Monday, August 5, 2013

Make-A-List Monday - So much to do!!


Hi, all!

Do you ever feel like you're jumping into something with both feet and wondering if you'll sink or swim?  I'm having those thoughts today but I think it's all going to work out!  But before I tell you more about that, let's see how I did on last week's list...


1.  Bind the batik quilt.
Done!  You can see more here, but here's a shot...


2.  Quilt a quilt for a young man in our church.
Done!  Debora pieced this one, and I like the way it turned out...

3.  Quilt a woman's quilt for the ministry.
Fortunately, the other long armer in our group had a quilt started that it is perfect for the need.  No pics yet, though!

4.  Quilt a man's quilt for the ministry.
Done and delivered!  I'm particularly fond of this quilt, pieced by my friend Debora - this is my own design!  It's nice to see it made up again...


5.  Quilt at least two quilts for Rogersville.
I actually managed to quilt three and took them to church for others to do the binding on.  No pics yet, though - I forgot!!

6.  Finish up the guest room for my niece's visit!
It's getting there - I got the wire curtain rods put up and started the panels that will hang there and create the closet doors.  I still need to put in dowels and hem those panels but that will be quick.  There are still pictures to hang and a few things to relocate, but other than that, it's basically done!

So I did okay on last week's list.  In addition to those things, I cut out the flag quilt that I'm making in exchange for some "handyman work", including all fifty stars!  Betsy Ross was lucky there were only thirteen states when she made the first one....

Now here's what I meant about jumping into something with both feet - my daughter and I have decided to join forces and participate in a local craft show at the end of October!  She's going to be making baked goods and food gifts, and I'm going to making up more of the same type of stuff I've already got in the Etsy shop.  We'll also go in together to make some mug rugs and mugs with cocoa mix and homemade marshmallows. 

I've probably lost my mind - this is all on top of working with my sewing sisters to make quilts for our middle schoolers to take to Rogersville, TN in early October.  

If I haven't told you before, our middle schoolers make three trips a year to work with a very impoverished group of folks in Rogersville.  They do things like home repair and teaching Bible camp, and have been doing this for three years now.  The people they serve are so poor, some of them don't have electricity or indoor plumbing.  Quilts will be much appreciated and well used!  Most of the ladies in the group are working on making tops, leaving Debbie, our other long-armer, and me to quilt them.  I'm setting a goal of quilting one per day, or at least five per week, until we run out of tops or get a seriously enormous pile of them done!  I'm then taking them back to church for others in the group to do the binding.

So - - - here's my (mildly psychotic) list for the week...

1.  Make a ministry quilt for a little boy.

2.  Applique the stars to the blue field of the flag quilt.

3.  Create a plan of what to make for the craft show.

4.  Make at least five items for the show.

5.  Quilt at least five quilts for Rogersville.

6.  Finish the guest room.

7.  Take care of any other ministry needs that arise.

That's my list and I'm sticking to it!!   

And on top of all that, I've decided to try out a new diet - it's called the Fast diet, or the 5:2 diet - you "fast" two days a week, eating only 500 calories over two meals on the fast days, and the rest of the week you can eat what you want - my kind of diet!  I've read and heard only good things about it, so I'm willing to give it a try.  Keep your fingers crossed that it works - tomorrow will be my first fasting day.  DH is joining in with me - because misery loves company!  And at least it looks like I'll be too busy to worry about eating!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Friday, August 2, 2013

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little FMQ...


Hi, all!

It's Friday again, and you know what that means - it's time to get your whoop whoop on!!  Since I shared the directions last week, I'm sure you know how to do the happy dance, so now all you need to do is show us what made you do it!!

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Some of you may be tired of seeing this quilt, so I promise this will be the last time - but I just want to show you some more pictures in better light!!


This pretty quilt was made from blocks donated by Laura.  She sent the batik blocks, and I added the gray sashing, borders, and yellow cornerstones.  I also did some fun free-motion quilting on this one!


Feathers in the borders and sashing...



Pebbling in the white areas of the blocks...





And this is my favorite block - I love that yellow sun!


I dragged out a pretty piece of IKEA fabric for the back...


Look at all that great texture!!

It was such a pleasure to work with Laura's beautiful blocks - they were so well made that they quilted like a dream!!  
Thanks again, Laura!

I learned some things with this quilt, too.  If I want the free motion quilting to really shine after the quilt is washed, I should prewash my batting and maybe my fabrics too.  Shrinkage took a lot of the "crisp" out of the design.  It's still pretty, and it has lots of texture, but it's not as easy to see all the work that went into this one.  So - - - think ahead to how something will be quilted before starting!

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And now it's your turn!!

What's made you dance the happy dance this week?

Share with us so we can dance along!!

After all, it's much more fun to dance with friends!!


Hope to see you there!!  The party stays open until 
Sunday at midnight!

Hugs!

Sarah

Oh, and by the way, I've got one more huge whoop whoop - did you notice the Followers count up there in the left sidebar?  I finally topped 900!!  And you know what that means - a giveaway soon!!! Whoop whoop!!!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Make-A-List Monday - Still Plenty To Do!


Hi, all!

I hope you all are enjoying the same fabulous weather we are - it's been in the 70s here and low humidity - unheard of in Middle Tennessee in late July!!  Usually we're in the 90s and it feels like you're walking in hot soup when you go outside....  But despite the beautiful weather, I have managed to get some things done on my list!  So let's see how I did...


1.  Quilt two women's quilts for the ministry.
Done!  Both of these have been delivered to their new owners...




2.  Quilt a friend's quilt top.
Done!  She brought us the center piece of this quilt, which was pieced by a family member, and asked us to create a quilt top for her.  I really like the way this came out - and the back has her signature "bees" on it!





3.  Sash the batik top on the design wall.
Done!  I finished the sashing...


...and then we had a need come up for it.  So I spent the last three days doing a custom quilt job on this - feathers in the borders and sashing surrounded by microstippling, a medium random meander in the batik backgrounds of each block, and pebbles in the white.  Whew!  It took forever, but I really like the way it came out!!





4.  Finish sorting through the eight boxes of donations that came while we were out of town!
Done!  They're all put away at church and some of them are even being made into quilts already!

5.  Quilt two quilts for the Rogersville mission trip.
I didn't get to this one, because of the custom quilt job.

6.  Find a pattern for a flag quilt - a young man in our church offered yard and house work in exchange for a quilt - 
what a deal!
Done!  Turns out he really just wants an exact replica of a US flag - and I found the correct proportions on line.  Now to find the fabric!

7.  Friday night sewing with my sewing sisters!
Done!  We had about a dozen ladies there, and we got a lot done!


I also finished a quilt that a lady who comes to our church on occasion asked us to finish for her.  Someone gave her this beautiful hand-pieced scrappy top - it wasn't completed - some blocks were lacking centers, and it was not yet squared off.  I took off the unfinished blocks and added a few in some of the gaps on the borders to make it a complete rectangle.  Quilted it up, rounded the blocks on the sides, and learned how to bind curved edges!  I love the way this came out...




Whew!  A very busy week, even though I didn't get everything on the original list done.  So let's see what's on tap for this week...

1.  Bind the batik quilt.

2.  Quilt a quilt for a young man in our church.

3.  Quilt a woman's quilt for the ministry.

4.  Quilt a man's quilt for the ministry.

5.  Quilt at least two quilts for Rogersville.

6.  Finish up the guest room for my niece's visit!

Tomorrow I get to go to a fabric warehouse with a friend - my first time!  We'll be looking for fabric for the quilt ministry - she can get the wholesale price, so it's a great deal for us.  I'm excited!!  Then I have Lilli and Emmy on Wednesday, and also for a sleepover on Friday night (so their parents can have a "real" date!) Busy week but it's all good!

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

Hugs!

Sarah