I May Have A Scrap Problem... But I'm Working On It!

Hi, all!

I am excited to tell you that I finished my first quilt top in the new house (with a LOT of help from my friends!) and it is a scrappy beauty!

It's a traditional signature block (5" squares with 2.5" snowball corners on the diagonals) and isn't that border great?  It's amazing what you can find when you dig through stash!  This quilt came together last Saturday morning when the quilt ministry ladies met as we cranked out the signature blocks right and left.  I drew the task of assembling the blocks into a top and adding the border, and Rita will do the quilting at church Wednesday night.  It's going to be given to a special person as a quilt-y hug and I love that it is the first top to be assembled in our new home.  Hopefully it presages lots of scrappy sewing in the future!

And now here's some eye candy / inspiration for you!

Isn't this lovely?  There's something about a green quilt that just makes me feel happy.  And wow, what a scrap-buster!

And for those of you who prefer a warmer palette, how about this red top?  

This looks like such a fabulous scrap-buster - it could be done in many different sizes of background squares, depending on whether you wanted a smaller quilt or a really large one!

I think it's the colors in this quilt that speaks me, but it is a great scrappy design, too.  What a great way to use up tale ends of yardage and that occasional stray charm pack!

And here's an ultimate up-cycle quilt - made of squares cut from plaid men's shirts.  There's a huge amount of fabric in an XL men's shirt  - and on half price days at Goodwill, they're an absolute steal!  (That is, if you don't have a husband who has w-a-a-a-y too many shirts already...)

And now, in honor of Valentine's Day....

How about some totally adorable scrappy hearts?  I particularly love the gray backgrounds!

And while this quilt would probably require yardage for the background, you could make it using just one charm pack that's lying around in your stash somewhere!

And last but certainly not least, isn't this lovely?  It just makes me smile.  Once I find my scraps again, I really want to make one of these for myself!

So now you have a mission - go forth and conquer those scraps!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - New House, New Start!

Hi, all!

Rumors of my disappearance being totally inaccurate, I am actually alive and well despite my minimal presence here on the blog over the last two weeks.  And I've missed it!  Now that I feel like I can finally keep my head above water, it's time to get back into the regular swing of things.

Since I haven't done a list in a couple of weeks, here's a recap of the  ministry quilts we've given away recently...

All of these quilts went to people dealing with serious medical issues and are giving quilt-y hugs as we speak!

Now for this week's list:

1.  Work on organizing/setting up the quilt studio.

2.  Hang up pictures.

3.  Organize the bedroom closet.

4.  Finish a quilt top for a special event at church.

5.  Write blogposts for the "Charmed, I'm Sure" tutorial series.

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

So much to do!  And not nearly enough time to play with fabric - but that will come.  Until then, I'll try to fit in a little fabric play every day.

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

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?

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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