Make-A-List Monday - Joining the Conversation!

Hi, all!

Wow, it's been an eventful week since last Monday!  If you didn't see this post by Rachel over at Stitched in Color, I highly recommend that you give it a read.  In light of so many recent changes in the quilting industry lately, it will certainly make you think!  I mentioned it in my Whoop Whoop Friday blogpost and received a lot of very thoughtful comments as a result.  I'm hoping to take those and also the comments on Rachel's post and study them carefully, looking to see what people like (and don't like!) about blogs and blogging.  So take a few minutes and join in the conversation!

But there's lots of other things going on here - like the stuff from last week's list!  Let's see how that went...

1.  Finish the second t-shirt commission quilt.

Woohoo!!!  Done Done Done!!!

2.  Meet with a customer about two more t-shirt quilts.

Done!  The T-shirts are stashed away, the plans are made, and the background fabrics are ordered.

3.  Work on a set of placemats (more commission work).

In progress!  These are ready for quilting, as the result of a lot of work today!

4.  Work on a rocker cushion and pillow (more commission work!)

Done and delivered!  I really love the way these turned out, and hopefully I can get a picture of them on the rocker they were made for soon!

I'm also really excited about the back of that pillow - being too lazy to drag out the sewing machine that does buttonholes, I had the idea to use a man's shirt (with placket) to make the back of the pillow!  It worked great, and took just a fraction of the time it would have taken to construct my own placket and stitch the buttonholes!

5.  Work on blocks to finish a quilt started by a ministry member who died recently.  This quilt will go back to her husband.

In progress!  I have finished some of the blocks needed, but this is an ongoing project as I fit it in between other projects...

6.  Brainstorm and test ideas for an upcoming (secret) project! 

So exciting!

There's a whole lot of brainstorming going on here - and let's just say I did some jumping up and down and squealing when I saw this in my driveway today...

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

Fortunately, it was a quiet week with no quilt requests.  Good thing, too, because Grace (our BlockRockIt) decided to have an "internal sensor error" and had to be shipped back to The Grace Company for some R&R.  Keep her in your prayers, please?

So it was a good, productive week last week!  There's still lots to do, though, so let's see what's on tap for this week...

1.  Finish the placemats.

2.  Test a pattern for the secret project.

3.  Keep hunting for inspiration and ideas for that secret project!

4.  Finish the blocks for the ministry member's quilt.

5.  Start deconstructing t-shirts for the next two commission quilts.

6.  If time permits, quilt one last H2H quilt for Covered in Love!

7.  Review the comments on Rachel's blogpost.

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

Definitely more than enough to keep me busy!  Additionally, I've made a personal pledge to be better about leaving comments on blogs I visit and also to visit all the folks who link up for Whoop Whoop Friday, so that's keeping me super busy!  But it feels good to be back in conversation with so many of you - I've missed it!  I hope you'll join me in this effort...

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts...

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Fairies Welcome Here!

Hi, all!

Here it is, Friday again, and you know what that means - it's time to get our whoop whoop on!!  I hope you've had a productive summer, and have lots to show off today - but first I've got something I want to share with you...

I read a very thought-provoking post written by Rachel at Stitched in Color called Where Have All The Blogs Gone?  I would encourage everyone to read this article, too (you can just click on the title above to be taken there) and join in the conversation.  As a result of what I read, I'm going to challenge myself to find time to read more blogposts, and to comment on them too!  I've been lax about that lately - checking out posts via email, but not taking the time to comment on them - and that's not the blogger I want to be.  I think the blogging community is so important as a place to learn and share, and community only thrives if we are talking to each other!   Will you join me in this challenge?  One thing to remember - it seems like there are so many more "no-reply" commenters lately, probably due to changes in Blogger - if you leave a comment on a blog, you might want to leave your email address also so the blogger can respond to your comment!

OK, enough of that - let's move on to the important stuff - whooping it up!!

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This week I finished up another t-shirt quilt!  It seems like I'm doing a lot of these lately, but they do pay the bills, so keep 'em coming!

The lady who commissioned this quilt wanted photographs of her mom added to the usual mix of t-shirts, and I grouped those around a center larger t-shirt.

Sorry for the blurry picture!

She gave me a couple of shirts, too, and I added motifs from one to the left side and a cute pocket from the other to the right side.  The pocket remains usable, so you could tuck a Kleenex, a book, or a little bag of chocolates in there!  So handy!

The background fabric is Kona Banana, and the binding is a great blue and yellow stripe called Minion Stripe.  It was the perfect combination for this quilt, because the back is Kona Blue Jay!

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You can see the quilting pretty well on the back - lots of straight line quilting and stitch-in-the-ditch to secure everything down.  Simple and effective!

But wait - that's not all I did this week!  Thursday my eldest granddaughter Lilli and I created a fairy garden in the stump of the old oak tree that fell down in my yard last year....

Isn't it cute?  Lovely soft Irish moss for the ground cover, and some wooden disks for the ground in front of the little houses...

...a tiny little bench and some small plants to finish it off!  I wanted some violas, but they aren't out in the stores right now.  Maybe I can find some later!

And this is the view from my studio window now - I just love it!  I've been looking at that stump for a while thinking it was the perfect place for a fairy garden - turns out I was right!

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 the 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

Linking up with Myra's Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts....