It’s that time of year when we have the urge to start fresh and put together our list of resolutions for the new year.

I seriously thought about embarking on a year of stitching from the stash with absolutely no money spent on new fabric or supplies.  In theory that sounds good, but it’s not realistic for me.  I’m sitting on $175.00 in Joann gift cards I received for Christmas.  I have a new machine that will inevitably need an accessory or two as I get better acquainted with Jewel.  I will probably have some custom quilt orders later in the year that will require purchasing fabric specifically for those projects.

A better goal for me will be to “shop my stash first.”

The next day or so will be spent reorganizing and inventorying my stash and supplies.  With the Christmas tree now gone, I can move the larger storage chests of “garment and home dec” fabric under the stairs.  Then, I’ll purchase some more of those Martha Stewart canvas storage drawers from Home Depot to house some of my supplies, precuts and kits on the top shelf of the closet.

Happy New Year!

Finally, I can breathe.  A lot has happened in eight short days.  I did all the Christmas shopping for 14 recipients, put up the tree and finished decorating for Christmas, made two quilts, spent Christmas @ my brother’s house, and the past three days at the in-laws.

This year was nuts.  Quite frankly, the December 22nd semester end date did not work so well for me.  That left two days to get everything ready for Christmas, something I normally have about a week to do.  I was exhausted and felt too rushed to really enjoy the time with family.

I now have almost two full weeks at my disposal before I head back to work on January 9th.  I know I’ll enjoy the time off, but yikes.  We have this late “get out for winter break” date again next year.  I’m going to have to seriously readjust my schedule for the next Christmas season.

One thing that we did do this year that worked for us was to bypass the big honking Christmas tree for a 3 foot tree that sits on the table in the living room.  No more need to move half of the living room furniture to accommodate the tree.  I can put out selected pieces from my Dickens Christmas village around the tree and the rest in front of the family room fireplace.  It looked really nice.  Bonus: once the old tree is donated to Goodwill, I’ll have a more storage space under the stairs accessible from my studio.

Notes:

1. For me, it doesn’t feel like Christmas until the mantle is decorated and the tree is up.  Put it up by the first weekend in December.
2. Handmade Christmas gifts need to be started sooner than December 23rd.
3. Order gifts online around Thanksgiving so you don’t have to get in the crowds, pay exorbitant shipping fees or worry about things arriving in time.  The deals really didn’t get much better and the selection was definitely picked over by the week before Christmas.
4. Host a dessert party or small dinner party for close friends if the holiday invites received don’t work for my schedule.  We were invited last minute to a friend’s get-together on Christmas Eve, but by that time I was too frazzled and grumpy to be a sociable guest.  I really missed the usual holiday festivities with friends this year.  Our schedules simply didn’t mesh.

Here’s Allison and me with her Princess quilt.   She is absolutely thrilled that she finally has her own quilt and no longer has to use her sister’s hand-me-downs.

The finished quilt is 41″x52″.  The center is a length of Disney princess fabric I trimmed to mimic a center panel.   Inner border is 2″ and outer border  is 4-1/2″.  All of the fabrics came from my stash.  The center panel is quilted in an all-over loopy meander.  This was my first attempt at free motion quilting something bigger than a placemat. There were some challenges, but I’m pleased with the finished quilt.  I’m eager to move on to the next quilt top.  And as Leah Day of the Free Motion Quilt Project advises, it truly is a matter of practice, practice, practice.  My loops looked a whole lot better by the time I got to the end.

The binding was attached using the back-to-front method.  I used stitch #29 – a wavy “S” – on Jewel to machine stitch the binding (hey – it’s a kid quilt that will be washed many times).  Hint:  Using foot A instead of the recommended foot F gives you better control over the binding fabric as it is stitched in place.