Sally's Angelworks

Whatcha workin' on this week?

A few weeks ago, Mr Gorgeous and I moved the furniture around in our bedroom. It was the first time in 15 years that we've moved this bed! And if you know us, that's just weird. We move our furniture pretty much every 6 months. It's cheaper than a whole new house!!

After we moved the furniture, I reminded Mr Gorgeous that we want to finally paint this room. This is the last room in our big house that still has the original paint!! 15 years, remember! It's time!! 

So this room is a WIP...a work in progress. I'm seeing it as my spring break project!!

This week, I've booked two hours at Quilt Your Own to quilt my unfinished tops. And I've decided to quilt these little projects:

A few years ago, I was asked to create a quilt based on Marcia Derse's design. My quilt called Sticks can be found HERE. When I was creating it, I had testing to do. Using this fun red and white fabric (designed by creative thursday), I created how to do this fun idea of random strips with different widths.

I'm looking forward to practicing fun free motion quilting on the long arm on this piece.

Here's a fun table runner for Christmas that I'm quilting this week!

I did the snowman block as part of a BOM that fizzled out after the first two months. It was sad, but now I have a great table runner!! Or I will have after I quilt it! yay!!

This sweet table topper came from scraps from the finishing of my Irish + quilt designed by Becca Bryan.

After I starch it a little bit more, I've got some ideas of fun quilting a la Angela Walters! (So glad I took that class with her with the HMQG!)

Other than that, this week, I've got a LOT of binding to do!!!

I keep hearing this song ringing in my ears...Then sings my soul!!

What fun projects are you finishing up this week? Let's see those finishes on Friday!!!!!! 

Tomorrow's post will feature the amazing miraculous faith-giving story of my sweet 14 year old, Lillian who is celebrating those 14 years today! yay!!!!

I'm linking up with Brooke's WIP Wednesdays!!

Blessings!

A quick springy windblown thought...

Are you ready for spring???

I've been going a little wild in the convertible since our best friend Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow on that fateful day at the beginning of last month! 

Convertibles are fun...but they mess up your hair...

I have a lot of hair. I mean, a lot!! And usually when I drive (or ride in) the mustang, I put my hair up. But sometimes, I just let it go free knowing full well it's going to be a tangled mess when I get home.

For me, life is like that! Things, like even quilting, are messy! They are very fun, too! Am I willing to deal with my mess to have the fun?

When it comes to the Mustang, uh, yeah...I'm willing to buy another bottle of detangler in order to live life outloud in the open air! 

I'm willing to clean up my craft studio after creating...I'm willing to iron fabric in order to embroider on a clean piece of material...I'm willing to learn how to free motion quilt in order to have sweet little inspirational mini quilts like this one in this post!

Welcome, Spring!! We are so glad you are here! (My hair, though! LOL!!)

Blessings!

It's coming...

Need some uplifting words today?

Need some uplifting words every day? 

I do!!

One of the lies that plays in my head frequently is this:

"You are failing! and you probably won't recover from this one this time!"

Does that surprise you that I think that?

(Don't even ask Mr Gorgeous how many times he's had to fight through these thoughts out loud with me!!!)

All of us have lies that are playing in the TAPE RECORDER that is our brain. Personally I believe it comes from one of three sources: the loud world, the devil, and my own voice.

There is a way to fight through all of the noise in my head, though! Relief comes from these words:

Renewing my mind means to me that I'm replacing those lies with TRUTHS!!! Why am I wallowing with a bad tape in my head? I refuse to listen to this anymore!

So in response, I'm creating a weekly project/newsletter to encourage us to listen to the LOVE that is poured out on us minute by minute!! Please sign up to receive this little bit of encouragement weekly!

sign up to receive THE TAPE RECORDER SESSIONS!

You can also purchase my inspirational projects from my Etsy store, Sally's Angelworks.   

Let's not wait until we are completely debilitated by the negative voices in our heads regardless of where they are from. Let's replace them with the encouragement that we are loved by the One who created everything beautiful! And that includes you!! and me!!

Blessings!

Finish it Friday! and maybe a political statement...maybe!

I'm super excited that I've finished 5 things off of my UFOs list!!!

I showed you the "But First, Jesus" Pillow on Tuesday. 

Here's my next quick finish...

This was an impromptu little mini art quilt that I put together using leftovers from other projects!!

I added my embroidered text "Note to Self: Love" as a reminder to me during this crazy political season! A season where our nation is becoming polarized! I don't need to get onto social media and blast people with my opinions...although, if you ask me, I'll tell you how I feel and who I voted for (early voting is awesome!!!).

More importantly, we need to love each other regardless of our political affiliation, skin color, religion, etc...

This is my reminder of that!

One of the fun things I did with this mini was to practice different free motion quilting patterns from a couple of books! More about that later!!! But practicing is awesome!!!!!

Finish number 2 is my little Alison Glass mini that reminds me to FOCUS!!!! This has been a struggle for me lately...probably because of my ADD child and my own ADD tendencies. Again, more about that later. (I want to focus on these issues all by their lonesomes! See what I did there???? Focus!!)

My favorite part of this mini is the french knots that bring your focus onto the Alison Glass SunPrints flowers.

Finish number 3 &4:

Remember this pic? (in yesterday's post...)

These two finished quilts just needed to be made into pillows! Let's let the pics speak for themselves.

and the other...

I love this little polaroid!

(don't forget...keep those legs moving!!!)

As you know from an earlier post this week, I've been quilting my quilt tops on a rented long arm machine. I'm cranking through them pretty quickly. So far, I've quilted 7 quilts in 16 hours!! I'm excited to get those bindings on and give some to charity and give some to Mr Gorgeous. (He's funding the long arm rental...he deserves all the quilts! LOL!!)

Stay tuned for more finishes. And yay again for finishes!!!

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday.

Blessings!!!

Deer In Headlights and Other Revelations

My 3-word One Little Word for the year!!

So much wildness to explain...

So much confession to make...

So much hope to spread...

Last fall, I told myself I had a great idea!! I even told the idea to a few good friends and family. I got a great response. 

Then came the deer in headlights.

I got "Paralysis of Analysis".

Usually, at the beginning of the year, I can shake it off and start my production line quickly. But this year, I felt like I was stuck in quicksand. I made excuses to myself like...

• "Something's up with my blood pressure medicine! It's making me slow!"
• "I need to sit with Mr Gorgeous and spend as much time as possible with him!"
• "I'm too tired to get off of the couch because I worked out today!"
• "I don't have the right pictures to post!"
• "You're no good at this anyway!"

...and on and on and on!

When I was 21 (a few years ago *ahem*), I got mononucleosis. I was in my junior/senior year of college, and I missed about 2 weeks of classes. In the years that followed that time, anytime I got tired or a heaviness in my chest, I thought mono was coming back, and I would just stop doing.

A few years ago (I probably have told this before here! It was a significant journey, for sure!!!), I got to feeling tired, overwhelmed, and despondent. I was processing how I felt with the man of my dreams, and he told me, "Just do it! Just get up and do whatever it is that is stressing you out. Rip that bandaid off!" What an awesome piece of advice. 

This month, I have been putting excellent words and advice in my head and heart to get me going. I will be sharing those words that have led me to a line of creativity that I'm super excited about!!

Be sure and sign up for my newsletter (here) to stay in touch and be inspired through the hards times, the easy times, and the wild times!

It reminds me of a story of a football player who got the ball, and his coach kept yelling at him, encouraging him, saying, "Just keep your legs moving!!!!"

Let me encourage you today! Just keep those legs moving today! You can do it! And so can I!!!!

Blessings!

WIPs Wednesday ~ wingin' it!!!

I'm excited to share with you some fun stuff I've been working on. I have loads of projects that I finished and haven't shared yet here on the blog.

But today is Works In Progress or WIPs Wednesday!

So I have a long list of projects to get done. This list may seem overwhelming, but it actually excites me! The fact that I have it all organized in a chart just clears my head in order to create!!

Before I whip out the next project on my list, though, I'm creating the February block for the Super Awesome Quilt Bee for my darling friend, Debbie (@mumziepooh on IG).

Here is the link to Amy's tutorial for this block. It's an awesome block!!!

I've picked orange and pink for my block colors! My middle block is Heather Ross's Tiger Lily Pink Kitties...

I'm excited about making this block...especially since I'm making two! One for Debbie and one for me!! This is a super fun bee so far!

This week, I'm also planning on finishing these three other projects on my list: Then Sings My Soul Table Topper, Keep Going Pillow, A Flower A Day Pillow. Check out my post HERE from January with pictures of these and all of my first quarter projects that I'm working on!

Or maybe I'll just sit around...

Nah...I'm having too much fun finishing! 

I'm linking up to Brooke's WIPs Wednesday Linky Party!

Blessings!!!!

Pillows, kitties, and living my story!

It's time!

It's time to crank it up...

the blog...

the homeschooling...

the music...

the newsletter...

the crafting...

my life!

Remember these piles? Three layer cakes and a big chunk of Kona Snow...

I've recently started renting time on a long arm machine at a local store called Quilt Your Own (in Stafford, TX). Here is my sweet Mr Gorgeous's patchwork quilt being quilting! By me!!! yay!!!

I used a large meandering stitch and finished quilting it in an hour and a half!!!

I just have the binding to go...you'll see it finished SOON! yay!

Here's a completed project for a friend's birthday! She actually sewed the blocks on the sides and when cleaning out her craft room, she gave them to me. I loved putting them together with a little bit of inspirational embroidery! I love collaborations!

The pillow sham is from Target, but the quilt is my current bed quilt that I whipped up two years ago in a week!! 

My girls joined me in making the next gift for our same friend...

She is a cat person but, alas, has no kitties right now. So I gave her four new kitties. My three girls and I each embroidered one of the kitties. I used a pattern from a shop from Etsy called Shiny Happy World. You can get the pattern HERE.

We have three kitties including our crazy baby, Eli! He just discovered Free Motion Quilting!

(he's a little blurry because he's constantly moving!!)

Stay tuned tomorrow for some WIPs!! I have my list going, and it's getting knocked out, too!!

Blessings!!

Finish Along 2016 - my WIPS

Time to finish up some UFOs in this studio this year!!!

I'm excited about all of the finish potential here, and I'm ready to list them out with the greatest of hopes of sharing finishes this first quarter of the year!!!

Table topper - Then Sings my Soul

Red and White fun Table Topper

My Scrappy Trip Along

(here's an IG photo of it laid out!)

two pillow tops 

My pixelated sheep!! (can't wait to finish this one!!)

My 4x6 Bee Blocks - Aqua and Teal...just needs sashing and quilting and binding...that's all!

Another fun pillow with Tiffany's pattern (tiny seamstress)

Quilt tops...The top one (on the right) is a fun Tina Givens quilt top I created.

The middle quilt top is my Marcelle Medallion! It is time to quilt this baby! 

The bottom top is my patchwork masterpiece created for Mr Gorgeous! He gave me the best compliment when he saw this to all sewn up. He said, "It reminds me of Grandma Cora!" (Grandma Cora was a fabulous quilter!) Sigh! He's the best! I need to finish this pronto!!

My Fall Forest Quilt top

My Sweet Sunbonnet Sue quilt 

My sweet friend Tita and I did a quilt pattern together. She actually finished hers...Mine is sitting this box. Time to finish!

My Meadow Quilt (Lizzy House workshop pattern)

And I love to do little mug rugs with embroidery (or table toppers). Here are 3 that are in progress:

So, those are my first quarter hopes and dreams! Pray that my time gets doubled! LOL!!!

I have other projects for the next three quarters of the year, but I think I should just stick to this list for now!!

 

This set of blocks were made for a year-long quilt project called the #SuperAwesomeQuiltBee. This set of blocks are the pattern and colors that Kate chose for her month. I actually cut the blocks out at the wrong size, which was a serendipity for me. I had planned all along to make doubles of all of the blocks all year, so that at the end of the year, I have a whole quilt of different blocks that reminds me of a wonderful year of quilting! (Plus I'll have my August month quilt where I pick the block and everyone sends me a block! yay!!)

I'm linking up with the Finish Along 2016 party! (Link at the top of post)

I'm hoping you keep me honest with this crazy list!!!

Blessings!!

Project Quilting - Happy Birthday Confetti Mat

This kitty has a hold on us!! :) 

You can tell by the fact that he's pretty much in every picture I post on IG nowadays. But here, he's highlighting one of my other very favorite things in the world...embroidery!

This is the year I am really getting my embroidery on...

 And my first finish of the year is this little mini snack mat or a wall hanging (whatever you want it to be!!!) in honor of celebrating:

This is my submission for Project Quilting's Season 7 challenge 1!! Yep, I'm back at it, creating a project in a week every other week. It's one of my favorite things...start and finish in a week!!

Here are some process photos for you...

I love these hexi precuts, and I'm kinda liking Y-seams, too!! 

The binding fabric says celebrate on it!!! Love this line from Sweetwater Fabrics!

and of course, the embroidery...my signature!

You will be seeing a lot more of it. I've been collecting text and phrases and words that I want to embroider on everything I see!!

I'm really looking forward to having a newly restocked Etsy shop with fun new embroidery! I have about 18 new pieces to put in there, and here's the big announcement:

Sally's Angelworks will be having a Grand Re-Opening on February 1st!!!  

There will be freebies and patterns and some tweaking here and there and ohhhhhh so much fun!

We all need to do some decluttering and fixing and revamping. That's what the new year is all about, right? 

I'm excited! I hope you are, too!!

Stay tuned all this month as I post more! And join my newsletter (see sidebar on the right!) to get updates on what's happening on the blog, store, IG, FB!! even on the homefront! We can't leave out Eli. Kitten antics are always fun!

Blessings!

Fun Finishes!!

As the end of the year approaches, I tend to always evaluate what I finished. That usually involves me going through the year of blog posts to see what I finish. Since I took a bit of time off of blogging at the end of this year, I have some catching up to do! LOL!!

So here are a few finishes that I whipped up this fall!

Remember this top I finished at our guild retreat this fall?

Here's the finished product!!

I donated this quilt to my darling vocal coach's husband's benefit concert. He's battling cancer right now, and in November, a bunch of fantastic musicians here in Houston got together and put on a wonderful benefit concert and successful silent auction. I was so blessed to be a part of it by donating this quilt! 

Here are some closeups of the meandering quilting...

I loved using Alison Glass Handcrafted fabrics along with the teal Kona solid. So beautiful!!!

The Houston Modern Quilt Guild did a black and white swap in November, and of course, I made a mini sheep quilt!

(Here's an upside down pic of the swapping items!)

(I got the sweet big kitty quilt made by Suzanne! Perfect on my craft room studio wall right now!!!)

Here's another pic of the sheep mini! My friend Kate (@ifitaintkate on IG) named him Sammy!!

The pattern is from Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage. I hope to make a whole quilt of these little guys! LOVE!!!

This is one of my fave holiday sewing projects!!

A Tomte! Straight out of Kirstyn Cogan's book, Urban Scandinavian Sewing. 

Tomten are scandinavian Santas that take care of your house during the holiday season. I gave mine to Mr Gorgeous to watch over his holiday work and his office!!!

So on his birthday (November 29th!), Mr Gorgeous heard a little squeaking outside of his home office window. And this is what he found...

a three-week-old kitten!!!

We named him Eli Rooty Keller!

Here he is today...

Isn't he something else??? So fun, fiesty, and very lovable!! That Tomte was definitely watching over Mr Gorgeous and his home office!

I have other finishes I'll post soon! Getting ready for a rockin' New Year's Eve and a wonderful 2016! Have you listed out your projects you want to finish this next year????

Blessings!