Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Christmas Can Finally Come....

 

Hi, all!

Well, here it is, folks - the next to the last Friday before Christmas!  But regardless of how close to Christmas it is, it's still a Friday, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!   Let's go!

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As most of you know by now, I make each of my grandchildren a quilt at Christmas, that usually reflects in some way their interests of the past year.  And I am ECSTATIC to say that all three for this year are finished, labeled, washed, and ready to be wrapped and put under the tree!  

Unfortunately, I was busy today (more on that later) and I didn't get any new pictures, but here are all three of them together.

This is Lilli's "Cookie Monster" quilt - the perfect quilt for her this year, as she is the master of all chocolate chip cookies!

Emmalyn's quilt was a little harder to come up with this year, because her participation in the play interfered with my first idea, which was to incorporate some of her little doodles in her quilt.  She started off providing me with pictures, but they trailed off once rehearsals started and I didn't have enough to complete my first idea.  However, the conjunction of her beach vacation and a bundle of pretty ocean-themed fabrics that came my way combined for a beautiful quilt that reflects her love of all things oceanic.  Her quilt label also reflects on her love this year of "floppy" bacon (yuck!) which I felt it important to commemorate!

And here's Nathanael's Pokemon quilt!  He loves all things Pokemon, so I'm hoping he'll really enjoy this twin-sized quilt on his bed.

Now more about why I didn't have time to take pictures today.  At the end of each semester, Lilli has a couple of mid-term tests each day, early in the morning, and then she can go home for the day if she wants.  She asked me last week if I could pick her up, offering to bake Christmas cookies with me if I did. Well, I'm not going to pass up an offer like that!  So today I picked her up at 11:30 and we got started baking - we made cream cheese cookies, white chocolate cranberry blondies, and brigadeiros.  Brigadeiros are a traditional Brazilian treat, consisting of a fudge center rolled in chocolate jimmies.  And now we have a funny story about them!

Well, I only bought one large jar of chocolate jimmies, and we ran out before we ran out of filling.  Raiding the pantry, we found several partial bottles of rainbow colored sprinkles that we keep on hand for ice cream, so Lilli mixed them into the remaining chocolate jimmies.  As she rolled the next brigadeiro, she said, "I guess these will be the gay brigadeiros!"  That child has a wicked sense of humor!  We've been chuckling over that one all evening....

And speaking of Lilli, here's a huge whoop whoop - she turns sixteen on Saturday!  It's hard to believe how much she's grown up since her first appearance on my blog back in January of 2010....

So - - - can we 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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Ahead of the Game!

 

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday!  It seems like it's been a super-long week, but we've made it to the end, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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As many of you know already, each year I make a quilt for each of my grandkids - a labor of love that my daughter wishes I would rein in sometimes, because they have LOTS of quilts at their house!  But the grands love it, so I keep doing it.  

And I'm so very happy to say that as of today, all three of their quilts are completed....

...except for the labels, which I will prepare and add closer to Christmas.  Each label contains information about things they did in the past year, and it takes a while to compose them in my head before I print them out onto fabric.  But the quilts are finished!

I'm also whooping about this beautiful bouquet of fall leaves that my grandson collected for me last night!  Growing up in Florida, I didn't get to see the leaves change each year and it still amazes me - such a glorious transformation!  This little bundle of leaves is a radiant spot on my kitchen counter....

I'm also whooping because I finally started the quilting on this handmade hexagon quilt top I put together last year.  I've got something special in mind for it, but first I need to finish the quilting.  I've done the straight line quilting in one direction, but there are two more sets of straight lines I need to do through the other points.  It makes my back ache, but it's going to be worth it, I think!

And for your weekly dose of Bree, look at how nicely she was waiting for me while I was quilting Thursday!   For an active little dog, she sure can be patient when she wants to be, and I appreciate that about her so much!  

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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Two Down, One to Go!

 

Hi, all!

It's Friday once again, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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Last week, I had made progress on Nathanael's annual quilt - and this week, I can show you the finished top!

This is one big quilt - about 75x95 - so it will make a nice bed quilt in his green bedroom.   I think he's going to love it!

And if you've now got the itch to make one of your own, hop over to Kelli Fannin Quilts - you'll find all the instructions under her sew-along tab at the top of her blog.

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 - Three Months Til When?????

 

Hi, all!

Monday is here once again, and as I was paying bills today I wrote the date on a check - and was shocked to realize that today is exactly three months from Christmas!  So I guess we're in the beginning of the holiday sewing season.  Time management becomes important now!

So here's how last week's list went....

1.  Work on Nathanael's annual quilt, made with Kelli Fannin's Pokemon design.

Progress has been made!  Thanks to some diligent sewing this weekend, I finished all the blocks and now am ready to start the sashing!

2.  Prep fabrics for a baby quilt for our niece's new baby.

I didn't get to this yet.  Started to work on it today, but realized I had time to start cutting the sashing and went to work on that instead.  But I have the fabrics and pattern and I'm ready to start as soon as I get the Pokemon top finished!

3.  Fold and shelve some new fabrics I bought at a local sale.

Done!  Aren't these beautiful?  

4.  Clean up the studio a bit.

Ha!  If anything, it looks worse.  But I did clean up the big pile of solid scraps that was in the middle of the floor where I was digging through for colors for the Pokemon quilt!

So obsession took the place of time management skills last week, I'm afraid.  It's hard to multi-task when a quilt gets under your skin, isn't it?  

And here's what I'll be working on this week...

1.  Finish Nathanael's Pokemon quilt top.

2.  Prep the fabrics for the baby quilt.

3.  Cut out the baby quilt.

4.  Start sewing the baby quilt.

5.  Clean up the studio a bit.

Once again, a short list, but I'm going to work hard to see how far I can get on that baby quilt!

I did get to spend some fun time with two of my grands today while the third was at some doctor's appointments.....

These two have such a unique relationship - they pick and pick at each other, but they almost always end up laughing uproariously.  There were lots of giggles and finger-pointing going on, and my husband's nice quiet afternoon on the porch wasn't quite as quiet as usual, but it was fun!

So now, I really need to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Making Progress!

 

Hi, all!

Friday is upon us once again (it feels like it's been a VERY long week!) and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Have you been working wonderful things this week?  I hope so!  Let's go!

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Last week I shared with you the beginnings of Nathanael's annual quilt, made using the sew-along tutorial from Kelli Fannin's blog....

Well, I'm very pleased to say that I have made some serious progress this week, and now my design wall looks like this!

I set myself a goal of completing one block a day, and so far, I've been able to keep up with that.  Weekends get a little complicated, but I'm hopeful of finishing this top by next Friday, or the following Monday.  There are four more blocks to go, and then assembling the top.  The blocks are fun to make but very time-consuming - lots of cutting of tiny little pieces and then sewing them back together again!  The Pikachu block has 135 pieces in it, if I remember correctly.  By the time I finish a block, I'm pooped!

I did take some time out today to go pick up Lilli after school so we could spend some time together.  Bree was VERY glad to see her, although I am not sure Lilli was quite as pleased!  But they love each other, despite appearances.  

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!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Doing a Little Gaming.....

 

Hi, all!

It's Friday once again, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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Well, I'm still recovering from jet lag after our return from Italy, but I did get some sewing time in this week!  I decided it was time to put on my big girl pants and start working on Nathanael's Pokemon quilt.  I'm using the block designs from Kelli Fannin's quilt along from several years ago, and man do those blocks have a lot of little pieces!  But Kelli writes a great pattern, and I've been extra careful about marking all my pieces, and here's what I accomplished this week!

The top banner of the quilt is assembled!  I've still got nine character blocks to do, but it's a good start.  I think I'll do the ball block next, since I've got all the colors out that I will need for it already pulled.  

Little miss Bree was very very very glad to see us back, and we managed to return just in time to celebrate her second birthday!  She had a very good day - she had to go to day care in the morning while my cleaning lady was here, and when they found out it was her birthday, they gave her a doggie cookie to celebrate.  Then we stopped by Burger King on the way home to get mom some lunch, and the lady at the drive-thru window gave her a chicken nugget!  She wasn't too sure about that at first, but once she bit into it, she was all about the nuggets!! So now she has something else to expect when we go out for  a car ride.... 🤣🤣🤣

So - - - can we 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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? One Down, Two to Go!

 

Hi, all!

Can you believe it's already Friday again??  The days pass fast when you're having fun!  In can you missed it, I'm currently in Italy, but I had time to write a post for this Friday and schedule it to go live so you all can share your whoop whoops along with me.  We'll be taking a week off next Friday, so whoop it up now!

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Last week I shared the great progress I had made on Lilli's annual quilt, and I am so very pleased to say that her quilt top is done!  

It will have to wait until I return for quilting, but it's so nice to say that one top (of the three) is done for this year!  The pattern is Crunch Time by Kelli Fannin Quilts, and it was so well written it made it all easy!

What didn't make it easy, however, was my little "helper"!  As I was busily sewing in the sashing strips, thinking I was so close to being finished, I heard a loud "BOOM!" and the whole floor of my studio shook.  Turns out Bree had come in from outside, come upstairs to see me and launched herself from the upper level of the studio at a dead run, landing just behind my sewing chair and scaring the you-know-what out of me!  When I turned around, she was positively laughing at me.....

Isn't that the most malicious grin you ever saw?  Well, I told her I still had to do a little bit of sewing, so she decided she needed to "help" me.   A few minutes later, with a nearly whole quilt top on my lap, I looked down and saw this....

The little monkey was laying between the wall and my feet under my sewing table, spread out over about three feet.  You can see my sewing machine foot pedal just to the right in this picture - I had to set my foot on her tail to press it down!  But I did finally get that last seam sewn and pressed, and I devoted the rest of the afternoon to giving my little beastie the love and affection she demands.  It's a tough life!

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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? It's Crunch Time!

 

Hi, all!

Friday is here once again, and we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  I hope you are ready - so let's go!

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It's been a busy week in my sewing studio, as I buckled down to start working on the first of three annual quilts for my grandkids.  I'm happy to say I found the perfect quilt for Lilli this year - Crunch Time by Kelli Fannin Quilts.  

So I got started this week making the cookie blocks - they went so quickly!  Kelli really writes excellent patterns.

Once I got all of those done, I needed to make the specialty blocks.  The first was Cookie Monster - lots of tiny pieces but still easy to assemble....

Cookie was immediately followed by the milk block, which was significantly simpler....

And then last, but not least, the crumbs block! 

And with that, all of the blocks were complete!  I've laid it out on my design wall with the vertical sashing pieces....

...but tomorrow I will make the horizontal sashing pieces and assemble the top!  It feels so good to know that I have one of the three quilt tops this close to being finished...

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 - Progress and Distractions!

 

Hi, all!

Welcome to another week of fun and games!  Our trip to Italy is just around the corner and it's starting to feel really real now - we booked the trip about eight months ago, and back then it felt so far away!  But now it's only a week and a half away.  My Italian feels so inadequate, but at least I'll be able to understand a little bit of what they are saying, and Google Translate can take care of the rest.  

In between thinking about what we need to do before leaving, I did get some of the things on last week's list done....

1.  Complete the vintage block top.

Done!  It turned out so cute, and went in the mail to our cousin today.

2.  Pull fabrics for Lilli's annual quilt.

I not only pulled them, but I cut out the pieces needed for most of the blocks, and today I made two of them!  This pattern is Crunch Time by  Kelli Fannin Quilts.

3.  Choose solid colors for Nathanael's annual quilt.

I went to the store and bought a few colors that required large quantities; the rest I will try to fill in out of my stash and scraps, only purchasing if I can't find something that will work.

4.  Clean up some in the studio.

Well, I did clean up a little but the stuff I didn't get to seems to have spread.....

5.  Work in the front flower beds (if weather permits).

I did it!  We had an easy cool morning, and I waded in - I wish I had taken a "before" shot, but you'll just have to take my word for it - the grass and weeds on the left side of the flower bed were about waist high.  I filled up three contractor bags with lawn waste, and could probably have filled up three more with what was under and behind the cherry tree, but I ran out of energy and it was starting to get hot.  So the rest will happen another day!

I also did a little baking today - I found a recipe for a blueberry ricotta galette that is so easy and so delicious!  Galettes are simple - you just lay out a round of pie dough (I buy mine ready made!) and top it with fruit mixed with sugar and seasonings and a little corn starch.  This one has a layer of ricotta underneath the fruit.  Then you fold up the edges, brush them with egg, and sprinkle it with a little sugar.  Thirty minutes in the oven at 400 degrees and you've got a simple but delicious dessert!

And now for this week - here's what I plan to be working on....

1.  Continue making blocks for Lilli's annual quilt.

2.  Remind Emmy to make me more drawings for her quilt.

3.  Bind a quilt for the quilt ministry - the last one for our current project.

4.  Write up my packing lists for Italy.

I'm going to keep it short and sweet this week because I'd really like to make some serious headway on Lilli's quilt - it would be wonderful to have one of the annual quilt tops finished before I leave - and honestly, my mind is so distracted with things I need to do!  I'm hoping writing lists will get it out of my head and onto paper.  Then I might have some brain power left to do other things!

And here's a special request - you know I mentioned Kelli Fannin Quilts earlier?  Kelli is dealing with a cancer diagnosis right now and is currently going through treatment, and could really use all the prayers, positive energy and good thoughts we can send her way.   I've tested some quilts for Kelli and made several of her designs and she is just the sweetest - the world is a better place with her in it.  So send up some good vibes, will you please?

And now, I really want to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Day Seven of the Twelve Days of Christmas in July!

 

Hi, all!

Here we are, on the downslope of this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!  Hopefully we can enjoy the downhill rush to the finish, pausing along the way to find more Christmas inspiration.  Today I've taken a little trip down memory lane to share a family tradition with you, and we'll also receive the instructions for two more blocks for the quilt or wall hanging. Let's get started!

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As many of you may already know, we have a tradition in my family that started many years ago, when Lilli, my eldest granddaughter, was very little.  One of my first quilts was made for her, and I gave it to her for Christmas just after her second birthday.  The next year, I was making a quilt for a little girl with leukemia, and Lilli, my constant companion, loved the Dr. Seuss fabric.  She petted that quilt and constantly asked about who it was for. She asked about that quilt even after I sent it off to its new owner, and so I decided to order more fabric and make her one too!

I gave her the quilt for Christmas, along with a doll quilt from the same fabrics for the doll bed my husband made her that year, and thought that would be the end of it.  But then Christmas starts coming around again, and Lilli, always an articulate child, even at three, started listing off all the things she wanted Papa (my husband) to get her for Christmas.  I asked her if she didn't think that was quite a lot of things, and she looked at me and said, "But Nana, all I want from you is a quilt!"  And thus a tradition was born.

Keep in mind at that point I only had one grandchild.  This made making a quilt a year a pretty simple prospect!  Then along came Emmy, and I added another quilt for each of them each Christmas.

Emmy's first annual quilt

At this point, my daughter isn't too concerned.  They only have a few quilts in their house!  A few years later, they adopted Nathanael, and their quilt load was increased by three each year.....

Nathanael's first annual quilt

But finally at some point my daughter started getting concerned, realizing that by the time they all graduated, there would be upwards of fifty quilts at their house!  To calm her nerves, we gave each of the children a storage cabinet one year so they could put their own quilts away in their rooms, and last year I gave them vacuum storage bags so they could store some under their beds!  

Needless to say, though, I'm not going to stop the tradition.  I try to make each quilt a microcosm of things about the last year in the chid's life.  For example, one year Emmy was VERY dramatic about everything, so I made her this cute Drama Llama quilt....

We discussed it thoroughly, and each llama has a name and a distinct personality!  Nathanael loves penguins, and one year I made this fun quilt for him....

And Lilli has cut through a wide swath of colors, themes and styles, but this is my favorite, I think - one year she requested a dolphin quilt with lots of blue...

One of the special things that I add to each quilt is a label that tells a little bit about the past year and how I see them growing up.  It always begins with "The year you turned (age)...".  

I love to think of their children using these quilts someday and reading about what their parents were like when they were children!  They have been comforters when they were sick, playmats or tents when they were cooped up inside, snugglies on the sofa while watching tv or playing video games - and they should continue that wonderful existence for years to come!

This year I already have plans for all three - Lilli will be getting a chocolate chip cookie quilt, Nathanael a Pokemon quilt, and Emmy, my little artist, is already working on drawings that I will copy onto fabric and put into her quilt.

Do you have any special family traditions that go on year after year?

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First of all, a note - if you happened to read yesterday's blogpost very early in the day, you may have noticed that although I promised two blocks, I only put the instructions for one.  (Oops!)  I've fixed that and so if you missed the instructions for Block C, hop back one day and catch up!

And now it's time to work on the next two blocks for the center of the quilt or wall hanging - Blocks D and E!  These two blocks are identical, so construction should go pretty quickly.

For these two blocks you will need the following pieces:

        10 3.5” sq. white

8 3.5” sq. red/white 9-patch blocks

Lay out the pieces on your work table in stacks of two, as shown below. 

Assemble two nine-patch blocks.  These finished blocks will go to the right and upper left of the top block of the Christmas tree.  You can rotate them as needed to place the white block corner towards the center of the design.

And just like that, you're done for today!  If you are still working on the small 9-patch blocks, hopefully you have some catch-up time now.

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I hope you'll be back tomorrow, when I will be sharing another kid-friendly craft - I know it is because my grands had a ball with it!  It's quick, easy, down-time friendly, and may help you use up some stray (and possibly overflowing) craft items you have stashed away!  We'll also be assembling the next two blocks for our quilt.

Can't wait to see you then!

Sarah