Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Another Big Project...

Hi, all!

Wow, here we are again - Friday has rolled around and it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

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This year, our quilt ministry (Piece*Love*Quilt) decided that they wanted to make quilts for our graduating seniors.  We started many months ago getting our tops made, and we've spent the last few weeks quilting and binding those tops.  Today I took care of the last step - taking pictures of those quilts!  I'm ready to share them with you now...

Twenty-five quilts for our graduating seniors - a fun project and one we will probably continue! Most of these quilts are about twin sized. Some are made from tops donated by some of you.  Others are scrappy tops using some truly interesting fabrics - like the very bright quilt in the center of the first picture.  The fabrics in that quilt came from a box of fabric cut-outs - the leftovers after garment pieces were cut out of fabric for mass production.  I think they probably date from the early 1970s.  

So my whoop whoop for the week isn't mine alone - it's a big group effort with lots of people participating.  

Can we get a whoop whoop??

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And now it's your turn!  

What's got you whooping it up?

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? Lots of Quilting Going On...

Hi, all!

Here it is, Friday again!  Where did the week go?  But now that it's over, it's time to get our whoop whoop on - are you ready?  Let's get started!

I've got kind of a mixed bag this week - I've been working on charity quilts this week, doing bindings...

...and doing a LOT of quilting!

Some of those are for Stash Builder Box, and some are for our quilt ministry.  I've got a bunch more to work on this weekend!

Then there were the shopping finds...

60% off coupons at Joann's, and Kona wasn't already on sale!  I got a whole bolt of Snow, and a piece of Charcoal and a piece of Pool too!

And check out this backing material I found for the One Block Wonder quilt - isn't the color perfect?  I couldn't believe when I got it home - the yellow flowers are exactly the same color as the Kona Wasabi I used for the stop border!

And the kiddos and I have been really enjoying the beautiful spring weather this week - do you remember just how much fun a pinwheel can be?  There was a lot of joy and laughter going on in my car!!

So that's what I've been doing all week - 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!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

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Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Children and Quilts...

Hi, all!

Wow!  How did Friday get here so fast?  Andy why do the days seem to go so much faster as we get closer to Christmas?  Well, you know what Friday means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!  I can't wait to see what you've been working on!

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This week, we finally finished a project 

we've been working on for several weeks.

A couple of months ago, a friend let me know that she going with a group called Ordinary Hero to Ethiopia in December, and wondered if we could help her out with some quilts for the kids living in the orphanage they would be working at.

After talking to her about exactly what she needed, we decided to make two-layer, no batting quilts that measure about 40" x 50".  These will fold up fairly small so she should be able to carry them all to Ethiopia in a suitcase.

Wednesday night at church, we got together with our grade-schoolers and asked them to help us take a picture of all 51 quilts at the same time.  As you can see from the pictures, it was rather like herding cats - but they were so excited to be part of this gift of quilts to orphans in Ethiopia!  

So - - - can we get a whoop whoop??

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And now it's your turn!

What are you whooping about 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 midnight Sunday -

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Big One for the Ministry...

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday!!  And you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Don't worry - you've got until Sunday midnight to link up, and it doesn't have to be a finish - just something you're excited about accomplishing!!  So let's get started!

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This year marks the ten-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating landfall in New Orleans, and our high school mission team is once again returning there to do mission work, leaving this Saturday morning.  They have gone down there many times over the years, working with the residents of St. Bernard Parish in their recovery efforts.

These four boxes hold forty-five quilts made by the members of quilt ministry and are going with the mission team to New Orleans this weekend to be distributed to people in need there!

There are too many of them to show individually, but here are a couple of montages to give you an idea of what we are sending.  Many of the tops were donated, or made from donated orphan blocks and fabric.  So many hands went into the making of these quilts - and they will be a great comfort to people in need of a quilty hug!  If you see something you donated, or for that matter, if you've ever made a donation to the quilt ministry, give yourself a big whoop whoop!  You done good!!

So - - - can the folks at the quilt ministry get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What are you whooping about this week?

What's got you dancing a little happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you -

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

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight - 

Hope to see you there!

PS Remember to hop over to Zenia Rene's "WHOOMP There IT Is" linky party and join in the fun!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Getting Ready for Vacation!

Hi, all!

Monday!  I'm always excited to see it come because I love to see how I've done on my list from the previous week.  Much better than having to go to work after the weekend....

Hot weather always gives me lots of time to play upstairs in the studio - we have been experiencing some really hot days here!  But that's great for my sewing time.  So let's see how it went....

1.  Put the binding on the checkerboard quilt.

Done!!  I'll be blogging about this quilt on Friday.

2.  Continue working on the retirement quilt.

Done!  I made 50 more blocks this week, and we'll start getting them signed this week.

3.  Continue working on the wedding dress quilt commission job.

Done!  The dress is finally deconstructed, and I'm ready to start designing my projects.

4.  Start cutting out my vacation quilt.

Done!  As of this afternoon, the blocks are all cut out and individually packaged in little zip loc bags with all their parts.  156 of them - whew!!

The fabrics are Kate Spain's Horizon and a Kona Sunset bundle, along with Kona white for the background.  I'm using V and Co.'s Endless Summer pattern, but I've enlarged it to make a king-size quilt for our bed.

5.  Quilt two quilts for the ministry.

I didn't quilt any quilts, because Rita has us well stocked in finished quilts, but I did cut up a huge pile of scraps into usable sizes (10" squares, 5" squares, 4.5"x 2.5" rectangles, and 2.5"x 1.5" rectangles).  I felt so virtuous when I got that done!

6.  Make another patchwork basket.

Done!  I created this pieced basket, and blogged about how I changed the pattern here.

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

Done!  It was a quiet week, but we did give away a few...

This quilt is going to a two year old boy in Alaska just diagnosed with cancer.  It's being held by Callie, our youngest quilt ministry member.  She designed and assembled this quilt top on her own!

And this beautiful quilt went to a woman whose breast cancer, which had been in remission, has returned.  She's a young mom and we thought this quilt would bring her joy and comfort!

OK, so last week's list is in the books, and well-completed!  Let's see what's on tap for this week...

1.  Make another 1-hour basket for a baby shower gift.

2.  Make a blankie to go in that basket!

3.  Come up with a final design for the wedding dress quilt.

4.  Cut more scraps - mine or the ministry's.

5.  Make more blocks for the retirement quilt.

6.  Work on Nathanael's Christmas stocking.

7.  Make the HSTs for my vacation quilt.

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

So that's my list for the week.  Seems like a skinny week, so maybe other fun things will appear on my horizon!  I get to have a "grandgirls" day on Thursday, while Nathanael is having his first physical therapy session - Lilli in the morning during the littles' speech therapy, then both girls in the afternoon.  That should be a lot of fun!

And Sunday, we had a fabulous Father's Day - my daughter was able to come to church with us and bring all the kids (my poor son-in-law had to work!)  I got this great pic of all of the kids and grandkids with Papa...

...but this is what it's really like to try to take a picture with three kids at the same time!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? I Love Happy Endings….

Hi, all!

It's Friday again, and you know what that means - it's time for…

I'm really excited about what I have to share with you today - but the story starts more than four years ago…..

In October of 2010, a very young woman in our church named Katt was diagnosed for the second time with cancer.  A member of my Bible study group, she shared with us her fears and concerns for the future.  I wanted to make a quilt for her, something that fit her personality.  This girl was so modern and fun - she even had eyelashes on her Volkswagen Bug - that I wanted to try something really out of the box.  Thus was born "Not Your Grandmother's Flower Garden".

This quilt was my first attempt at appliqué.  The flowers are stitched onto a piece of 70" wide antique linen that my grandmother brought back from a trip to Ireland.

It was also my first major free motion quilting project.  There is a LOT of quilting on this one - echo quilting around the flowers, some detail work within them, fiddlehead ferns coming up from the ground, curls of breeze in the air, and sunshine from above.  It was a beast to quilt - at the time, I was using a domestic Singer with a very small throat!  

I love looking back at these pictures, made with the help of my then-nearly-three photography assistant, Lilli.  She's grown up so much since then!

But now, as they say, the rest of the story!

Last Saturday morning, December 6th, while the quilt ministry ladies were all celebrating Christmas at my house, the Mount Juliet Christmas parade was taking place just down the road.

The marchers in the parade were carrying a sign.

Katt's boyfriend had a special question for her!

And she said yes!

Don't you just love a happy ending?

So let's give Katt a big whoop whoop!!  

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And now it's your turn!

Have you had a "happy ending" this week?

What's got you dancing the happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you!

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

Just something you're happy about!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight - 

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah