Make-A-List Monday - Back to the Real World!

 

Hi, all!

Well, the Twelve Days of Christmas in July are over and it's time to jump back into the real world with both feet!  Things start moving quickly now until the end of the year, and I have a trip to Italy coming up fast - only 29 days from now!  But I've got a lot of stuff to accomplish between now and our departure, so let's take a look at what I've got on my plate this week...

1.  Deliver the two t-shirt quilts I finished last week.

2.  Complete another t-shirt quilt commission.

3.  Quilt and bind three full size quilts for the quilt ministry.

4.  Determine the colors I need for Nathanael's annual quilt.

5.  Pick out the fabrics for Lilli's annual quilt.

6.  Determine the dominant color for Emmy's annual quilt.

Are you sensing a theme here?  I've got commitments I need to fulfill, but once those are done I need to start working on the annual quilts for my grands.  But I wasn't just writing blogposts over the last two weeks - I did get some sewing in!

I finished these two small t-shirt quilts, which will be delivered later this week.  And I conducted an experiment - I've been wondering if I could pack all the clothes I need for Italy in my carry-on bag, which would be a lot easier to cart around.  To that end, I ordered some compression packing cubes - a really neat gadget I hadn't heard of before!  

I took all of these clothes - two dresses, a skirt/dress, seven shirts, two pair of pants, a light sweater, nightgown, underwear, two pair of shoes, and my make-up....

...and fit it all in my carry-on!  Hard to believe it was possible but amazingly enough, it fits and I've even got a little room to spare.  Who knew?  But it makes me feel a lot better about traveling, knowing that my bag will be with me on the plane instead of possibly winging away to other locales.  It will also be much easier when we have to take the train between cities!

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

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Getting Ready for A Sew-Along...

 Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again, and hallelujah - we are finished with this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July!  It was fun while it lasted, but a whole lot of work, so that's one of the things I'm whooping about this week.  But I'm sure you all have things to share too, so let's get started!

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I am grateful for the success of this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July - we had great blog stops, I had a PDF of the quilt to be able to send out when people asked, and I managed to get all of the posts done a few days before each had to run!  But now it's time to get to work on some projects with deadlines so I can start working on the grands' annual quilts!

I did have a really fun day with Lilli on Thursday - we went to see the Barbie movie, then came home and put together 18 kits of the Christmas tree wall hanging for a get together with my sewing sisters at church Saturday!  We took the month of July off from meeting at church - so many people were out of town - and this is our "let's get back to work" treat.

Lilli did a great job of pulling these all together while I finished some of the cutting - she even thought to add a candy cane!  The only thing we forgot?  The one square of brown for the tree trunk!  But I can cut those and add them when I add the pattern, which I still need to print out.

I think I may have a few left over after Saturday's festivities - so be sure to tune in Monday because there may be a giveaway!

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

Day Twelve of the Twelve Days of Christmas in July!

 

Hi, all!

It's finally arrived - the last day of this year's 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!  I hope, like me, you've been wonderfully inspired with great ideas.  Maybe, like me, you've also had a chance to walk down memory lane in your Pinterest or blog feed! I will confess - I even found pictures of an annual quilt I made for Lilli that I had completely forgotten about!  

Today we have a chance to hop over to Karrin's blog, Karrin's Crazy World, as she shares some of the gifts she has been making - there should be lots of inspiration there!  And we've reached the end of our quilt-along and it's time to assemble those blocks - finally!!  

Let's go!

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It's time to put this baby together!  Are you ready?  If you haven't already laid out your blocks, it's time to do that.  

Stitch the blocks together, and you're done!  I know everyone has their own way of assembling a quilt - some do it in rows, some in columns, some in block sections.  I usually take two side-by-side columns, stacking the blocks on top of each other from top to bottom, then take the two stacks to my sewing machine. I will chain piece the pairs together, then sew the cross seams.  Off to the ironing board to press the seams and it goes back up on the wall.  Then it's on to the next pair!  This quilt has an odd number of columns, so I will just sew those blocks together in a strip.  Then I go back and sew the columns together, matching the seams as needed.  To me this feels faster than sewing together one row after another - maybe it's a mental thing, but it works for me!

Your top is now ready for quilting as you desire.  Don't put off that binding, either, unless you've got elves to do it for you!

I can also see this quilt done as a holiday themed quilt for other special days with the chain and/or background in different colors with an appropriately themed design in the center.  For example, imagine it with a heart in the center for Valentine's Day, or a flag or star for 4th of July.  The possibilities are endless!

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I hope you've enjoyed this blog hop quilt-along, and gotten a good jump on this year's Christmas plans! Many, many thanks to everyone who helped this year!!

And if ideas are just running rampant in your head, consider being part of next year's 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop!  I'll be glad to put you on the list and you'll have a whole year to plan (plus you can buy your seasonal supplies after Christmas, when they go on sale!)

Hugs!

Sarah