Make-A-List Monday - Light At The End of That Tunnel!

Hi, all!

Monday is here once again (and thankfully my time sense is back on straight so I KNOW it's Monday!) and that means it's time for a little list-making!  But first let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Quilt the three memory quilts.

Done!  I'm so glad to have these finished! 

2.  Ship my friend's quilts to her.

Done!  She's already received them and sent me a picture of one of them on the bed!

3.  Finish piecing the hockey quilt.

Not finished, but progress made...

4.  Start repairing and re-assembling the vintage quilt top.

Again, not finished, but ready to be re-assembled!

5.  Pack up the three memory quilts for shipping.

Packed up and shipped! They should arrive at their 

forever home on Thursday.  

A good week, yes?  And I have almost finished with all my commission obligations, too.  Once that vintage top is repaired and quilted, I will not have any more commissions and won't be taking any more until at least next year.  I've decided I want to make up some of the projects I've had sitting around for fear too long!  It's exciting - now I just have to decide which comes first....

So here's my list for this week...

1.  Re-assemble the vintage top and add a border.

2.  Quilt and bind that vintage top.

3.  Quilt a quilt that will be a farewell gift for someone at church.

4.  Keep piecing the hockey quilt.

5.  Bind two ministry quilts.

I'm going to leave it at that this week, in hopes of getting everything on this list finished.  And then I can play!!!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Finishes and Near-Finishes!

 

Hi, all!

It's been a fast week, but guess what?  It's Friday!  And that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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It's been a good and productive week around here!  When the world goes crazy, sometimes sewing is the only way to deal with it - and that's good for productivity.

Tuesday I quilted this beauty, and put the binding on too!

Wednesday morning it joined this beauty in a great big box and went to UPS!  It's winging its way to Florida and my friend as we speak!

And Thursday was a big day, too, as I finished quilting all three of these memory quilts!  Binding should happen on Friday, with any luck.

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 - Phil, Where Are You?

 

Hi, all!

Welcome to a brand new week!  Here's hoping my sew-jo has come back (I'm not sure yet, but keeping my fingers crossed!) and it will be more productive than the last one.  So let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Quilt at least three quilt ministry quilts, then bind and wash.

I didn't quilt any, but I did bind and wash seven quilts for the quilt ministry...

With the addition of these quilts, we have a sufficient amount of quilts on hand for immediate needs that we can slow down a bit on quilting.  Hooray!

2.  Complete at least one memory quilt top.

Done!  I am really liking this design, and look forward to finishing the other two.

3.  Cut out at least one annual quilt.

Done!  I finished cutting out Emmy's quilt (man, that unicorn has a lot of little pieces!)

4.  Begin planning repairs on a vintage top.

I didn't get to this one...

5.  Quilt a top for a patient friend.

...or to this one.  Come back, sew-jo!!

So I did manage to get some things done, but still left a lot of work on the table.  Which should make this week's list a little easier to compose!  Here's what I'm working on this week...

1.  Have a friend over for a long arm "teaching day".

2.  Cut out another annual quilt.

3.  Start working on the second memory quilt.

4.  Begin planning repairs on a vintage top.

5.  Quilt a top for a patient friend.

I'm going to leave it at that, and hope it doesn't scare my sew-jo back into hiding.  Maybe I should call it Phil (as in Punxatawney Phil) since it seems to hide every time it sees its shadow!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Two Big Finishes!

 

Hi, all!

Here it is, Friday again!  How the weeks do fly by - can you believe it's already the last day of April?  But Fridays are special, because it means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on - are you ready?  Let's go!

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If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen progress shots of these two quilts, but yesterday saw the completion of both and they were shipped off to their owner!

This first quilt is a puzzle style t-shirt quilt, with memorabilia from both her own past and that of her two daughters.

For example, this cute little mermaid once graced a pillow in one daughter's bedroom!

I don't know the story behind it, but this is apparently a favorite shirt!

As you can see, there's a pair of these cute reindeer shirts - one from each daughter.  What a fun way to keep these memories!

And in the corner is the pocket from her fourth grade bowling shirt.  Yes, it's still functional - a perfect spot to stash a cell phone or some M&Ms!

The backing of the quilt is made of some favorite curtains - not what I would have chosen, but she loved the curtains and had to replace them so this was a good way to save the memories!

And now the second quilt....

My customer asked for a memory quilt made of her old golf shirts and gear, but wanted something a little different, softer and a little more feminine.  I immediately thought of a pattern from the book my husband gave me for Valentine's Day, Modern Memory Quilts, and I'm happy to say the quilt is a success!

A few of the hexies had to be cut as whole pieces and appliquéd to the appropriate half-hexie pair, such as this "golfaholic" t-shirt.

How cool is it to have a sweater from the birthplace of golf, St. Andrew's Golf Course in Scotland?

There are even pieces from hats on this shirt.  They were appliquéd onto blank blocks after being deconstructed.

Once again those favorite curtains served as the backing material! I love the wavy edge of a hexagon quilt, and was glad I was able to leave it in place while binding.

And both these quilts are currently making their way to my customer.  Hooray!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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

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 - Back In The Real World!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a few weeks since I did a Make-A-List Monday post - but don't think I've been slacking off!  OK, well, I did slack off a little bit during vacation, but I had fun sewing on things I *wanted* to work on rather on things I *needed* to work on.  First up was this Plaidish quilt...

...which I finished while on vacation. That was a fun bit of sewing and I will definitely be making more of these!  Then I worked on the reindeer blocks that eventually ended up in this top...

Isn't it adorable?  This is a Christmas gift for a friend, but I have to set it aside for a while to work on some commission pieces.  Speaking of which, I finished one of the commission tops this week...

I'm super happy with the way this turned out - I had to do some quick changes to the design because I miscalculated the size originally - based my measurements on 14" blocks instead of the 12" blocks I made.  But it all worked out in the end!  Can't do any more for a while though - my other fabrics (the backing for this one and the two colors for the top of the second one) are all on back order.  COVID-19 is messing up my sewing life - we need our fabric from China!

And today I started working on the pieces for Nathanael's annual quilt.  These are the greenery pieces - vines, ferns, and cycads!  I wanted to start on a dinosaur but I decided I was a little too tired to do all the cutting required to start, so I'll work on that tomorrow.

And look what my husband installed for me today!  These are two curtain rods that I bought at IKEA years ago - I decided the they would be perfect to hang my flimsies on until I had a chance to quilt them.  As you can see in the foreground, I used to use my quilt frame - but this is MUCH nicer!  

So what's on my radar for this week?  It's hard getting back in the swing of "normal" but I'm trying - here's what I 'm hoping to get to.

1.  Keep working on the dinosaur quilt blocks.

2.  Check my other fabric sources to see if I can find the commission quilt fabrics in stock anywhere.

3.  Work on organization in the studio (work in the new stuff from my friend.)

4.  Cut out another Plaid-ish quilt.

5.  Take some recent donations to church and drop them off.

Seems like a skinny list but it's hard to get motivated, isn't it?  Maybe I can get motivated about finishing up the studio organization, though - I kind of quit once I got it good enough so I could sew, and it's silly to still have things that aren't unpacked!  

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Wishin' and Hopin'...

 

Hi, all!

Monday, Monday... the start of a new week and a new list of tasks!  I had a busy week last week but didn't even look at my list after I wrote it, so I have no idea if I met any of those goals... so let's find out!

1.  Make a plan and write estimates for two new customer quilts.

Done!  The customer liked the idea and the price, so I'm good to go this week.  Here's a pic of what I have planned...

The white areas will be for t-shirts and memory fabrics.

2.  Finish the castle block for the Harry Potter quilt.

I not only finished the castle block, I finished all of the blocks!

3.  Start cutting out the dinosaur quilt blocks.

Cut out, kitted up and ready to go on vacation!

4.  Spend some one-on-one time with Emmy and Nathanael.  (School starts Thursday!)

Done!  They are so much fun, and growing up so fast!

5.  Assemble a new a birdbath and install it in the planter.

Done!  Isn't it pretty? (And just look at that stinker of a squirrel!)

6.  Start working on one of the customer quilts.

Not started, because I didn't get the go-ahead from my customer in time.  So there's something for this week!

7.  Do yoga or tai chi exercises at least three times this week.

Completely forgot about this one.  That's what happens when I don't look at my list!

But wait - - - that's not all I did this week!  This morning I went to our old house and met a contractor, who put in the columns at the right and left of the juliet balcony.  Apparently prospective buyers were freaked out by the fact that it just hung up there, despite the fact that it's been on there for over 50 years!

I also weeded the front flower beds and put out fresh mulch...

...and put some pretty (silk) flowers in the planters on either side of the front door (because I can't kill silk!).  A brand new welcome mat sure does brighten up the entrance!

I also weeded and re-mulched the planter by the walkway to the front door.  I think it all looks much better now!  

And that explains the title of today's post - we are wishing and hoping for just-the-right person to come and see our house and love it!  We've had lots of showings, and we're hoping that the addition of the staged photos will generate some new interest and maybe some second looks from people who are interested.  Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer!

OK, so now it's time for a new list.  Here's what I'm hoping to get to this week...

1.  Deconstruct clothing items for the two customer quilts.

2.  Start building the blocks for those quilts.

3.  Set up additional lighting in the quilt room.

4.  Deal with the stack of scrappy leftovers that are cluttering up the sewing table!

5.  Plant some autumn bulbs in the front planter at the new house.

6.  Put the Harry Potter blocks together into a quilt top.

7.  Make a list of necessary (sewing) items for vacation (so I don't forget something important - like the power cord for my sewing machine!)

Certainly enough to keep me out of trouble, and who knows what else I'll get done?  Stuff always comes up, doesn't it?  

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Productivity Rocks!

Hi, all!

Mondays just seem to keep showing up, don't they?  But I feel like I had a very productive week last week, so it was a good week.  And Monday gives us a new start, which is always a good thing.  Let's see how last week went!

One of the first things on my list was to work on cutting out Lilli's Harry Potter quilt.  I'm happy to say that I have finally finished cutting out all the blocks...

...and I made all of the paper-pieced rooftops for the castle block.  Oh, how I hate to paper piece - but they are all done now, and it seems I have gotten over being intimidated by the process!

I finished the customer t-shirt quilt, and wrote the blogpost for it (it posted last Friday).

I also finished this quilt, which was a commission job for the quilting and binding.  I have quilted this lady's quilts for four of her grandchildren now!  She tells me she's ready to quilt making t-shirt quilts and make a "real quilt". Can't wait to see what she comes up with!

And remember how I was planning to spend some one-on-one time with the grandkids?  Lilli had her day Thursday, and while I was looking for something simple for us to do together, I saw my Plaid-ish pattern and thought we could pull the squares for that.  We plowed through my stash of 5" squares and pulled more than enough for the quilt and had a lot of fun doing it. The next day I cut all those 5" squares to the proper size for the quilt and kitted it up to save for vacation.  And it didn't make even a dent in my 5" square drawer!

Also this week, on the still-unsold-home front, my realtor asked if I could do something about this overgrown plant in front of the house...

...so today after I picked Lilli up at school (her orientation to distance learning), we went over and dealt with the jungle.  It looks a lot better now!

Also on the still-unsold-home front, I have something really cool to show you!  Here's the current photo of our bedroom that is on our MLS listing...

...and here's a photo of the room after staging.  The neat part?  There's still no furniture in the room - this is all virtual staging!  It is amazing what they can do with computers these days.  I would never have guessed that it wasn't a photo of real furniture in place.

And I learned a valuable lesson today - if I sew long enough and late enough, my husband will cook dinner!  This was a pleasant surprise when I came downstairs this afternoon...

...so I may have to give it a try again in the future!  I mean, is there any sight better than someone else cooking dinner in your kitchen?

Ok, so last week was a successful and productive week.  Let's hope this week goes as well!  Here's what I've got on my radar...

1.  Make a plan and write estimates for two new customer quilts.

2.  Finish the castle block for the Harry Potter quilt.

3.  Start cutting out the dinosaur quilt blocks.

4.  Spend some one-on-one time with Emmy and Nathanael.  (School starts Thursday!)

5.  Assemble a new a birdbath and install it in the planter.

6.  Start working on one of the customer quilts.

7.  Do yoga or tai chi exercises at least three times this week.

Definitely enough to keep me busy for the week!  If I have extra time, I'll keep working on the Harry Potter blocks - I'm really worried about making a mistake or having not cut something correctly, and being on vacation without something I need!  

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

Hugs!

Sarah