January was a cold and snowy month for us, which made it a great month to stay in and sew, stitch, or read. I did a little of all three. I started the month with a sewing project that I started in late December. I made a project bag from a couple fat quarters I'd bought in Cincinnati last year. I made the bag longer than I usually do so that it will fit my scroll rods when I have a medium sized piece on them. It was nice to start the year with a finish, especially a quilting finish!
Most of the rest of the month in my sewing room has been focused on my two priorities for the month. I was able to make the progress I hoped on my Marble Mystery quilt. I finished the first two sewing clues and started the next two clues. There are only five clues, so I don't have too much left. I really like how it's coming together and I am pleased with my colors.
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Pieces and parts for the Marble Mystery at the end of January
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My second goal was to load and start quilting my Quarter Log Cabin top. I got the back and batting cut and loaded it earlier in the week, but I didn't get the quilting started yet. I had plans to work on it this weekend, but was sidetracked by others things. No worries, I am sure I will get to it soon enough. I have another project that's almost finished and I will want to quilt that one pretty soon, so it should be good motivation to get this top completed.
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| Quarter Log Cabin loaded and ready for quilting |
On the stitching side, I started a small piece on New Year's Day and finished it about a week later. I bought this at Nashville Needlework Market last year and am glad to have it finished.
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Gather Blessings by Hands on Design
Stitched on 32 count Cream linen with called for DMC threads |
Other than this piece, I worked on larger WIPs (works in progress) and kept them moving forward. I am hopeful to finish a few of my longer-term projects in the next few months.
I had one stitching FFO (fully finished object) this month - the Cardinal piece from Prairie Schooler Prairie Birds. I am not thrilled with how it turned out, but it will be fine to tuck into a display in the winter. It is finished as a flat piece and I haven't decided whether to leave it as is or add a ribbon to it so that I could hang it from a doorknob. Even so, I am going to call it a finish, first one for the year.
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Flat finish of Prairie Birds Cardinals with fabric from my stash and trim from Lady Dot Creates.
Stitched on 18 ct. Aida, dyed by me, with DMC threads |
I also got to go to the grand opening of a new craft shop in Rushville, IN last week - Mystic Fabrics has been an online store for the last 7 years and she opened a brick and mortar shop with yarn, cross-stitch, quilting, and even some scrapbooking and beading. It was packed on the grand opening day, but lots of fun. I picked up several things to add to my stash from the shop, including some of her gorgeous hand-dyed fabrics. I can't wait to stitch on them.
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| Purchases from Mystic Fabrics |
I am continuing along this year to do my tracking of stash usage, days with crafting, and progress on finishing up projects, so here are the stats for January:
Fabric added this month: 0 yards
Fabric used this month: 3 1/4 yards
Fabric added year to date: 0 yards
Fabric used year to date: 3 1/4 yards
Project Completion Tracking:
Stitching projects: 1 finish, 1 fully finish = 39 projects waiting to be FFO'ed
Quilting projects: no finishes, no new starts = 7 quilts waiting to be finished
Some people have been saying that January lasted forever (I think those are people who don't like snow as much as I do!), but I think it was perfectly long. It was nice to have four weekends and one of them a long weekend where I could get some good crafting time in. My weeks and evenings have been busy, so it's nice to hunker down on the weekend and stitch, sew, or quilt. Maybe I will even get up to a crochet project soon.
Hope you had a good January and see you again soon with my two sewing goals for February.
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