So as I approached 100, I really wanted to have an epic "I just finished this awesome quilt I started in 2003" kind of post... but that's just not what life had in mind for me at the moment. I have been doing some sewing, which is so good for my sanity.
What I'm Working On
So I am working on that quilt from 2003. It's my ALYoF goal for September, and I have another week. This worries me. It might mean that I quilt more simply than I think I'd like to, just to knock it into the completed column. At the moment I'm piecing the backing. There's been a lot more thinking about making progress than actual progress being made so far this month. I look forward to showing it off when it's done.
I've started a couple new quilts. Yes. I know. I'm crazy. I have a WIP list as long as my arm. But I saw these cute Little Letters sew along from the Temecula Quilt Co. when I surfed onto Tanya Quilts in CO and I just couldn't resist. I've been organizing my stash and I have 1 1/2" strips which I'm not convinced that I'm excited about using in general, so I was glad that this project would use some of them up. I've decided to make two quilts, 'cause why not. One is in a brights color way and the other is in blues and greens. I'm using the same American Made Brands solid gray background for both. They are putting out two letters a week. It's nice to be caught up and seems feasible to be able to keep on schedule with the sew along.
I also started my Memory Houses!! I was inspired by Jo and her Memory Cats, a reminder of her past quilts by creating blocks using her scraps from each finished quilt project. When I saw her Memory Cats a few months back I thought it was a wonderful idea, and I knew I had scraps from many of my quilts since I'd been organizing my stash. So I went to work grouping my scraps from each project and looking for the missing pieces. (The only quilt I have no scraps from is this one from 2005.) In the last week I made the final decision that I would use solid white for my background and got to work. I've finished two blocks. They are 6 1/2" square.
I'm working in order (for now), so this first one represents my very first quilt.
And this cute little two-story house (and tree!) are from my second quilt. I'm quite excited that the next house block in the queue is for the duck quilt. And I'm already liking the variety of the houses in my little neighborhood. They are taking a while to complete since I am making it up as I go. (And that second one has thirty pieces!)
The Blog
I've known I was "all in" on this blogging thing for quite some time now. I'm having a great time and it's helping me stay motivated with my projects. As for updates to the blog, I've mostly been thinking about what I want to change. Like creating new social media buttons and creating finished quilts pages. All in good time. And likely not before 2015.
I use WordPress and have been very pleased with the free themes and plugins available to make my blog do what I want it to do. I'm also inspired to get back to learning some coding so I can customize my WordPress theme. In honor of my 100th blog post, I've made a donation to Tiny Forge theme creator, Tomas Mackevicius. I appreciate the work he's done on creating the theme that I've been happily using for the past 8 months.
I also really appreciate all my readers. Thank you for being here and for making this fun.
I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday.
brandy
i love seeing what you do. i wish i had the 'stick-with-it-ness' to do anything like this/these. Great creativity as well. !!
sarah
Post authorThank you so much, Brandy. You are so sweet.
Jo
I love the two storey house! Your houses are going to be soon fun since you've been quilting for a while -- across the fabric/styles change so it will make it really interesting! I need to catch up on my cats but I've almost lost steam with it at the moment since I'm so near to the end (I've got 3 to make, and then three empty spots to fill so I'm more focused on those empty spots at the moment!)
sarah
Post authorThank you. It was a great inspiration to see your new cats appear. The funniest thing to me about my first quilts is that I really don't love pink... and both the first and second quilts were pink. Looking forward to more houses that aren't pink. ;-)
Jasmine
Congrats on your 100th post. Your memory houses are a great idea. And the letters are super cute. I have been writing them down in my new graph paper notebook so I can make it sometime. :)
sarah
Post authorThanks, Jasmine. I kinda feel like I'm just making these cute little letters and then they will magically be a completed quilt top at the end.
Casandra
I love your memory houses! You've inspired me to dig into my scraps for a walk down memory lane!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Casandra. It was fun working through the mystery of remembering all the quilts I've made. I might not have a picture of one that I gave as a gift many years ago (before digital photos), which is a bummer, but I do have the scraps from that one to make a house. :-)
Bo
Congratulations on your 100th blog!!! The displayed quilts are beautiful. Love all that purple since I am a purple fan!! Clever idea to use up your scraps the way you have.
sarah
Post authorThanks, Bo!
Tomas M.
Hi, Sarah,
thank you very much for your generous donation! As a creator of the theme I'm always very happy when theme finds good home :)
If you want to get back to coding, wait a bit for the Tiny Forge II, it will bring much more (and less at the same time) to the table!
sarah
Post authorThanks for the heads up, and for stopping by!