Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That...

 

Hi, all!

Friday is upon us once again, and we all 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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With the sun finally making an appearance this week, and warmer temperatures with it, I had to split my time between quilting and yard work.  Let's start with the quilting!

These two quilts bring us within just a few quilts of our big project goal - just a few more to do in the next week or so!  Both of these have been bound, washed and dried and are ready to go on the shelf with the others.  

In between doing those two quilts, I did some serious weeding and cleaning in my back flower bed....

...and two huge bags of trash later, I now have a nice clean flower bed!

I used to have a huge butterfly bush in this planter, but it didn't survive our weird winter, so I pulled it out.  It's not in this picture, but I planted a pretty japanese maple that I'm hoping will do well there.  It's listed for full sun, so it should.  We shall see!  I've also started spreading mulch, but my back will only take so much of hefting the large bags, so it's slow going.  

The day after I got the bed cleaned out, I treated myself to a trip to the local plant nursery and raided their perennials section!  I got more butterfly bush starters, candy tuft, yarrow, bee balm, delphinium, columbine, a peony, and a small rosebush.  

All those plants, except for the butterfly bush starters, have been planted in these pots, which I picked up on a 75% off sale last fall.  (Ignore the random red plastic pot - I'm not sure why it was there!)  I ordered some plant stands to raise them up to different heights.  

And I bought new bird feeders!!  I'm happy to say the birds appear to be appreciative, too.  These are a beautiful design - a scrollwork canister to hold the seeds, and a solar top so at night, they light up!  

I'll try to get some better pictures of the whole setup when I finish it this weekend, but I'm so happy with it!  

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 - Distractions!

Hi, all!

It's Monday, it's spring, and I have been so distracted!! Actually, last week was pretty loaded up with outside appointments and other various emergencies (nothing major!) and I didn't get a lot done on my list.  The rainy weather would have been good for sewing, but alas, I spent a lot of my days last week running around.  

So let's take a look at that list...

1.  Keep working on ministry quilts.

I got this one quilted and have two more ready to go on the frame.

2.  Quilt a customer quilt.

I didn't get to this one yet.

3.  Work on clearing out a planter in the yard. (It's spring, y'all!)

I did work on this yesterday and today - some of the first warm sunny days we've had in a week!  The planter is cleaned out and ready for new mulch and maybe a plant or two.  This flowerbed also holds my bird feeders, so I usually like to put in plants that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds.  Unfortunately, my butterfly bushes didn't survive the winter this year!  So I'll be looking for replacements...

It sure felt good to get rid of two big bags of weeds and dead bush, though!  This poor flower bed was neglected last year when I was sick, so it's long past due for a clean-out!

4.  Keep plugging through the last of the fabric organizing.

I'm still working on this, but it's getting better!

5.  Make the back for the hexie quilt.

I found a huge piece of linen I had left over from a Pottery Barn duvet I picked up on a great sale.  It's easily big enough for the back, but I haven't had a chance to do any spray basting because I have a table loaded up with fabric that needs cutting in the middle of the floor!

Oh, and I did make a poundcake!  I've been trying to replicate my grandmother's pound cake recipe for years - a tough task because she used 4X powdered sugar in hers, and I can't find it anywhere!  I used 6X powdered sugar for this one (found it on Amazon) and it's close - now I just need to work on fine tuning it.  But my family wasn't complaining!

And here's my list for this week....

1.  Finish up the cleaned out planter (while the sunshine is with us)!

2.  Quilt the customer quilt.

3.  Quilt ministry quilts.

4.  Keep working on the fabric re-organization.

I guess it's a case of "second verse, same as the first"!  But whatever works, right?  I'm going to have to work on the work/reward system - do something I have to do, then allow myself to do something I want to do.  It's what got me through the weeding and clearing out today!  So tomorrow morning I will treat myself with a trip to the local plant nursery, then it will be back to work again!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge Week #4 - Meet our Next Guest Blogger, Kat!!

 

Hi, all!

Hello and welcome back to the fourth week of the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge!  I hope you're having fun working on your quilts - our first check-in will be next Sunday, and you can show off your progress then.  More about that later!

Today we are welcoming guest blogger Kat (yes, another Kat!) who blogs over at Diary of a Madkapquilter.  She does her creating in British Columbia, Canada, and has a fun and chatty blog - I think you'll enjoy reading it!  Take a look at this beautiful quilt she made...

She tells me she has a fun new technique for making lots of 4-patch blocks with fewer cuts and seams - sounds like a winner to me!!!  I'm heading over there right now, and I hope you do too.  This is her first guest blog post, so show her some love in the comments!  Just click the name of her blog in the previous paragraph to be taken to her post.

And be sure to stop back by here next week - there will be a link-up so you can show off your progress on your H2H quilts, a link to another guest blogger, and our first giveaway!!  If you've been thinking about signing up, but haven't yet, be sure to do so - this giveaway will only be open to participants in the Challenge.  (Just FYI, we already have 158 participants - isn't that amazing?)  If you still need to sign up, just click HERE and you will find the post with the sign up form.  You will also find the charities for this year there!

Hugs!

Sarah