Make-A-List Monday - and a Giveaway Winner!

Hi, all!

Wow, did last week fly by for you?  Mine was a blur of child care - fixing lunches, monitoring homework, giving baths, driving EVERYWHERE - I put over 100 miles a day on my car! - followed up by a whirlwind trip to the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah!  

There was a lot of sleeping in the car after school... 

(Emmy, not me - the screaming kept waking me up!)

...a lost tooth necessitating a visit from the tooth fairy 

(who needed to be re-educated on the current value of teeth...)

...and new pictures of Nathanael to be admired!  When Emmy saw this one, she said, "Aw, 'Thanael - he cute!"

When I got home Saturday afternoon late I wasn't sure which end was up - but I knew where I wanted to be - in my studio!!  I managed to do just enough to get the happy endorphin level up before the girls arrived back for the week Sunday afternoon - but oh, do I miss my studio time!!

Well, now that I've made that intricately crafted excuse for whatever I didn't get done last week, let's look at last week's to-do list...

1.  Start repairs on the antique crazy quilt.

Started!  As you can see in this pictures, I am hand-stitching bridal illusion (really fine tulle) over the damaged blocks, then trimming it close to my stitching with my tiny curved-blade scissors.  I've got cream tulle for the light pieces and black tulle for the dark ones.  As my friend isn't planning to use this as a working quilt - it will be a photography prop - this will protect the damaged spots without changing the antique integrity of the quilt top.

2.  Cut out 400 signature blocks.

I'm close - yesterday I think I got up to 375 - so I'm going to call this one a win!!

3.  Write a tutorial for the pennant quilt.

It's started - and that's a good thing!  It will take another day of sitting for a couple of hours to finish it off, so maybe tomorrow or Wednesday I can finish it.

4.  Work on a quilting design for the black stained glass quilt.

In progress!  I think I know what I want to do in general - an inklingo/zentangle type of design in the negative space, sort of like the picture below. What I'm still trying to work out is what to do immediately around the blocks.  Any ideas would be welcome!  You can see the quilt here.

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

Done!  We gave away three quilts this week...

This quilt went to a woman living in Louisiana, just diagnosed with leukemia...

And this one went to another woman in Louisiana dealing with cancer.

This quilt went to a gentleman who worked in our local school system for many years.  He has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and has returned to Arkansas to live with his extended family and receive treatment there.

 We had a blast at Paducah - I got to see my friend Shannon of Fabrics N Quilts!  

Don't forget that she's done a complete makeover on her shop's website and there are blog hops going on to promote the new site!  I'll be sharing about it this Friday, but there are other blogs that are already hosting giveaways - check out the list below and enter all the giveaways!  

Quilt Shop Gal: http://quiltshopgal.com/

Quilting Gallery: http://quiltinggallery.com/blog-posts/

Mary Mack Made Mine: http://teachpany.blogspot.com/

Weekend of 5/1: 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict: http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

Life in the Scrapatch: http://scrapatches.blogspot.com/

I also got to take a class with the fabulous Judi Madsen of Green Fairy Quilts fame!  

I've always admired her quilting style and mad skills, and it was fun to get a little hands-on time learning how she does it.  I'll never be that good, but at least now I can aspire!

And after spending a medium-sized bucket of money, I received one of these bags for my trouble...

We took some of our budget money for this year and purchased a BlockRockit mid-arm quilting machine for use at the church!  If you've never seen one of these little gems, check one out somewhere - it's small but mighty!!  We have to wait a little while to get ours, but in about a month she'll be ready to go!

OK, so much for last week.  Here's what I think I might be able to get done this week...

1.  Finalize a design for the stained glass quilt and start quilting.

2.  Keep working on the antique quilt repair.

3.  Sew the label on Nathanael's quilt before Friday night.

4.  Write Friday's blogpost promoting Shannon's new site.

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

 Since I have the girls until midnight or so on Friday, I don't anticipate having much sewing or quilting time this week.  Fortunately, I can do most of the things on my list from my comfortable table at the McDonalds near Emmy's school!!

But wait - there's more! Emmy tells me I almost forgot the giveaway winner!!  I asked Little Miss Random to choose a winner...

And she chose number 133!  (aren't you proud of me - I finally figured out how to get a picture of the Random Number Generator in my blogpost!!)  Number 133 is Barb N...

...who wanted to know how we roll our toilet paper - over, or under!  I tell you, inquiring minds want to know!  Congratulations, Barb!  I'll be emailing you and Christina so you can hook up and get your copy of the pattern!

By the way, I absolutely loved reading the random questions you guys came up with!  I think my favorite, though, was the person who asked, "Fabric, or chocolate?"  Totally unfair!!!

So now that all the business is taken care of, inquiring minds also want to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Oh, and here's your "awwww" moment for Monday...

Nathanael holding his new mom's hand!
Love those little sneakers!!

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Let's Cheer For Rita!

Hi, all!

Here we go - it's Friday again, 

and time to get your whoop whoop on!!  

Are you ready?

This week, I am once again woefully short on things I can show off that are whoop-worthy - most of what I've been working on is in the not-very-interesting stage still.  But - - - Rita has been on a roll this week, so I thought I'd share some of the pretty things she has been working on!

First of all, there's this beautiful butterfly quilt she finished last week.  The paper-pieced blocks came from Sharon, and Rita provided the setting and the piano key border.

These are such amazing blocks - the detail is wonderful!

And here's a few of the orphan block quilts she finished this week...

A beautiful monkey wrench block quilt...

A really nice setting of nine-patch blocks...

And check out this grouping of varied orphan blocks!  

Isn't that fun!

Wednesday night she brought her magic bag to church.  Do you remember Mary Poppins' magical carpet bag, that held so many things?  Well, Wednesday night Rita started pulling orphan block tops out of her magic bag - each one gorgeous and unique - and she had ten new quilt tops in that amazing bag!  I wish I had thought to take a picture of the stack of tops when she finished pulling them out - it was pretty amazing!

But it's not all work in The Sweatshop these days - Piper brought our newest and smallest member of the group to supervise us today - her 7 month old daughter!  Holding court on a pile of quilts on the floor, she kept us all working - but Rita decided to take a break and get down on her level!

They had quite the conversation down there before little Bailey Ann told Rita to get back to work!

So - can Rita get a Whoop Whoop??

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And now it's your turn!

What have you been working on this week?

What's got you doing the happy dance?

Share - we want to dance right along with you!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight -

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? What I'm Thankful For….

Hi, all!

It's Friday again, and time to get your whoop whoop on!!  I hope you've emerged from your food coma and have had time to do some sewing on this holiday weekend.  If you're anything like me, you're avoiding the stores like the plague!  

Since it's Thanksgiving weekend, I thought I'd do a little something different for my whoop whoop.  Four years ago this weekend, fifteen women came over to my house for a little sewing…

…where we, total quilting newbies, joined our hearts and hands…

…to create a quilt for a friend who had been diagnosed with cancer…

…that turned out to be the beginning of our quilt ministry!

I'm so thankful for these ladies….

…who have worked together so hard…

…training up the next generation of quilters…

…and even working on some non-quilt-y sewing to help out our local elementary school!

To date, we've given out six hundred fifty-nine quilts in four years.  And truthfully, we could never have done it without the support of a whole bunch of the wonderful folks who read this blog!  Your donations of fabric, blocks, quilt tops and completed quilts have been a very important part of this ministry - because of your contributions, we have never lacked for supplies to make quilts to bring comfort to people in need.  Never once in four years have we had to say that we couldn't provide a quilt because we didn't have the resources to make one - and for that, I am truly thankful!

I have made so many new friends in the past four years - people I may never meet in person, but who are an important part of my life because we care about the same things.  

I think these are all great reasons to whoop it up today!!!

Whoop whoop!!!

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

And now it's your turn!

What are you whooping about today?

Share with us - we want to cheer right along with you!

It's more fun with friends!!

The party will stay open until Sunday night - 

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

PS  Be sure to check back in Monday - I'll be sharing another traveling stash giveaway!

What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop?

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a very busy couple of weeks since I last did a Sweatshop update - lots of quilts have been made and given away! So let's get right to it....

First of all, this quilt was mentioned in the last Sweatshop update, but I didn't have a picture of it.  It went to a woman who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Rita pieced this beautiful quilt, and Debbie H. (our new long-armer) quilted it.

These two quilts went to two sisters whose mother recently died in a car accident.  We did a quilt for the oldest sister, then found out about these two, so we couldn't leave them out!  Cindy and Kathy bordered up the two tops to get them ready for quilting....

This quilt was given to an older woman in her final days of life.  Made back in our days of learning the Disappearing 9-Patch pattern, I'm not sure which ministry member pieced this quilt!

This quilt went to a woman who has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and is going through treatment.  I believe Deborah C. pieced this softly colored quilt.

This quilt was given to a woman who was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a short time to live.  This quilt was actually pieced by our summer camp kids two years ago!

This quilt went to a woman with serious heart issues.  She had a pacemaker installed and then immediately started having unexpected issues with her heart.  Pam S. took some donated blocks and pulled this beautiful quilt together.

This quilt went to a young man who was in a four-wheeler accident and sustained a serious head injury.  He is making an amazing recovery, but will be in rehab for quite a while.  This top was donated to us by Judi, a new member.  She actually made it over twenty years ago, by hand!

This quilt went to the grandmother who raised her grandson.  He recently tried to commit suicide, and we wanted to send her a comfort quilt.  This is another top made by Judi, by hand, over 20 years ago!

This quilt was given to the sister of one of our members.  She broke her leg very badly and will be in rehab for several months.  Rita pieced this top, her second in this pattern.  I love the colors she chose - so calm and yet vibrant!

This quilt is being given to a woman who just went through surgery for liver cancer.  She will be undergoing chemo as soon as she recovers from her surgery.  This is another of Judi's hand pieced UFOs - amazing!

This quilt is going to the sister of a young man who recently died from self-inflicted injuries.  Kathy pieced this top - I love the colors in it!

And this quilt, the last of this week's bunch, is being given to a young father who has just gone through surgery for testicular cancer.  Kathy also pieced this one, which is very similar to one she made for her dad.  She loved the texted blocks so much she wanted to make another one.

And with these thirteen quilts, we have now made and given away 499 quilts since this ministry started in November 2009.   (If you've never read the story of how the ministry started, you can read it here.)  What a ride!  We've learned how amazingly generous quilters are.  We've learned that even if you've been told you can't sew, you probably can!  We've learned that God will provide what we need even before we know we need it.  I would not have traded this experience for the world - or all the friends I've made in the process!  Hopefully this is only the beginning of the ride - I can't wait to see what comes in the future!

Thanks to all of you who have been a part of this ministry, and to all of you who will be in the future!!

Hugs!

Sarah