It's February already?

 Well, I can't believe it is February, a whole week in even!  Life happens, and despite my best intentions I am not ready to launch my quilt-along for this year.  The good news is that I have set a definite date for that - March 4! So stay tuned to hear more about that as I prepare - I am always excited about a new project and this one is no exception.  

In the meantime, I've been trying to tidy up my sewing room by finishing some of my lingering WIPs.  That is Works in Progress, if you haven't heard that acronym before.  I have a bad habit of starting things, then setting them aside to work on something else.  So, I am making an effort to finish up something once a week or so.  These selvage bins were a lot of fun to get finished up!  I had 13 of them pieced and all the sections cut out.  One weekend I quilted all of the outsides, then another weekend I assembled the bins.  It was really satisfying to see them all on my cutting table in the sunshine!

I have added most of them to my Etsy shop, so if you would like to have one for your sewing room, I'm sure you can find your favorite color!  Or if you have a collection of selvages that you would like to put to use in a colorful little project, the Mini Selvage Bin pattern is available as well!  I still have plenty of selvages, but I am abstaining from new projects for a little while so they will have to wait their turn!

The other project that I've been working on is getting the quilt block ready for Quilt Run 101.  This is a really fun block, I'll share the completed block next week, when the quilt run has started!  I don't often design applique blocks, but I am really proud of how this one came out.  

So many lovely sunrises this month!  The weather has been unusually nice for January!

That led to an unusual amount of outdoor work for this time of year!  We cut our willow back a bit so it won't interfere with the lines out front.

We added rock around some of our backyard plants to keep from dealing with weeds.  Isn't the grass pretty and green?

And we enjoyed lots of pretty sunsets as well!

I enjoyed having my Crazy Jane quilt on the bed for January.  My long term goal is to have a different quilt for my bed each month!  I'm planning a pretty red quilt with French General fabrics for February, but no more new projects yet - I'm trying to be good and do some finishing first!

I did start my Alice's Wonderland Sampler Quilt in January.  I was hoping to do a block a day, but I have fallen behind and am working to catch up.  I am really loving the pretty liberty fabrics in this quilt, they are a treat to work with!  I am being a good girl and following the book, though some of the techniques aren't what I would choose to do.  I'm learning a thing or two in the process, even though I've been quilting for 40 years.  It's really fun to try different things, actually!

This is a long post, but it's been a while and I needed to catch up - I've really missed blogging and am excited to try to post more often and share what is going on in my life. I'm also looking forward to catching up- on reading some of my favorite blogs - I've really gotten behind on that, too!  Truthfully, I'm trying to make sure I spend less time on my phone and more time doing things that are more gratifying and productive.  

Hope you are finding time for the things that you enjoy!

Pamela