not-until-after-Thanksgiving" decorator, a "Christmas-Eve-and-I'm-still-putting-stuff-out" decorator, or a "bah-humbug, who needs decorations" decorator?

2.

If you're a follower of this blog, leave another comment for an extra entry!

That's it, easy-peasy!  You can enter the giveaway until noon on Thursday, November 3rd, and I'll announce all the winners on Friday, November 4th.  And remember, there's still time to enter the giveaway from Friday and Saturday!  Entering all three giveaways gives you a chance at one of six different prizes - don't miss out!

Thank you so much for joining me for this blog tour - it's been a blast reading all your comments and has really added to my joy in being part of it all!

Hugs!

Sarah

Artisan Blog Tour, Day 2 - Moroccan Tiles, Bonus Pillows, and a Giveaway!

Hi, all!

Welcome to the second day of my turn on the Artisan blog tour!  Artisan is a new line of fabrics coming out in November by the fabulous Kaffe Fassett for Free Spirit Fabrics.  As I said yesterday, I had so much fun with this beautiful pile of fabric...

...that I couldn't cram it all into one blogpost!  So today I'm going to share a few more things I created incorporating the second color way in this beautiful line of quilting cottons, batiks and ikats from Kaffe Fassett and Free Spirit Fabrics!  Just so you can see all of the fabrics in the Blue color way, here's a wonderful shot from the Artisan brochure...

Such gorgeous, rich colors!  Quilting cottons on the left, batiks in the center, and ikats on the right.  They play wonderfully with the Sunny color way, too, as I'll show you in just a minute.  

When I was asked to help with the launch of Artisan back in July, my mind was whirling with possibilities - especially because they put very few restrictions on what we could do!  And of course, my mind always goes to quilts....

...and with the strong bohemian vibe of these fabrics, I keep envisioning the beautiful ceramic tiles of Morocco.  I paired quilting cottons and batiks in both the Sunny color way and the Blue color way with some vibrant tangerine Kona cotton to create this vivid quilt.

It's a smaller lap size - 48" x 60" - and I've written a tutorial if you are interested.  Just request it in a comment below and I'll send you a PDF version.

In the making of this quilt, I also created some bonus HSTs which I used to make the pillow shown above.  Don't you just love bonus HSTs?   I still have a mess of them - I see more pillows in my future!

Here's a closer shot of the pillow - I embellished it with large stitch quilting in a variegated perle cotton and did a knife edge binding around the edge to continue the look of the small borders.

But wait - - - that's not all!  I had scraps left over from the table cover, too, so I put them together in another pillow cover...

I'm really fond of this one - I love the wild variety of fabrics it contains, and I did large stitch embellishment on this one, too, varying the distance between the vertical lines of stitching for a random feel.  This pillow make me smile!

Looks like a cozy little place to set a spell, doesn't it?  This was taken by the side of an old smokehouse on our property - it is my first time to use it as a photo shoot location, but I don't think it will be the last!  It makes a great backdrop for quilts!

I hope you've hung in there this long - because now it's time for the giveaway part of our program!  Remember this pretty stack?

Your comment today will put you in the running for one of those lovely jelly rolls of Kaffe Fassett's shot cottons!  And because it's my birthday, I'm going to sweeten the pot for a second winner... do you see the mat underneath my sewing machine in the background?

Here's what the other side looks like.  Inspired by Lillyella Stitchery's Undercover Maker Mat, I made this using some Artisan fabrics combined with some other Kaffe Fassett prints I had hoarded stashed away.  Look how nicely they play together!!!  I'll be sending this to a second winner chosen from today's comments (without all my tools - sorry!! I need those!)

So how do you enter?  It's easy!  Just leave a comment below, and in it, tell us your favorite birthday surprise!  

I'll start it off - one year, based on a random comment from me, my husband gave me a Suzuki Samurai that our local bank had repo'd.  Total surprise!  When I asked him why, he said, "Because you said it was cute!"  It replaced our broken down and ancient Plymouth Fury, so it was a welcome gift - and a totally romantic one!

Please please please leave your email address in your comment, particularly if you want a copy of the tutorial!  So many people are no-reply bloggers these days, mostly through no fault of their own - I think there's a conspiracy going on out there! And if you don't feel comfortable putting your email address out in public, feel free to email me at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com to let me know.  

And remember - there's another giveaway tomorrow, and still time to enter yesterday's giveaway!  It's just a big birthday giveaway weekend around here!!  Entries will remain open for all three giveaways until noon CST Thursday, November 3rd, and I'll announce all the winners in my whoop whoop post next Friday, November 4th.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing a couple of bags I made using these wonderful fabrics - hope to see you then!!

Hugs!

Sarah

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Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? My Turn on the Artisan Blog Tour, and Giveaways!!

Hi, all!

It's Friday!!!  And as we all know by now, that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Time to encourage each other, show off our current projects (whether finished or not), and just binge on all the gorgeous eye candy that's out there in the blogiverse!  And hey - it's a lot less fattening than candy corn!!  I'm excited to get started - so let's go!!

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One of the first ASL signs my grandchildren learned was the sign for "my turn" and we saw that one a lot.  Well, I feel like that today - because it's finally "my turn" on the Kaffe Fassett Artisan blog tour!!!  Back in July when Nancy at Westminster Fabrics contacted me about participating, I jumped on the chance to play with new fabrics from Kaffe Fassett - I mean, who wouldn't?  So when this glorious stack of fabric showed up at my house....

...I went into planning mode.  These fabrics just scream Boho Chic to me, so I began lots of research (insert window-shopping and Pinterest browsing here) to find the specific details that made up the style I was looking for.  And I discovered that I couldn't stop at just one project!  So I'm actually going to post for the next three days (coincidentally lining right up with the International Quilt Market 2016 and #missingmarket) to share all of my creations with you - and guess what? There will be a giveaway for each day!  It's my birthday weekend and I want to celebrate it with all of you!!  So be sure to check back in Saturday 10/29 and Sunday 10/30 and participate in all three giveaways for your best chances.

OK - on to the eye candy!!

My main focus for this fabric was the beautiful Sunny color way - primarily oranges, reds, yellows and pinks with just a touch of some cooler colors.  There are quilting cottons (the 9 on the left), batiks (in the center) and ikats (the four on the left).  We were asked to try and mix all three types of fabric in our creations, but other than that, what we made was completely up to us.

I started with this inspiration picture...

...and came up with a pieced table cover design that I really love!

On the table...

...and laid out so you can see it in all its glory!

 To complement the bohemian vibe of these fabrics, I added fringe to the bottom edge, and did some large stitch embellishment using perle cotton.

 

The colors in these fabrics are so beautiful, vibrant and saturated, and the batiks and quilting cottons play well together.  I just noticed that I didn't incorporate any of the ikats into this piece, but you will see them in the other projects I show over the next couple of days.

This table cover is just about 63" across at its widest point (66" if you count the fringe), and could be used on a larger table than the one I've shown it on.  My version has cotton batting in it, and I probably would change that in my next attempt - it's not quite as crisp as I would like it to be - but it would be great for protecting a tabletop from hot dishes.

 I've written a tutorial for the table cover, which can also be made as a tree skirt - if you'd like a PDF copy, mention it in a comment below and be sure to leave your email address so I can send it to you!

Be sure to check back in tomorrow when I'll share more about the pillows and quilt in this picture!

And now on to the fun part - the GIVEAWAY!!!  

Take a look at all those goodies that Westminster Fabrics sent to help us all celebrate the release of Artisan!  Today there will be two winners - one for the 20-fat quarter bundle of Kaffe Fassett classics, and one for a jelly roll of shot cottons.  Here's how to enter!  Choose one, some, or all options...

1.  Leave a comment below, answering the question left by the commenter before you. I'll start it off with this one:  

Which do you steal out of your kids' Halloween basket - 

Candy corn, or chocolate?

2.  Link up to the Whoop Whoop Friday linky party for a second entry.  No need to leave a comment for this one, I'll get your entry from the linky list.

3.  Are you a follower of this blog?  Leave a comment letting me know how you follow!

Your comments today will enter you in the giveaway for today's two items, and you can enter today's giveaway until noon CST Thursday, November 3rd.  I'll draw all the winners and announce them on Friday, November 4th.  Be sure to come back tomorrow and Sunday to see some more gorgeous Artisan fabrics and for two more opportunities to win!!

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 dance a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you - 

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

Remember - it doesn't have to be a finish,

just something you're happy to have accomplished!

The party will stay open until Wednesday, November 2nd.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - want to see more of the beautiful Artisan creations in this blog tour?  Here's the schedule:

9/23/16   http://www.simplesimonandco.com/

9/30/16  http://craftsanity.com/

10/7/16  http://100billionstars.com/

10/14/16  http://www.bijoulovelydesigns.com/

10/21/16  http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/

10/28/16  http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

11/4/16  http://www.sarahfielke.com/