Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Not Much To Show.....

 

Hi, all!

It's Friday 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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I have to admit that it's been a weird week around here - Monday and Tuesday had some unusual things scheduled that interfered with quilting time, and then Tuesday night I had some viciously spicy kung pao chicken for supper that had my stomach tied in knots all day Wednesday.  And then Thursday, my grandkids were off from school (teacher workday) so I took advantage of it to spend some quality time with them.  But I do have one thing I'm whooping about this week....

...we finally found someone to replace the old and very rickety stairs that used to be here!  They've needed to be replaced for a couple of years but it's been really hard to find someone willing to do such a small job.  Then a friend suggested a guy who had done good work for him - what a blessing!  Within a week he had come out, given us an estimate, and four days later came out to do the work.  

I've added a solar light cap to the post on the left (next to the wall) and a new doormat.  I also want to hang up my red metal barn quilt on the brick wall, but I need help from my husband to do that.  Maybe this weekend!  I will post an updated picture once all that is done.

And this is kind of silly, but it made me smile when I saw it one morning this week - when I entered my studio I saw what looked like a spotlight on my sewing stool!  It's just the way the light is reflecting off the tree into the window, but it is kind of pretty, isn't it?

So - - - even though it's not much, 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 - It's Getting Hot 'Round Here!

 

Hi, all!

We've had quite a change here since last week, when I was wondering if it was really May due to the 40 degree mornings we were experiencing. This week we will have our first 90 degree day of the year!  Oh well, such is life in Tennessee!  

Last week was a busy one, with much of my time spent working in the yard.  Let's see how the list went!

1.  Work on the front planters.

We made SO much progress with this project!  First up was this back corner, where we pulled out the English ivy that was running rampant.

I put in hostas where the English ivy used to be (after digging out the roots of the plants - whew!) and mulched the whole corner.  Moved some daffodil bulbs so they will be more clustered and less spread out next spring.  Added a bird feeder as a bribe/thank you to the mama bird in the tree for not attacking me while I was working back there!

Then my husband dug the holes so I could plant the boxwoods and crepe myrtles in the long part of the planter, and helped me spread the mulch.  Then he posed to help show it all off!

You can see the plants better here - and there's a new azalea right there in the foreground, too!

All those new plants look tiny now, but I'm hopeful in a year we'll look back on this picture and remark on the size difference!  And just for reference here's what it looked like before we started...

I'm not going to miss those two big bushes at all!

2.  Put binding on the last two graduation quilts.

Done (although I don't have pictures!)

3.  Work out the final details on my design for the 12 Days of Christmas in July quilt-along quilt.

In progress.  I have a design all worked out, but ran into a copyright issue that I'm trying to clear up.  Fingers crossed!

4.  Assemble the blocks I made on vacation into a quilt top.

I didn't get to this, as another project came up (more about that below).

5.   Straighten up the studio and clean up the remains of this spring's projects!

I did get a good bit of the mess cleaned up, although I then messed it up a bit more with another project that I still need to clean up.

6.  Put together one (or maybe two!) non-blogger update posts for H2H.  I've had so many emails with beautiful pictures, it may take two posts just to get them all in!

Thanks to Adobe Spark, I managed to combine many of the pictures into collages so that it ended up being only one post. But so many beautiful quilts!  Quilters are really generous people!

So that's how the list went.  But some things cropped up that weren't on the list this week....

...like this quilting and binding commission...

...and the next set of blocks in my Me Sew Happy quilt - see the large hourglass blocks?  And I've got the pieces cut for the small hourglass blocks too, all ready for finishing.  And a pile of scraps sorted by color to but back in the bins...

And I even did a little bit of cooking, making this great baked feta cheese pasta that's all the rage on TikTok these days.  I've linked a version of the recipe for you, but I also added mozzarella cheese pearls about halfway through the baking time.  Yummy!!  Also, I only had a pint of cherry tomatoes, and a container of feta cheese crumbles instead of a block, but for the two of us, it was just right.  

So a busy week, and a productive one!  Let's see what's on tap for this week now....

1.  Have a baking day with Lilli.

2.  Make the small hourglass blocks for my Me Sew Happy quilt and assemble the top.

3.  Put away the sorted scraps.

4.  Plant some colorful annuals in the front planters.

5.  Start preparing a project for vacation (in one month!)

That's enough to keep me out of trouble, I think!  I'm looking forward to our baking day - we are going to make these decadent looking desserts...

Of course, with my nearly-professional-baker granddaughter, we won't be using pre-packaged cookie dough and a brownie mix - she'll make them from scratch!  I can't wait to see how they turn out...

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Baby Steps...

 

Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again, and that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Then let's get started!

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It's been a week filled with finishes, near-finishes, beginnings, and ongoing results.  First, a near-finish...

This t-shirt quilt top is finished and just waiting for the backing to arrive!

And then a finish....

Our new shower door was finally installed!  We've been trying to do this since the end of December, and after a multitude of problems, it's finally done.  Now at least I don't have to worry about getting stuck in the shower when the door won't open.... 

And now for the beginnings!  My youngest granddaughter has a birthday coming up while we are on vacation, and since we will be together at the beach, I started this...

Her very own mermaid tail!  The child swims like a fish, and is fairly certain that all she needs in life is a mermaid tail to be happy.  So of course, Nana will provide!

And finally, and best of all, as of the writing of this post, 215 people, from 45 states, 6 Canadian provinces, and the continent of Australia, have signed up for this year's Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge! And that is AMAZING!!  But wait - you say you haven't signed up yet?  Why not?  Jump over to the Hands2Help 2021 page (up under my blog header picture) and fill out the form contained in the post.  Do it before Saturday afternoon and you'll be in the drawing for the signup giveaway, too!  But if you miss that deadline, don't think all is lost - you can still sign up and participate after that, all the way up to the end. And there's giveaway goodies for the finishers, too!w

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 - 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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Things Are Looking Up!

Hi, all!

It seems like forever since last Friday, but guess what?  It's rolled around again, and it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

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This week has been dedicated to getting things in order at our new home.  Granted, I've been doing that while battling a cold - why do we always seem to get colds at the most inopportune times? But I have made some headway in the process.

First off, I moved some furniture around up in my sewing studio...

...and now I have seating areas for me and all the kids (or guests if anyone wants to come sew with me) and a space cleared out for Jolene, my long arm machine.  Hopefully Jolene will come home this weekend!

We have had a ridiculous amount of rain this week, which has caused some pretty significant flooding - so significant that they have closed school early one day and kept it closed the next.  My eldest granddaughter wanted to earn some spending money for a field trip, so I offered to pay her to help me do some things around the house.  As you can see, she really got into it, helping me re-assemble my large Kallax shelves...

She's pretty proud of herself, and she should be!  It was hard work getting those back together, and it weighs a ton - but together we pulled it all together and got it in place. She's a good hard worker!

Then she got to do what she called the fun part - unpacking my fabric and organizing it on the shelves by color.  She fussed at me because I had too much pink (how in the world can you have granddaughters and have too much pink?) and it's maybe not exactly how I would organize the fabric, but it's possible that having it arranged differently will bring new pieces and new possibilities to the forefront!  There's still lots to do in the studio, but it is starting to come together - I can't wait to get to work in it!

Downstairs, we ordered some new barstools for the counter, and I put them together.  I love Amazon!  I really like these stools, and they are super comfortable.  They're also much more our style than the ones the former owners left behind.

I've also started putting up pictures, which really helps the place feel more like home.  There are still lots more to be put up, but it's nice to have it started!

And although she's not very happy about it, I took our border collie Fly to a new groomer this week, who de-skunkified her, brushed her out and cleaned her up - she looks GORGEOUS!!  I was so impressed that they actually brushed her instead of just going immediately to shaving her, which is what has happened with other groomers in the past.  Hopefully now that she's older, she won't be quite so "nippy" when I brush her, and we can keep her well-groomed!

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!

(Sorry if the link-up isn't there - I'm working on getting it reinstated!)

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Moving Day Has Come And Gone...

Hi, all!

Sorry for the silence this week, but I'm back again with something to whoop about!  Good thing, too, since it's Friday and time for us to get our whoop whoop on, right?  So let's get started!

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Well, this was moving week, and we are finally sleeping in our new home!  Tuesday dawned bright and early (ok, well it was actually rainy but it felt bright!) and I got something I've been wishing for for years...

I got minions!!!

And after a full day of moving stuff out of one house and into another, I did have a bed set up and ready to sleep in...

...but the rest of the house was a hot mess!

The living room was a repository for rugs we hadn't laid out yet...

The family room was set up, sort of, but we weren't really happy with it.

We decided we didn't like the piano facing this way, but we were too tired to move it.  The dining room was full of chairs and tables and miscellaneous stuff.

And the kitchen? Well, you can see just what a hot mess it was!

Now let me introduce you to my favorite minion - my daughter Nancy!  She came over on Wednesday determined to whip my place into shape, and she did a great job!  We moved the piano as you can see, and I like it much better this way...

We moved the family room around, took out some things and laid the rug down.  It's so nice and cozy now!

We got the breakfast nook pulled together, although I still need to do some work in here...

These pieces will go in the foyer, but I really need to do something to make it a little more interesting.  

We also set up the dining room on Wednesday...

...and I made some final tweaks to the bedroom before we went to bed.  Whew!  Long day, but a lot accomplished - although the kitchen was still a hot mess!!

Thursday Nancy came over again, and we jumped right into the kitchen...

...and now it's great!  I even cooked supper in here Thursday night, which hasn't happened for a while.  It felt good to be back in the kitchen!

Nancy and I also moved these bookcases up to my quilt studio.  They came out of my grandfather's law office, so there's a lot of sentimental value to them.  Still, I should probably give them a coat of paint!

After Nancy went home, I found a great place to stash the suitcases, above the closet organizer shelves!

I also decided to move the dining room around a little bit, and I think this layout looks much better and more open.  I'll be changing the light fixture to something a little more vintage looking soon!

So that's a quick tour around the first floor of our new house - hopefully by next week I'll have pictures of the upstairs in a similar state!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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

And now it's your turn!

What's making you whoop 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 midnight Sunday.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah