I Finished my Spring Finishes

I did it! With Jacquie's help. Thanks, Jacquie!

And the reward system -
definitely more a 'carrot' than 'stick' kind of girl.

See what I mean:)

All the carrots are finally blanket stitched to my Bunny Lady quilt top. I think it might have been the morning of June 1st when I finished the last one - but I'm still counting it!

That means I finished everything on my Spring to Finish list!
14 Finishes for me!

Including my EAT with JOY! Placemat Pattern

It takes 3 yards of fabric to make 4, 14"x20" placemats.
I am selling my pattern as a pdf for $6 US.
Send me an email ~ sarahvanderburgh AT sympatico DOT ca
{change the AT to @ and the DOT to a .}

I plan to have more patterns and then maybe an official like place to purchase them.:)

You can check out all of my Spring to Finish finishes by clicking on the links in the sidebar. I'll keep them active for awhile (because I'm still feeling pretty good about them!)

My reward? Well, my reward list grew and I'm still trying to decide what would be the perfect one for this project:

A walking foot for my sewing machine {boring, but practical}

Sue Spargo's new book {definitely NOT boring}

A fabric shopping spree (definitely NOT practical!}

Stay tuned to see what I decided:)

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Building Blocks

Busy Design Wall this week! As I am at the end of the month, and almost finished everything on my Spring to Finish list, I have some small projects as rewards. Follow the numbers to read about what's up on my wall:

1. A Maverick Churn Dash block - not intentionally a maverick block, BUT, since I trimmed it, photographed it and walked away before noticing the 'oops', it's been decided in this household that it is staying a maverick block. It's for Ariane and the June Sew Modern Bee Block. {It's not finished yet, I know, Ariane! I've just finally accepted it's maverick status!:)}

2. Leftover cuts from the churn dash which will turn into a signature block for Ariane.

3./6./10. Will be revealed in JUNE as they belong to a JUNE project.

4./8. Selvages ready to become coasters.

5. A test block for Ariane in some Christmas fabric. That's twice now that my test block is not the one I choose to use. This time because I don't think the block accentuates Ariane's fabric choices as well as the churn dash.

7. Some leftover strips from Marianne's block in May and little snips I was sent with a fabric bundle from Fabritopia. This will probably end up as a potholder.

9. If you click the photo larger you may be able to read the stitching. My daughter made the stitching for my birthday and just recently finished it. I found it folded on my table with the fabric that now borders it. I thought they looked happy together. I plan to do a quick batting and background and leave the binding open. A little something sweet to hang in my sewing space.

11. Part of one of the May Block Lotto blocks I made. Waiting not so patiently to see if I'm one of the winners!


While my Design Wall is full of fun stuff, I do have some binding to finish making and get in the mail before I can really play any further. And photos to add to my placemat pattern which I finished writing last night.

Turns out I thrive with a rewards system in place!
{Sue Spargo even has a new book out!}

Check out the other design walls linked through Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Friday Spring Finish

This week's string block is a little wild looking. Lots of different projects getting cut out.



May's String Blocks sewn together. A fun month!


That's one more FINISH for my Spring to Finish list.

Off to complete something else.

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Sprinting to a Spring Finish

It's into the final week of Jacquie's challenge. Things look promising here!

I finished the secret Borders on Monday. {no pics because they're secret!!}


This is my placemat done with selvages. This one is a birthday present for a niece.



Not a fabulous shot, but this is my daughter's Butterfly Sunshine. I have some quilting and handstitching to do around the butterfly. Then a hanging sleeve and label to make.



One more string block to go. Then I will have 5 months done! This quilt is practically making itself! :-)



I have the rest of the carrots cut out.


My Eat With Joy! Placemat pattern is soooo close to ready. I'm fiddling and rereading and might even make one more set before I list it. Just to make sure everything I've written makes sense {and four placemats!}




I'm already starting to get ready for June's list. Mystery basket blocks, Block Lotto blocks, Sew Modern Bee block and more UFOs to finish. And maybe a Selvage Coaster tutorial!



With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Holiday Monday MishMash

Works in Progress on the Design Wall

Final 8 carrots for my Bunny Lady Quilt.

They go 4 to each side, continuing around in counter clockwise direction. I think I'm leaving the purple corners plain for now. I'm also considering some yo yos in the corners of the bunny blocks.

Some more selvages cut as I plan to work on a Selvage Coaster tutorial.

Most of this week will be spent finishing things on my Spring to Finish list you can find in my sidebar.

Check out the other Design Wall links through Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Spring to Finish Design Wall

Here's my Design Wall for this Monday Morning :

I am starting to work on making a flock of geese blocks for the borders of a quilt. This is one of the projects on my Spring to Finish list. I also have several selvages cut at 6 inches and 5 foundation piece ready for them. I'm planning to get something 'extra' done this week.

Check out Judy's links to other Monday Design Wall quilters.

My Midway Point 'Spring to Finish' Finishes :

Four String Blocks finished.

I am making one of these each week for the entire year. My sister is doing the same thing - but differently! I'm counting each block as a finish because I can - and because I need to stay caught up to actually make this quilt THIS year!

Sew Modern Bee Block

May is the first month of the Canadian Sew Modern Bee. This block is for Marianne. I made a bonus block for her too (but it doesn't count as a finish).

Mystery Basket Block

I finished a mystery basket block too. It measures 18 1/2 inches square. I was supposed to do 2 blocks, but the last block hasn't been posted yet. So - this counts as a finish!

Total Finishes So Far = 6

Finishes to Go = 5
{Of Course I Left the Biggest Ones until the End!}

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Friday Finish and a BIG To Finish List!

April String Blocks



Eat with JOY! Placemat

Not much new to report here. I'm working on writing the pattern for my placemats mostly. That and actually quilting them! Writing instructions for something you've made is tricky - you have to read what's on the paper not what your mind thinks is on the paper. I'm about halfway done now and so far, the instructions actually make sense!


Now that I feel like I will accomplish my Spring to Finish list - even though I'm not quite halfway done everything on my list (there goes my mind planning ahead again!) I have started to find new things to do. . .

Judy at Patchwork Times is going to start a Mystery quilt - soon! These blocks can keep my cutting up fabric desires sated while I work on the rest of these ones:

The setting for the Basket Mystery quilt should be revealed in June.


Pat Sloan and Emilie Richards' Season of Grace setting should be up really soon to finish that one in time for Advent.



My Lady of the Lake blocks really want done. I want them done. Outta here. They are taking up too much space in my TO DO pile. I want to wrap that one up and put it under the Christmas tree - THIS year's tree!!


My Hallowe'en 1904 is waiting for me too! I love this quilt. I would love to have it hanging or on my bed in October.

So, I guess I have enough BIG quilts to keep me busy the rest of the year.

Will I have one to reveal come May 21 when Amy hosts the Quilt Festival again?

Any bunnies hopping up and down over there?!!?

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Thursday 3 - Sticking to the List

Finished String Block for 4th week in April

18 1/2 inches Mystery Basket Block finished
{including stitched down ric rac stems}

I'm doing really well on sticking to my Spring to Finish list.

You can keep track of my progress in my sidebar .------->

Other projects on the list are moving along as fabric was washed and ironed.
Part of my ability to stay focused is this -


Keeping my table clean! I'm working quicker and with fewer distractions.

Let's see what I can get finished next!

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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Making a List: Spring to Finish

My sister spotted it and emailed me an, 'are you in?'

Well, here's my list, in the order I thought of it:

1) 6 string blocks

2) May Sew Modern Bee Block - Yes, I joined a Bee!
I'll share more when the first fabric arrives

3) Catch up last 2 Mystery Basket blocks

4)Cut and Applique 9 more carrots to Bunny Lady quilt

5) Make borders for Mystery quilt - it's a gift with a deadline (fast approaching)

6) Finish placemat samples - right now it's at 5 placemats, the options are bubbling over

7) Publish placemat pattern - right here on my blog!

See the NEW page at the top? Stay tuned!

8) Quilt Molly's Butterfly Sunshine wallhanging


A long list that stops at the magic number 8.

The big question Jacquie asks is how will you reward yourself for getting your list done?

I'm looking at the fabric packs on Sue Spargo's website. Buy some inspiration, I think!

I've linked the button in my sidebar with a link to each project.
Jacquie has an midway report planned for May 10th.

What a great way to welcome spring. Thanks sis and Jacquie!

With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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