Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? There's No Place Like Home

Hi, all!

Wow, Friday has arrived with a bang, hasn't it?  And now that it's here, it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on.  Let's get started!

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After being in this house for more than five weeks. I am happy to say that I'm starting to get settled into my new sewing space!  Lilli came over on Thursday and helped me by putting up my collection of mini quilts and other various wall art....

I really wish I had taken a better picture of her helping me with this task - she looked beautiful today!  It was picture day at school and she straightened her gorgeous long blond hair - it made her look very much like the young woman she is rapidly becoming.  But enough of that - take a look at what she did today!

I had almost forgotten that bottom mini - she found it in a box and wanted to hang it up.  I'm glad she did!

And I didn't just sit around while she was decorating...

My vintage machines are in their place!

My fabric storage is coming together...

And just in case you didn't know, hello, a quilter lives here!

As you can see, I've been busy busy busy unpacking boxes!  This is all the boxes I unpacked this week.  You'd think I'd be done, but no... I have a LOT of stuff!

Finally, here's an overview of the lower, "working" part of my new space...

Please excuse the mess - it's still a work in progress - but it does finally feel like home!

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 -

Hi, all!

Wow, is it Monday already?  This week absolutely flew by - but it's time to take stock of what got done, and see what's up next!  So let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Finish hanging pictures at the new house, and haul any that didn't make the cut up to the attic.

I am happy to say that all the pictures are hung!  AND I put the leftovers in the attic, so there are no more piles of random pictures laying around.  Hooray!

2.  Work on the quilt and tutorial for this coming Sunday's Charmed I'm Sure post.

I am SO thankful for good quilty friends who come through even before you need them!  Jan of The Colorful Fabriholic bailed me out this week with a great tutorial - you can read all about it here!

3.  Try to get all the remaining quilt studio boxes upstairs and unpacked!

Nope.  I did get a bunch of boxes up there, but there are still more out in the garage.  Who knew I had so much stuff!

4.  Update the blog Page about Hands2Help 2020.

Finally done!!! The new schedule is up, and also the list of this year's charities.  It's gonna be great! You can read all about it (and sign up) right here!

5.  Mount and frame some pictures for my husband.

Done - but of course, I forgot to take a picture!

6.  Take Fly to be groomed again.

Done - and wow, she looks great!

7.  VOTE!

Done!  I love our new polling place - I was in and out in under ten minutes!

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

No quilts given away this week, partly as a result of the tornado. We didn't have activities at church this week, which kind of mixed things up.  But we will be working on quilts for tornado survivors, to be distributed directly or through Quilts of Compassion.

I really feel like I've made headway on the house this week - there aren't any little piles of pictures laying around anywhere downstairs, and everything except my studio is pulled together upstairs.  Good thing, too, because we will be hosting Easter at our house this year...nothing like a deadline to spur you to action!

So here's what's on the horizon for this week...

1.  Clean up at the old house to get it ready to go on the market.

2.  Finish the final charm square quilt top and tutorial.

3.  Get those quilt room boxes upstairs!

4.  Load a quilt on the frame and give Jolene a trial run.

5.  Email potential Hands2Help sponsors.

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

I feel kind of like I've lost my list-making-get-it-done mojo a little bit - my focus is spread all over the place, between two houses, unpacking the studio, H2H and quilt projects.  But it will come back, I'm sure!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Life Is Getting Back To Normal!

Hi, all!

Well, a week has passed and Monday has rolled around again - a fresh week and a new start!  Let week was busy but things are finally starting to come together around here and I'm beginning to feel a little less stressed out.  Hooray!

So let's see how last week went...

1.  Work on the design for this week's Charmed, I'm Sure quilt.

Done!  Last week's quilt took some creative finagling, and ended up being a two-for-one tutorial!  You can check it out here...

2.  Start painting at the old house.

Thanks to a series of propitious events (you can read the story here) I finally got MINIONS!  And those minions came and started painting my house for me today!!  

3.  Finish clearing out the storage unit.

Done!  So glad to have this finished...

4.  Haul more boxes up to my quilt studio and unpack them.

Still a work in progress but it's getting better!  The grandkids have taken to calling my quilt studio "The Playroom" (they love to play up there!) so I started charging them rent - they have to carry up a box each before they can go play up there! And my wonderful husband is repaying my bringing in his book boxes by taking a box up every time he comes in from the garage. I've been trying to unpack them as they come up, so it's staying fairly neat up there.  More to do this week, though!

5.  Haul a bunch of stuff to Goodwill - things that were donated at church that we can't use.

Done!  And the guys at my new neighborhood Goodwill are much friendlier than the ones at the other house!

6.  Plan a fun Friday evening for the grandkids while my daughter and son-in-law are at a home schooling conference.

We had a blast!  We made individual pizzas, and my youngest granddaughter, who is a confirmed carb-a-holic, discovered that pepperoni is DELICIOUS!  I know this because she told me over and over, and didn't even eat the crust of her pizza because she was so busy eating all the pepperoni in the house....

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

Done!  This quilt went to a man who is having a double knee replacement this week...

...and this quilt went to a person going through some medical issues.

So a good week all in all, and it's starting to feel a little more normal around here.  Hooray for normal!!  This week should be busy, but I think it will be more "finishing" than "plugging away".  Here's what's on tap for the week...

1.  Finish hanging pictures at the new house, and haul any that didn't make the cut up to the attic.

2.  Work on the quilt and tutorial for this coming Sunday's Charmed I'm Sure post.

3.  Try to get all the remaining quilt studio boxes upstairs and unpacked!

4.  Update the blog Page about Hands2Help 2020.

5.  Mount and frame some pictures for my husband.

6.  Take Fly to be groomed again.

7.  VOTE!

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

I feel like I'm forgetting something important, but who knows?  I'm sure everything necessary will get done.  I just found out that we will be hosting the family Easter lunch this year (hooray!) so that gives me a deadline to get the house in order (double hooray!).  Am I the only one that works best on a deadline?

And speaking of deadlines, for those of you who have been emailing me to find out if I was still going to do Hands2Help this year, yes!  The move has put me really off schedule, but I realized that the schedule we've gone by in the past is purely arbitrary, so I'll just be starting (and ending) it later than usual.  I hope to get a new schedule posted this week, and will announce the start date in Sunday's Charmed, I'm Sure post.  Thanks for being patient, and for checking in - it's wonderful to know that people look forward to it!

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

Hugs!

Sarah                                                                                                    

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Time Is A Gift...

Hi, all!

Here we are at the end of the week once again - Friday has arrived and it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

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It has been quite a week around here - it started off with finally getting the carpet laid in the office....

Now, that may seem like a funny thing to whoop about, but the first time the carpet guys came was way back on January 30th - and it took three trips and three weeks to get the right piece of carpet to finish this room!  But it's finally finished, and now my husband is a happy camper.

And because the office is finished, I was able to do this....

Once again, it doesn't look like much, but that, folks, is an empty storage unit!  And before the end of the month, so I didn't have to pay another month's rent!  Actually, my husband had a good bit to do with it being empty. I filled up my car twice with boxes one afternoon and took them to the new house, and was planning to get the rest of it (the heavy boxes) the next morning, but my husband stopped by with his pickup truck that evening on the way home and picked up most of the rest of the boxes!  I just had to go get the six boxes he couldn't cram into his truck - one short, quick, and fairly light trip, and it was done.  

Other things have been happening around here, too, such as beds being made (finally)...

... and pictures making it on to the walls...

But here's the very best thing that happened to me this week.  Remember the carpet story from the beginning?  Well, after three weeks and three visits by the carpet installers, we got to know each other well.  I say well, but apparently not too well, because for some reason I was really nice to the lead installer despite the frustrations of mistaken measurements (not by him) and the wrong stuff being ordered (once again not by him).  If you knew me, you'd know that is totally out of character, as I am usually a hothead (just ask the lady at the credit card company that wouldn't change my address for me today just because I couldn't put my husband on the phone to verify that it was ok!)  OK, so now you know more about me thank you probably need to.  But as the installer was finishing up, we were talking and he mentioned that he was hoping to buy a boat soon.  Amazingly enough, I have a boat to sell!

Well, the young man didn't have a lot of cash, but he did have skills that he was willing to barter (in addition to some cash), and now I no longer have an appointment with lots and lots of these...

...as he agreed to do all the painting needed at the old house as part of the deal!  He got a great deal on a boat, and I got a whole lot of time back!

And that, my friends, totally deserves 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 - Better Late Than Never!

Hi, all!

I am more than a little bit behind this week, it appears - since it's Tuesday night and I'm watching This Is Us while I write this blogpost!  But it's been a good week - in addition to working on my list, we FINALLY got the carpet done in my husband's office (third time is the charm, apparently!) and we found some floor in the garage.

So let's take a look at last week's list....

1.  Finish getting Jolene and her frame set up and connected.

Done!  It's so nice to have her back where she belongs!

2.  Continue hanging pictures at the new house.

Coming right along!  Here's just a sample of what I've been doing...

3.  Do a quick sweep/vacuum at the old house.

Dust bunnies evicted!

4.  Start on wall repairs at the old house.

Started, but still a ways to go!  I did get all the nails pulled, the holes spackled, and all the cracks repaired.  Next step is to sand those down and start painting!

5.  Work on the next tutorial/quilt for Charmed, I'm Sure!

Done!  You can find the tutorial for this quilt by clicking here...

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

Done!  We did give away a few quilts this week...

Occasionally one of our staff members request a quilt where they are unable to share the name of the recipient or the reason they need one.  We take it on faith that it's a legitimate request.  This quilt went to one of those recipients, and it's a beauty - it will definitely give a powerful quilt-y hug!

And I love the story behind this quilt - one of our church members is loving on a young woman who is expecting a little boy, and has literally nothing for her baby.  She is throwing a baby shower for her, and asked if we could provide a quilt for the new baby.  Of course we can!

So that was last week!  Busy as usual, and no end in sight.  Let's see what this week looks like...

1.  Work on the design for this week's Charmed, I'm Sure quilt.

2.  Start painting at the old house.

3.  Finish clearing out the storage unit.

4.  Haul more boxes up to my quilt studio and unpack them.

5.  Haul a bunch of stuff to Goodwill - things that were donated at church that we can't use.

6.  Plan a fun Friday evening for the grandkids while my daughter and son-in-law are at a home schooling conference.

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

Short list this week, but I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed.  I really miss my sewing time! But it will be back sometime, hopefully soon.  In the meantime, it will be good to get all our stuff under our roof, and close up the storage unit.  That's something I know I can finish this week!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Guess Who's Back?

Hi, all!

Monday, Monday, can't trust that day... did you ever wonder why you couldn't trust Monday?  I actually like Monday and the fresh start it gives us!  And today's was especially fun, as the grandkids were out of school and I got to spend time with them.  I'm going to like living closer!

But enough about that - let's see how last week's list went.  (Please bear in mind that I had a wicked cold most of last week that is just now vacating the premises...)

1.  Work on organizing/setting up the quilt studio.
It's getting there!  I've had some excellent help from my eldest granddaughter...



...who not only helped me put this Kallax unit together, but then unpacked boxes and organized my fabric by color on it!

This week my husband and I went back to the house to rescue Jolene and her frame...





We packed her carefully into the truck and brought her to the new house.  I'm sure my husband thinks I'm a little obsessive over her, as careful as I was making him be while taking her frame apart!



And this afternoon, Lilli and I decided to put the pieces back together.  (She informed me she called dibs on the electric drill!)  This girl isn't afraid of much of anything, and she did a great job re-assembling the frame.  We did have some stops and starts, when we forgot a step and got ahead of ourselves, but eventually...



...the frame was back together!  Then my husband came home and helped me get it level (always a tricky procedure) and then...



Jolene is back!!!  I've still got to put the front bars on, but I decided I could do that tomorrow - it was time for a little pizza!  I'm happy to say that my IKEA wire shelves fit underneath the frame now, and I've almost decided what I want to fill them with.  
More on that soon!

2.  Hang up pictures.
No pics yet, but I did get started on this one, plus I took several pieces to Hobby Lobby for framing.  We have so much great art, it's fun to have new ways to display it!  I'll share some pictures soon.

3.  Organize the bedroom closet.
Unfortunately, this one was a victim of that bad cold I had.  I just didn't get to it!

4.  Finish a quilt top for a special event at church.
Done!  No full pictures yet, but here's one showing that I put the binding on!

5.  Write blogposts for the "Charmed, I'm Sure" tutorial series.
Started!  The first tutorial in the series posted this past Sunday, linking to a great tutorial by the fabulous Amy of Diary of a Quilter for this pretty quilt...

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

Done!  This quilt went to a young woman dealing with serious unexplained pain issues...

...and this quilt went to a young girl just diagnosed with bone cancer.

And finally, this quilt went to an elderly woman dealing with issues following heart valve surgery.

So not too bad, all in all, although I wish I could have gotten much more done!  This week, I really need to kick it into overdrive and get to work on the old house, getting it ready to go on the market.  So here's my list for this week...

1.  Finish getting Jolene and her frame set up and connected.

2.  Continue hanging pictures at the new house.

3.  Do a quick sweep/vacuum at the old house.

4.  Start on wall repairs at the old house.

5.  Work on the next tutorial/quilt for Charmed, I'm Sure!

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

Sounds like a short list, but I really need to get to work on the old house!  Plenty there to keep me busy for a couple of weeks...

And since most of my sewing is being enjoyed vicariously these days, I want to show you a picture sent to me by Heather. She used my Supernova pattern to create this beautiful quilt, adding to the size to make it a full twin size.  She used reclaimed fabrics, such as curtains, sheets, shirts, and a tablecloth to make this. And can you believe it was just her second quilt? AMAZING!!

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

Hugs!

Sarah