Monday, May 15, 2023

Make-A-List Monday - Almost Beach Time!

 

Hi, all!

It seems like last week just flew by, and yet, when I look at my pictures, I found out that I actually accomplished quite a bit!  Let's take a look at last week's list.....

1.  Quilt a customer quilt.
Done and delivered!  As before, it's a gift so I can't show it all, but here's some peeks...



2.  Write up fabric organization guidelines for church.
Done, and we actually started sorting and cutting last Tuesday.  This is the same technique I've been using at home - pieces of a yard or more on the shelves, with anything smaller cut into half yards, fat quarters, 10" squares, 5" strips and 2.5" strips. It's going to take a lot longer at church, but it will hopefully make it a lot easier to see what we actually have!

3.  Pull together a couple of kits to take on vacation.
This is in progress - I'm thinking I will be making Emily Bailey's scrappy X & Plus block and I've pulled a bunch of 10" squares for that.  

4.  Quilt a donation quilt for Little Lambs of Utah's annual fundraiser.
When I put this on the list, I was anticipating quilting a top I had already made.  But when I tried to figure out how to quilt it, I was stumped!  So I regrouped, pulled out a free pattern and a bunch of fat quarters from my stash, and made this beauty!


All the fabric for the top came from my stash, but I didn't have a piece for the back, so it was off to the store!  Fortunately I found a great match, and I have a plan for the quilting.  Now if I can just get it on the frame in the next few days.....

5.  Pull weeds in the front flower bed.
Done!  My husband, bless him, decided that it would be a good Mother's Day present to help me get those weeds out and he was right!  It looks so much better now, and look what showed up this morning!


I also decided Friday that I was going to start a new habit/routine - cutting and sorting all the scraps that had accumulated on my worktable during the week.  Hopefully this is one I'll be able to keep up!  So I started with this bin (which was actually fuller when I started)...


...did some serious cutting...


...and ended up like this!


I'd sure love to be able to do that every week!

They also gave out the quilts to our high schoolers at church this week.  I was so happy to get a shot of some of their happy faces!


So it really was a productive week, all in all!  This is a short week for me, since we are leaving on vacation Friday, but I do have some things I need to do.  Here's my list for the week...

1.  Quilt the donation quilt.

2.  Quilt some baby tops to add into the box for Little Lambs.

3.  Package and mail prizes from last week.

4.  Pick out some giveaway items for this Sunday.

5.  Finish vacation kits.

I think that's about all I'll have time for, and maybe not even time for that much, but we shall see!

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a picture with you, of Bree surveying her kingdom.  She likes to play "noble dog" and she's really very good at it!


And now, I really need to know - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah


Sunday, May 14, 2023

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge Week 9 - Meet Our Next Guest Blogger, Emily!

 

Hi, all!

Welcome to week 9 of this year's Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge!  The end is coming up fast, and I know you all have been working so hard on your quilts.  I've seen so many beautiful quilts in progress that I know are going to bless so many lives!!  Quilters really are generous people, and you guys are some of the best!



Today we have another guest blogger, Emily of Aunt Em's Quilts.  Emily is also the champion for Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo, and has been part of the Hands2Help Challenge almost from the beginning.  She is a prolific scrap quilter, with both free tutorials and workshops, quilt-alongs, tips and tricks, and even a book teaching how to deal with even the smallest of scraps!  You'll definitely want to check out her post and read it carefully - there's goodies in there for everyone!  Just click on the title of her blog in the first line of this paragraph to go there.

And I promised you all that I would announce the winners for last week's giveaway today...

...and here they are!

Danice G.
Karrin H.
Sherry B.
Susan N.

Congratulations to the winners - I'll try to get these packaged up and in the mail to you sometime this week!  

See you next week with our last guest blogger!  Work hard on those quilts - the finish line draws near!

Hugs!

Sarah

Friday, May 12, 2023

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Lots of Quilting Going On!

 

Hi, all!

Another week has come and gone, and it's Friday once again - and you know what that means!  It's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!

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

I did a good bit of sewing and quilting this week!  It felt really good to get back into the swing of things a bit, although I will admit to a bit of "paralysis of analysis" as I tried to figure out how to quilt a customer quilt.  When I mentioned this to my husband, he said, "Use thread."  How helpful!  But after that, I really buckled down and figured it out.

This is the design I ended up using - lots of curliecue flowers and swirls!


And the binding is all done, too!  I can't show you more because it's a customer quilt, but it's awfully pretty!

Then on Wednesday afternoon I decided to make a new quilt.  I had a free pattern I wanted to try, so I grabbed some of my Kate Spain fat quarters and that white linen I found when cleaning up, and got to cutting!


Thursday was dedicated to assembling the quilt top, and I'm pleased to say it's all finished!


I've still got to find a piece of fabric to back it with - I diligently searched through my stash, but didn't find anything that really worked with it.  Oh well, guess I've got to head to the fabric store tomorrow!

And as you can see, my assistant took her job very seriously!

Now I've got some special quilts to share with you - 

H2H quilts made by folks with no blog, so I have the opportunity to show off their beautiful work right here!


This one is by Ann D. for Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo!




Debra G. did these three for MCC!


Kathy L. is sending this one to MCC also!






And Kathy W. is sending these to Little Lambs of Utah!

As I said, there's a lot of quilting going on!  

So - - - can we all get a whoop whoop?

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

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