Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Let The Fun Begin!

 

Hi, all!

Fall, Friday, and fun!  What could be better?  I do love this season - the cooler weather, shorter days, and the colors of fall.  Plus the holidays just around the corner - can you believe that there are only eleven more Fridays until Christmas? (Sorry for those of you who like to live in denial...)  But Friday also 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 busy and productive week in my studio!  First of all, I finished this pretty table runner...

Tons and tons of matchstick quilting on this one, but I love the texture! 

And I had just the perfect piece for the back.  It's even pretty on the back side - the matchstick quilting is fun!

And then I finished Lilli's annual quilt!  I need to share the story behind this one - the top was donated to our quilt ministry, but as a holiday quilt (and king size!) it didn't fit our parameters for the quilts we gift, as we want people to be able to use their quilts year round.  So I bought it from the ministry, thinking I would finish it for one of my own beds.  But my oldest granddaughter spotted it and asked if she could have it for her annual quilt, and of course, I said yes!  But as a king size, it was much too big for her full size bed.  So we made it a bit smaller by removing some of the blocks, and now it's the perfect size.  And the extra blocks will make lovely pillows!

With these two completions, I have finished all my Christmas present sewing, and everything I work on now is for fun!  And that is DEFINITELY worth a whoop whoop!

And here's another thing worth whooping over - I managed to keep my youngest granddaughter's fish alive while they were out of town!  That sounds silly, but I'm always worried I'm going to have to find a look-alike fish if something happens while they are gone. Thankfully, this time all went well, because while it's hard to see, this is a rather distinctive looking fish and I think it would be hard to match!

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

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Finally Finished...

Hi, all!

It's finally Friday!  It's been quite a week, with lots of sewing going on around here - I hope you can say the same!  And Friday means it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on, so let's get started!

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I'm so happy to be able to report that I have finally finished a project I started a couple of months ago...

This was on my scrappy "want to do" list for a while - with intentions of making a whole quilt. Once I got this much done, though, I decided I could live with just this much and be able to say I had done a double wedding ring design!  

I love the Make Life fabrics by Sweetwater - I had a few random fat quarters that I decided to use for this project.  Those text prints are awesome!

I decided, since this was a fairly small piece, to do some pretty intense quilting on it, as you can see from the back.  I did matchstick quilting in the "orange peel" pieces, and small stippling in the large centers.  

I love the way it balances so nicely with the hurricane lanterns!

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 - Taking Time To Breathe!

Hi, all!

Well, after a super busy week two weeks ago, God decided to help me take a little break - a sore back can really slow you down!  But I did get a bunch of stuff done anyway (although not everything I wanted to) so let's see how last week's list went!

1.  Assemble the furniture for the guest room and get it all set up.

Done!  Unfortunately, this was the project that took out my back and made me slow down... But doesn't it look awesome?  I've added a mattress to the top bunk now, and all that remains is to get the other side of the room straightened back up...  😂

2.  Meet with a new t-shirt quilt customer.

Done!  The fabrics are on order for this quilt, so I'll be starting on it next.

3.  Create a design and make the tie table runner.

Done!  I'm so happy with this - and I want to make another with regular fabrics!

4.  Deconstruct the t-shirts for the next commission quilt.

5.  Make the blocks for that quilt.

I didn't get to this one, mainly because the customer wanted to bring me another shirt and I've been waiting for her to deliver it.  So I did something else in the meantime, which I'll show you below!

6.  Spend some time with the grands before they go to the beach next week (without us!)

Done!  We had fun before they left, and they promised to bring us back shells from the beach.  And while they're gone, we get to take care of Mr. Purple...

...and act as chauffeur to our grandpuppy Sassy from her weekend dog sitter to her weekday dog sitter!

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

Done!  This quilt went to a gentleman who had a heart attack and surgery...

..and this one went to a man with prostate cancer.

This quilt went to a woman just diagnosed with breast cancer.

And here's the other project I worked on this week - a simple, quick and fun make!

And here's a heads-up - I'll be posting a tutorial for these cute little pincushions on the blog this Wednesday!  They are so quick and easy, you'll want to make a bunch...

And I pulled all the fabrics for Emmy's annual quilt!  This one's going to take a while to cut out - it has a LOT of pieces!

So all in all, a good week, even though I didn't get to some of my list.  And now that my back is getting back to normal, I shouldn't have any excuses for this week's list...

1.  Write the tutorial for Wednesday's post (and pick a winner for the giveaway from 2 weeks ago!)

2.  Deconstruct one set of t-shirts and make blocks.

3.  Pull the house back together from the last round of home renovations.  Lots of stuff to go to the attic!

4.  Cut out Emmy's annual quilt.

5.  Figure out what to take to a quilt retreat next week (and how to get it there!)

6.  Clean up the studio a bit - it's a mess!

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

Definitely enough to keep me busy and out of trouble!  And I'm sure there's more I need to do, but I can't think of it right now.  Oh well, it's all good!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Introducing Boston Commons by FreeSpirit Fabrics!

Hi, all!

The day has finally arrived - the release of FreeSpirit Fabrics' new line, Boston Commons!  I've been waiting for so long to share this beautiful fabric with you, but first I want to tell you a little bit about the genesis of my projects...

When FreeSpirit contacted me about Boston Commons, they told me that it was inspired by an antique quilt owned by Donna Wilder, who started FreeSpirit Fabrics.  As you may know from my blog, I don't work much in reproduction fabrics, so this was a whole new challenge for me.

I remembered a book that my sister (who loves to haunt antique stores and junk shops) gave me for Christmas a few years ago, and decided to look through it for some inspiration.  And actually, I was amazed at how modern some of those antique quilts looked!  But I found two that really caught my eye...

I love the medallions on this quilt, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for...

And then I found this one!  I knew this would be the perfect way to showcase all of the beautiful fabrics in this line.  And so I got to work with paper and pencil (have I said recently how much I hate quilt math???) and came up with a working pattern inspired by this quilt..

I incorporated the medallion theme from the first quilt into the center of my design, combining the two and using it as the medallion in the center of this quilt.

It reminds me of a bed turning...

"In the distant past, the Quilter would use a 

Bed Turning as a social event.  A lady would

invite several guests over and serve tea and cookies,

then show off the quilts she had made by 

layering several of them on a bed."

...several separate sections that each look like a quilt on their own, turning as they are layered on each other.  This quilt is made up of over 1300 individual pieces, and took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to make - but I love it!  I have a whole new respect for the quilters who created quilts like this without rotary cutters, rulers and templates, computers, calculators, or even electric sewing machines.... it almost killed me, and I had all that stuff!  I originally planned to write a pattern for this quilt, but I did so much "flying by the seat of my pants" I'm not sure I could write a coherent pattern.  Sorry!

I loved the center medallion so much, I decided to use the shape to create coordinating pillows to go with this quilt.

Working with the octagonal shape was new to me, and a lot of fun to play with once I worked out that pesky quilt math!  I also made them reversible...

And remember I told you my sister likes to haunt antique stores?  She found me the cool hand-carved antique wooden buttons I used on the back of the pillows...

...and I found this gorgeous painted coconut button for the front at Joann's - isn't it perfect?

I had a lot of fun with this photo shoot, too!  It's amazing how much vintage stuff I had to use as props.  The chair on the left is a family piece we lovingly call the "boot chair".  We think it dates from Revolutionary War times.  The sofa in the center was used in my great-grandfather's law office way back at the turn of the 20th century.  The smokehouse dates back to the late 1800's, shortly after the Civil War.   The collection of old rusty metal and wood pieces have been hanging on the smokehouse since we bought it!  We didn't have any fall leaves yet, so I had to add my own for color....

But wait - - - there's more!  After I returned to the house, it was time to take some pictures of the table runner I designed using Boston Commons...

As you can see, I echoed the corners of the quilt in this table runner, pairing the fabrics with my favorite Essex linen.  

The colors in this fabric are so gorgeous for fall decorating, and I love the touch of blue!

Lots of straight line quilting on this piece give it awesome texture!

And see - - - that little pop of blue lets me add in my pretty Delft bowl!

Boston Commons should be showing up at your local quilt shop soon - I found it on-line at Hancock's of Paducah, and it's on sale!  (I'm not an affiliate of H-P, just passing on a good deal!)  I hope you'll check it out - its rich, vibrant colors make it ideal for fall projects, and as I've shown, it can be used in both vintage- and modern-looking projects!  

Many thanks, once again, to FreeSpirit Fabrics for allowing me to play with their beautiful fabric!  I feel like I learned a lot with this project, and stretched beyond my self-imposed boundaries too - always a good thing.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Tell me - what would YOU make using this beautiful fabric?

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem...Table Runners!

Hi, all!

After last week's post about pillow covers, it occurred to me that I have made a couple of table runners from scraps - it's another great, quick and simple way to use up scraps from a project and they make fabulous gifts!

This table runner was made with the trimmings from this quilt...

...so it was truly made from scrap - the pieces that would normally have been thrown away.  And yet it's one of my favorite pieces!

And this pretty little runner, made with what I trimmed away from the polaroid blocks in my daughter's birthday quilt, has been a very popular piece - two customers who came to talk to me about t-shirt quilts have ordered one for themselves!  Fortunately, there were a lot of trimmings from the original quilt!

Those are just a couple of examples that I've made, but here are some more that I found on Instagram and Pinterest to inspire you...

I love this use of a modified drunkard's path block!

And how simple is this?  Great for leftover layer cake pieces...

You all should know by now that I love the Charming Stars block pattern - now I need to make some of these table runners!  Maybe it will finally make a dent in that box of Christmas scraps...

And this is such a great idea - a table runner made using a full-size quilt pattern as a starting point!  This is based on Christa Watson's Sealed With a Kiss quilt pattern.  Just imagine - you could make one and use up the scraps from a quilt at the same time!

I love this simple but effective rope pattern - and I have lots of spare HSTs!

And folks, winter may be coming, but fall will be here sooner than you know!  Wouldn't this be a terrific table runner for Thanksgiving?

Table runners are an excellent way to use up things like the wide leftover fabric strips from your quilt back and batting scraps, too.  I bet you're eyeing all those scraps a little differently now - will you have a new runner on your table next week?

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And here's my Gypsy Wife quilt block for this week - this one is called "From The Heart".  I'm really loving how these are turning out, using my Latitude batik scraps from Kate Spain.

I had so much fun today - I was planning to make this block, then cut out kits for the next two blocks to take on vacation with me.  But, rather like potato chips, it's hard to make just one, so I actually made all three blocks - but I'll be sharing them with you one at a time over the next two weeks.

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Now I have a question for you - what is your favorite kind of scrappy sewing?  Do you only use your scraps for quilts, or do you use them for smaller gift or home decor items?  Enquiring minds want to know!

Hugs!

Sarah