The above free pattern comes from Fat Quarter Shop. My wall hanging is made of leftovers from last year’s quilt projects. So fun to put together! Definitely planning to start the Letters to Santa quilt in July. This one looks to be another stashbuster project! Setting aside any potential fabrics now as I sort through my fabric bins.

For January, I joined the “no spend” fabric challenge with my Friday sewing squad. It was a learning experience. Main takeaway: “Low spend” is much more realistic than “no spend” for me especially when it pertains to quilting/sewing. I actually bought no fabric for my own projects; however, I did need a small amount of fabric for my kid’s classes and had to take a sewing machine in for repair. I can “no spend” on books & magazines because I have access via the Libby app and don’t feel deprived. Not the same with quilting. Swapping fabric with friends and shopping the free table at guild meetings is fun, but many times their fabric preferences and mine don’t necessarily match. Hence, I’ll always keep a little quilty spending money in my budget! :-)

February brings the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. Sadie and I will enjoy our third journey visiting quilt shops in the middle part of the state. It’s a fun day out for both of us as Sadie is welcome in two of the shops and there’s a really nice dog park half-way through our trip. I like to collect the two block kits ($1 each) designed by each shop specifically for the shop hop. Last year’s blocks made a bright, colorful quilt that was donated to my guild’s community service.

QuiltCon 2024 is later this month in Raleigh, NC. I’m excited for the opportunity to travel to a city I’ve never visited previously and get some much needed “me time” away from home. I’ll also get to reconnect with some of my quilty peeps who no longer live in the ATL and hopefully meet some folks I follow online. Quilts on display at QuiltCon are always unique. There are modern quilts, some traditional with modern twists and others just plain out there. How long I spend looking at quilts depends on what’s in the show. This year’s lecture topics sound interesting and the vendor list looks amazing. I’ll thoroughly enjoy learning about everything that’s new. So far, my shopping list consists of themed stickers and goodies for my CraftLAB kiddos, a newly re-designed Oliso mini iron for me (Tula Pink edition preferred) and some bag hardware from Sallie Tomato for a friend.

And finally, deadlines for the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show are fast approaching. I finished the quilt top last week. I have six weeks to get it quilted and bound so I can take the required photographs to go along with my show entry form. It’s a throw size, so I feel comfortable FMQ this one myself. I’ll stitch an all over paisley design, which I think best complements the fabric and quilt blocks.