What's Cookin' At The Sweatshop?

Hi, all!

It has been a great week at The Sweatshop!!  We had our monthly meeting last Saturday, and had eighteen ladies working on learning how to make t-shirt quilts!  We made a good start, and plan to meet again on the 23rd to finish our tops.  It was a great time of fun learning and fellowship!!

We've also given away a few quilts this week...

The front...

...and the back.

This pretty quilt front was pieced by Brooke and Heather; I put the back together using leftover blocks they pieced.  It went to a young couple who just lost a baby, and is already being put to good use providing some comfort and a reminder of prayers that are being said for them.

We also made a couple of baby quilts for babies that are due in February...

These will be delivered as soon as those little bundles of joy arrive!

We've also received some wonderful donations...

These came from Kim...

And these came from Dana...

Maia sent these pretties...

Terri sent these red fabrics in honor
of Valentine's Day!

And Mina sent these!

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

Last week, when I mentioned that we would be helping a young woman make bags for foster kids to carry their belongings in when they move from home to home, many of you requested more information on the bags so you could help.  You all are amazing!!  I am always humbled by how generous the quilting/blogging community is.  I have prepared a tutorial for this bag...

...but since this post is pretty long already, if you will leave a request for the tutorial in a comment, I will gladly e-mail you the pdf file.  It's really a pretty simple bag, but it holds a lot!

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

Oh, and one more thing - we received another hand block this week for the Helping Hands Project!!

This one came from Mina!

I am loving how individual each block is - it's fun to see the personalities of each block creator!  I hope you'll send in a block for the project, if you've ever made a donation to the quilt ministry, or made a quilt for the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  We have given away 444 quilts so far - looks like we'll hit the 500 mark in June or so!  If you want to know more about the project, you can click the tab at the top of my blog.

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

Well, that's about all for this week - thanks again to all of you who help make this ministry possible!!  We couldn't do it without you!!

Hugs!

Sarah

NOTE:  Juliana, I'd love to send you the tutorial but you are a no-reply blogger.  You can email me directly at salliesue at clearwire dot net!

Make-A-List Monday -

Hi, all!

Wow, last week went by quickly!!  Seems like just a short while ago that I made that monstrous list of things to do... but nope, I checked, and it's been seven days!  I know lots of you have had to deal with lots and lots of snow - hopefully you are all well, warm, and safe.  You've been in my thoughts - sometimes just a little jealous, since we seldom get snow here in my neck of the woods - but I'll settle for our 50 degree weather this week!

Well, enough of that - let's see how I did on last week's list...

1.  Quilt the commission quilt.

Done!  This was fun, even the second time!

2.  Finish the pillow cover.

Done!  I love the way this turned out...

3.  Make the messenger bag.

Not finished, but I'm happy to say that the inside and the flap are assembled, and the outside is ready to be sewn up.  

Woohoo for progress!!

4.  Work on setting up an Etsy shop.

Working on it - but it's complicated, plus I've got to get some stock made up before I open up!  Hope to do that this week...

5.  Work on some spec quilts for the shop.

I did finish one...

...but I'm only going to show you a peek at the quilting right now!  I had a lot of fun doing this - a great design I saw somewhere on the web, but can't remember where - if you know, please tell me!

6.  Make a computer sleeve for a friend.

In progress - it's all cut out, just waiting to be sewn together tomorrow morning!  I've got an extra cut out, too, so I can add it to the shop inventory...

7.  Mail the Leap Year Traveling Stash.

Done!  And Karyn says it arrived just before the storm, so she held on to it to paw over while snowed in!

8.  Work on scrappy trips blocks.

Not a one!  That quilt is looking a lot farther in the future...

9.  Take care of any ministry needs that arise.

Done!  I quilted this baby quilt...

...and made this back...

...for this pretty quilt...

...and quilted this cheery child's quilt!

(I'll share more about these quilts on Wednesday.)

10.  Work with a friend on bags for 

a local foster child ministry. 

(I'll share more about this project soon)

Done!  Here's the bag I've come up with...

...and I'm working on a tutorial for 

those of you who offered to help make bags.  

I should have that ready for Wednesday's blog post too!

Whew!  I feel a lot better about last week's progress now that I see it all in writing - I felt like I was spinning my wheels a lot last week, but apparently I really was getting something done!  Here's what's on my list for this week...

1.  Write a tutorial for the foster kids bag.

2.  Finish the messenger bag.

3.  Finish the computer sleeve, and make one for the shop, too!

4.  Finish getting the Etsy shop set up.

5.  Do two quilt book reviews and write a blogpost.

6.  Take care of any quilt ministry needs that come up.

7.  Put together two more storage cubbies for The Sweatshop.

8.  Make some pin cushions for the shop.

OK - that's enough for one week!  Especially since I've decided to clean up the house for the hubs for Valentine's Day...  no one coming over, just for him!  He won't believe it - the last time I did it, he asked me if my evil twin was planning to stay for a while!  I have the world's greatest hubby - he puts up with a whole lot to let me do my thing quilting and working with the quilt ministry.  I'm a lucky girl!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little Fun Sewing...

Hi, all!

It's Friday again - are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  It's been a busy week, and a lot of fun - both on the sewing front and the granddaughter front!  So here's what I've got to share...

First of all, Shannon hosted a SuperSewing Twitter party Sunday night during the Super Bowl - and I worked on some small projects while watching the game.  This pillow is one of the projects I started Sunday and finished on Monday...

Isn't it pretty?  

I like the quilting too - curvy organic lines that echo the curves in the piecing.  The background fabric is a gorgeous piece of rough-textured Irish linen that was in my grandmother's stash.

And I also finished the second commissioned baby quilt...

Don't you just love my little model?

She wasn't smiling much, but at least she sat there!

I love this pic that shows the texture of the quilting..

Of course, it was much more fun when big sister Lilli joined in the party too!!

So that's what I'm whooping about this week!!

&^&^&^&^&^&^&

And now it's your turn!

What are you dancing a happy dance about today?

What made the sun shine a little brighter

in your neck of the woods?

Share with us!  We want to dance along with you!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight - 

So be there or be square!!

Hugs!

Sarah