Trying to Focus: January 2023 OMG

For whatever reason, the start of a new year always tempts me to start new projects. Temptation comes at me from all angles - new quilt-alongs from my favorite designers, challenges initiated in my quilting groups, my annual January rug camp, and even magazines. I usually go for months - years even - without seeing a single project in a magazine that tempts me, but while trying to catch up on reading over the holidays I found three projects I am dying to start, two of which are hand-pieced. I am trying hard to resist temptation but know I will cave eventually. So my goal for January is to make significant progress on a couple of aging projects even if I do start something new.

On the quilting side, I plan to focus on my orange peels.  I participated in a Facebook challenge to stitch one per day from Feb 2022- Jan 2023. Most months I did pretty well, with the exception of December when I spent all my free time stitching binding.  I am on track so far for January. Unfortunately the project I am working on requires 900 orange peels, so even with the 150 or so I had before I started the one-a-day I am only half way finished.  So my goal for January is to step up the pace - aiming for 50 this month - and to start piecing the ones that I have finished into blocks.

On the rug hooking side, I started my Antique Floral Basket rug back in May 2019.  I absolutely love this rug but it is large, I am hooking it with a small cut, and it is a bit tedious figuring out what to put where. My goal for this month is to make significant progress on it while at Eureka Springs.  I would love to finish hooking it, but after taking it off the frame to take a picture I realize that I have a lot farther to go than I thought!

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts' One Monthly Goal again this year to try to keep myself on track.  I just hope that I don't fall in love with any other new projects while checking out what everyone else is working on! 

2022 'Done & Dusted'

Wow - I only managed to do two posts last year!  I took so many photos with the intention of posting but just never got around to it. I did manage to make a fair amount of progress on a number of projects last year, and even finished a couple. Here's what I've been up to since my last post... 

In September, the weekend following Baltimore on the Prairie, I headed back across Missouri to attend the ATHA Biennial in Kansas City, KS.  It was a quick trip, but I did attend a workshop with Keith Kemmer on coverlet rugs.  It was a fantastic class and the project was so much fun to hook I had to keep going on it when I got home. I haven’t bound it yet but love how it turned out.

Early in the year I had committed to participate in the Primitive Gatherings Red & White Quilt Show. Of course I didn’t get around to starting my project until way too close to the deadline, so I had to come up with something that could be accomplished relatively quickly. I finished stitching the binding on this one the last possible day I could mail it to meet the deadline.  I named this one "Nine Squared" (so imaginative, I know!).

I was thrilled to be able to head up to Primitive Gatherings for the second annual "Naughty or Nice" retreat in December and was able to see the show in person.  My quilt was hanging from the ceiling of The Gathering.  It was so much fun to sew while immersed in all the beautiful red and white quilts! This was the view from my table (with my quilt in the distance).

I had been trying to come up with an idea for a quilt for my granddaughter for quite a while.  Unlike her older brother, she never shows much interest in anything in particular - she basically just plays with whatever he is playing with.  When I saw this quilt kit at Itch'n to be Stitch'n I knew it was perfect for her, and decided it would make a great Christmas gift accompanied by a stuffed fox and a fox storybook. Of course, I made this decision the first weekend of December, so I had to sew like a maniac to get it pieced, quilted and bound.  She really seemed to like it.

And then I completely lost my mind and decided that I should finish this project from the Naughty or Nice retreat for my grandson. I finished stitching the binding Christmas Eve morning.  I found an adorable stuffed snowman and a couple of snowman story books to go with it. He is obsessed with snowmen and has asked for a snowman birthday party for the second year in a row, so it was perfect for him.


I did spend a little time at retreat working on my Letters to Santa quilt.  These words are really fun to make!  Here's where I got to this year.  I can't work on Christmas projects after the holidays so this one will be packed away and pulled out again around November.

Last, but not least, is the quilting project I want to focus on finishing first in 2023.  This is Stars All Around, the 2022 summer pieced project from Primitive Gatherings.  The assembly is very simple but complicated at the same time - it's like assembling a puzzle and you have to be very careful to keep all the pieces in the right places. Below is the center.  I am working on the outer blocks now.


I don't have a picture of the rug I am focused on finishing first this year.  It's the Antique Basket pattern I started at Janice's several years ago.  It's a large rug and I am hooking it in a six cut so progress is slow, but I am hoping I can make a serious dent in it when I head to Eureka Springs later this month.

I have at least three (maybe four) new projects I want to start this month. I should be spending my time cleaning and organizing my sewing room as I had originally planned to do this week, but starting a new project sounds a lot more fun. I'm heading there now and will see if temptation or self-discipline wins. Happy New Year!