Monthly Archives: January 2022

So Scrappy RSC

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 I’ve been looking forward to having the time to do The Rainbow Scrap Challenge where each month you use scraps in a specific colour. It’s a fun challenge & it helps keep the scrap stash down.  The colour for January is red.

I decided to use Bonnie Hunters Carolina Chain pattern from Addicted to Scraps as its all from 2″ strips in light & dark colours. I made these give blocks:

I played around with a few different arrangements:

I do have more red scraps than this though & some of those are being used in the Table Scraps challenge which I’m working on getting finished for next week.

After that I worked on Rhododendron Trail. I still have a lot left to do but I find I can only trim blocks for a little while & then I need a break so my wrists don’t get sore so I just do a bit of block trimming each morning & try and get the trimmed blocks sewn by the end of the day.

While I was looking for something else in my sewing room I found some 4″ squares that would work for baby boys quilts and started joining them up as they won’t take long to put together.

It’s been a lovely weekend just sewing! 

This week I need to do some ‘work’ decluttering and get rid of some books & resources I won’t need anymore.  I think I will just give them away to some junior colleagues.  I’ve finished all the ‘work’ shredding which felt good and I’m plodding along with data entry tasks. Overall I’m on track to be all up to date before I leave and I’m still working from home which is good. 

Linking up to So Scrappy Saturday 

Sweet Dreams!

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I haven’t had as much time to sew as I’d like as I’m still working from home for first term and its been much busier than I expected. I try and get a bit of sewing in early in the day, before we walk each morning.

At the moment I’m enjoying doing Pat Sloans  ‘Sweet Dreams’ sew-a-long. It has a weekly block & runs until May with three blocks made so far:

I chose this fabric from my stash first to base the colour scheme around, I just love the colour combination, it’s nice and bright and cheerful:

Then I pulled these two gorgeous fabrics from my stash to use for fussy cutting

and lastly these to add some light and dark and pick up on the orange & yellow tones in the other fabrics:

My first block I had to unpick and redo as I am not the greatest at flying geese. I really am out of practice & it showed but it looks better now:

Block two was a heart:

and the third block is probably one the prettiest I’ve ever made – I just love this block! I’m going to have to make more…  I fussy cut the tree and it was the perfect size:

 I’m enjoying ‘playing’ with my fabrics again and going through patterns and unfinished projects, folding and re-organising fabric. I bought some comic book boards to use so that will be a fun job. My sewing room declutter has stalled but there will be plenty of time for that again soon when I retire. I’m just not going to rush anything anymore, no more deadlines, just enjoying the day and doing things at a more relaxed pace from now on.

 I’ve had quite a few new visitors to my blog, “welcome’ and thanks for visiting, Feel free to join the conversation in the comments and leave a link if you have a blog so I can visit or follow for updates.  

Well its time for lunch here and then I might get back to Rhododendron Trail for the afternoon. 

“We stitch together quilts of meaning to keep us warm and safe, with whatever patches of beauty and utility we have on hand.”

― Anne Lamott

Sewing Room Declutter

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I’ve been happily sorting my sewing room since Christmas. It was a real mess with stuff piled up everywhere and a little path through the middle. I emptied the whole room out so I could clean it and then have been decluttering & sorting before I put things back in. 

I re-organised the shelves and storage and I love it! Now it’s finally easy to see and find what I need. Heres a few pics:

Those fabric boxes are all full of wool & crotchet projects.

The drawers have 5″ squares & orphan blocks in them. Fat quarters are on the very top and the shelves have projects and large scraps in them.

I like to sew at the kitchen table so I bought a little trolly that fits perfectly behind the door. Then I can quickly pack up my sewing when I need the table for dinner and roll it out again afterwards so thats reduced the amount of sewing ‘mess’ that used to sit about the dining room.

I also started Rhododendron Trail – Bonnies annual mystery quilt. I’ve got clue #1 done:

I’ve also been working on parts of other clues. My goal is to enjoy my sewing & not push myself to meet deadlines anymore so I’m just sewing along at my own pace. Heres where I’m up to this morning:

I’m about half way through decluttering the room and I’ve been watching the sewing room Declutter Challenge videos to keep me motivated.

I’ve found sewing & decluttering to be a really good distraction at the moment as the covid news here isn’t good so I’m escaping into my sewing. Omicron is spreading rapidly, it’s difficult to  access a test and the health system is struggling. We have shortages of  meat & chicken and over half my grocery order was unavailable this week, mostly fresh veggies & fruit. One of my friends is sick with Covid at the moment. We had done a good job in Australia the last two years but it’s well and truly here now. So I’m keeping busy and we’re staying home. I’m glad we keep a well stocked pantry and a full freezer.

I also sorted out my unfinished projects and have made a list which I’ve created a page for.  I am so grateful I will now finally have the time to sit and sew each day. Are you having a January declutter?