Blog post take 2

It is the end of January.

I have so many projects in progress - in reality and in my mind - that I decided this year to set myself a goal for each month.  It helps a little that two of my projects will not provide me with the next step until the beginning of each month.

First up:

Finish this project.  I did this 2012BOM from a Craftsy.com class.  I highly recommend Craftsy.com. I first did the blocks (taught by Amy Gibson, blog: http://www.stitcherydickorydock.com/).

Then I took the Creative Quilt Backs class (Elizabeth Hartman, blog: http://www.ohfransson.com/), using scraps from the BOM.

And last I took Craftsy's free motion machine quilting (FMQ) class (taught by Leah Day, blog: http://www.daystyledesigns.com/).

DONE!  FMQ was a little like Mr. Toad's wild ride, I discovered 'travel stitching' is not my forte, but better done than perfect.

Then I got an ad that Craftsy was offering another BOM for 2013.  I really didn't have any desire to do another one, figuring it was going to be the same kind of deal. But I forwarded it on to my BFF Kris and my daughter Riese and they both decided to do it - so what the heck. I'll do it too!

My January blocks:

DONE! This will be Christmas themed from the pile of stuff in my stash.

Then I picked up this Folk Art Cats kit from http://www.stitchinpost.com/. I decided to treat this like a BOM, since there are 12 blocks.  It uses fusible web and then I'm buttonhole stitching by hand.  Really rubs against my needle-turn purist tendencies, but the design and fabrics were too cool to pass up.

Isn't he cute?

Next up - oh boy. Have you heard of Sue Spargo?  I first saw her designs on a friend's FB page some months ago.  I started following Sue's blog https://www.suespargo.com/weblog2/ and fell head over heels in love with it ALL - the color, the texture, the design.  I signed up for her BOM as kind of a knee jerk - 'Space is Limited! Pay your Membership Fee and Sign up Now!' So I DID!  Then I panicked - what if I can't do this?  So I ordered the needlekit and was NOT disappointed!

Isn't it gorgeous??!!?

The materials for the January blocks for Sue's BOM titled 'Dancing Birds' came in this past Tuesday afternoon.

This is where this 'job' thing really gets in my way.  It was all I could do to go to work everyday knowing these gorgeous materials and threads were just laying around on my sewing table.  Thanks to an unexpected snow day this past Thursday, I was able to finish these birdies last night.

DONE!

So what is up for February???

I MUST FINISH THE CIVIL WAR QUILT FOR MY HUSBAND! (see previous post)
Craftsy BOM
Folk Art Cats - block 2
Dancing Birds BOM

It's Christmas Evening.  Everyone has flown the coop except me, Gracie and Mike.  I think everyone had a nice day.

Mike made me a sewing table - dedicated to my sewing machine - so I will not have to move it off the dining room table mid-project so my family can eat.

The tutorial came from http://frommartawithlove.com/diy-ikea-sewing-table-tutorial/.  I LOVE IT!  

I gave Mike a quilt I've been working on for a year. It is still not quite done.  I still need to finish quilting the border blocks and bind it.

  

This is my first blog post.  I will follow up with more once I work the kinks out.  Please be patient and enjoy watching my learning curve!