Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Drama Llamas!!

Hi, all!

Can you believe it - it's not only Friday, but it's the last Friday before Christmas!  How time flies when you are having fun!!  And since it's Friday, that means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on, so let's get started...

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Today it's time to reveal the last of my grandkids' annual quilts - this one is for Emmalyn, and I call it "Drama Llamas"!

Emmalyn has been very much a Drama Llama this year, so much so that we have a saying "No Drama Llamas at Nana's"!  So it only seemed appropriate that she should have some drama llamas on her annual quilt!  Want to meet the crew?

This is Aquabella!  She may look blue, but she loves purple because only truly bold llamas wear purple - and she is definitely bold!

Next up is Princess Buttercup.  She's a huge fan of romantic comedies, farm boys, and pirates!

Pinkie Tuscadero is next in line.  She comes across as hard-boiled, but she has a soft and generous heart.  She's fond of '57 Chevys and Buddy Holly!

Meet Bonnie Blue!  She has a kind and child-like heart, loves horses and ice cream.

And last but not least, here is Lady Greensleeves!  Spring is her favorite season, of course, as the leaves come out and the flowers start to bloom.  

The background fabric is full of drama too - a rainbow of tiny triangles for Emmy, whose favorite color is "rainbow"!!  

And how about a bright, bold backing for my bright, bold granddaughter!

The pattern for this quilt is by Sew Fresh Quilts, who carries a lot of pieced animal designs.  Check her out!

So now all the annual quilts are finished and documents, just in time for Christmas.  

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 beside 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 - Making Progress!

Hi, all!

Wow, has it been a week!  We're back to scorching temperatures here in Tennessee again, so there's plenty of time for sewing, thankfully!  I am so. ready. for. fall - how about you?  Well, until it gets here, let's see how last week's list went...

1.  Quilt the baby quilt.

Done, and delivered!

2.  Quilt a vintage top for a customer.

Also done and delivered!

3.  Make progress on each of the annual quilts.

Definitely progress made!  Five drama llamas are complete...

...the moody blues quilt is making great strides...

...penguins are on parade...

...and I found a great back for this quilt today!

4.  Make progress on the Birch Bark quilt.

Progress made!  I have finished assembling one half of the quilt top - this piece is 60" x 100"!  I'll be working on the next half soon.

5.  Make progress on the three My Small World quilts. 

(Yes, I've lost my mind!)

Done!  I've made more blocks than these, but I'll share those on Wednesday...

Blues for Lilli...

Rainbow and fussy cut for Emmy...

And, of course, greens for Nathanael!

6.  Start working on the t-shirt commission quilt if the customer returns the deconstructed t-shirts.

And this is why I got so much done this week - she still hasn't brought the deconstructed shirts back to me!

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

Done!  Not so many this week...

This quilt went to a woman just diagnosed with stage 3 cancer...

...and this one went to a gentleman injured in an ATV accident.

I also, in a complete state of lunacy, decided to jump into the Pine Hollow Patchwork Forest Quilt Along, hosted by Amy of Diary of a Quilter!  Here's the fabric I've pulled for my version...

So as you can see, it was a busy and productive week!  I kind of like the "make progress" directive I put on my board last week - it seems to be less oppressive and a lot more fun!

And here's what I have on my plate for this week...

1.  Make progress on the annual quilts - just Emmy's and Lilli's this week, though.

2.  Make progress on the My Small World quilts.

3.  Make progress on the Birch Bark quilt.

4.  Make progress on the Pine Hollow Patchwork Forest Quilt Along! (In the future, to be referred to as the Patchwork Forest Q/A to save my poor fingers!)

5.  Make some flannel receiving blankets for a local NICU.

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

So another busy week on tap, but at least I won't be tempted to spend too much time outside - at least until it cools off this weekend.  And I'm having so much fun "making progress"!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little Drama Never Hurt Anyone...

Hi, all!

Well, it may not feel like fall yet, but it definitely feels like Friday - and you 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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Fall means that it's time to start working on the annual quilts for the grandkids, and this week I began working on Emmy's quilt.  Now you have to know this about Emmy - she is a TOTAL drama queen.  Everything is an opportunity for a dramatic moment.  She's cute, so she gets away with it - most of the time.  But we have a saying around our house - "No drama, llama!"  Usually just saying that will get her back on the right track...usually.  So when I saw Lorna's adorable llama pattern (thanks to Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life!) I knew this would make the perfect quilt for E!

This week I cut out all the pieces (68 per llama, and I'm making five of them!)  I started to put it away to work on another project, but I wanted to see how they would go together, so I dropped everything else and started sewing.

OK, that was easy!  Doesn't look much like a llama yet, but let's move on to the next step.

Oh my!  There she is - or at least, I can see her peeking out at me!  And she definitely looks dramatic.... (And I will say, for the record, that Lorna's Sew Fresh Quilts patterns are fabulously easy, even though they look intricate.  Definitely check them out, especially if you are paper-piecing challenged, like me!  They are all traditionally pieced.)

And so I am very happy to introduce you to April Greensleeves, the first in our little band of drama llamas!  April likes Outlander (the books AND the series), lazy mornings in bed, long walks on the beach, snickerdoodle cookies, and knowing what everyone is doing at every moment.  

I can't wait to see what all her buddies have to reveal about their own personalities!  April tells me she's ready for her close-up...

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 "drama llama" 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

I May Have a Scrap Problem... But Not A Stash Problem!

Hi, all!

It occurred to me this week that (a) it is only slightly more than four months until Christmas (!!!!) and (b) I had not yet thought about what I was doing for my grandkids' annual quilts this year (!!!!!!!!).  For those of you who may not know, I make each of my three grandkids a quilt for Christmas that reflects in some way what they were like or what they liked that year, with a fun label that tells a little bit about them, their likes, and sometimes something funny they did that year.  It serves as kind of a yearbook for them, and I love the thought of their own kids reading the labels someday and learning about their parents when they were little. 

So - time to get to work!  Emmy was the easiest - at seven, she is a total drama queen this year.  

I had seen Wendy's wonderful "drama llama" and knew that it would make a wonderful quilt!  Off to Sew Fresh Quilts with her fabulous selection of pieced animal quilts, and I picked up the pattern.  Then I went to the stash, and pulled these fabrics...

...which are ever so much prettier and "dramatic" in person!  This is going to be a fun quilt to make, once I get through the detailed cutting instructions.  

Nathanael's quilt took a bit more research.  He always loves the color green, but he has several green quilts, so I wanted to do something a little bit different.  Then I remembered Penguin...

...Nathanael's best buddy!  He carries Penguin with him almost everywhere, and I've had to sew his flippers on several times.  So I started looking for a pieced penguin pattern.  As luck would have it, Elizabeth Hartman had an adorable version, and my stash yielded loads of cute penguin body fabrics!

I guess it pays to hoard black and white fabrics for years and years!

Lilli was a little bit more of a conundrum.  She's in her moody tween stage and doesn't seem to like much of anything lately - this picture is pretty indicative of her mood lately....

But - - - she still likes the color blue, and I still like to make her quilts, so I started looking for a pattern that would work with fabrics I had on hand.  I looked through my Pinterest boards, and didn't see anything that sparked my fancy - and then I remembered my Wedge Play Workshop book by Christina Cameli!  There are a bunch of quilts I want to make in that book, and while I didn't settle on the one I remembered when I thought of the book, I did find one that I loved....

...AND I found beautiful fabrics (after many many changes in the pull) to make it with!  I had originally settled on a slightly different array, but when my daughter realized it was for Lilli, she suggested removing the purples (apparently Lilli is NOT fond of purple these days) and adding back in a couple of prints I had pulled out.  I'm happy with this pull and think it will be a fun and beautiful quilt!

So - no scrappy sewing, but I am at least playing in my stash and preparing to use up fabric!  What have you been working on this week?  Are you also getting into Christmas mode?

Hugs!

Sarah