Christmas Tree Napkins

 Unbelievable, Christmas is in 7 days! We might not have pilled of snow in southern Ontario to prove it's winter here, but the blasting winds at our face is a constant reminder that it is colder. My dog Merlin passes his time in my company while I pieced together blocks or free-motion another quilt. My husband appears once in a while for a good chat, and all this is great during our longer stay indoor.
 Christmas projects aren't my forte, because the season is so busy with events and visiting, that I rarely find the time to do anything at all. But today, I was in the mood to sew something related to Christmas or winter and I pulled out my ONE bin of Christmas fabric -I'm not kidding, I've about five meters in all - and I made napkins with my little bitsy stash of fabric. Maybe after the holidays, I will purchase additional Christmas fabrics, but for now, I'm content with what I have.

               Christmas Tree Napkins by Jordan Fabric

Pattern: Christmas Tree Napkins

For the year 2020, I want to design my own patterns, something I've done only once or twice,  and refresh my Quilting Planner for 2020.  One rule I've kept when I planned my next year of quilting, is to keep it simple. I divided a binder into a few sections and spread the work throughout the year.

Ask Yourself Questions

1. How many UFOs are you planning to finish this year?
2. What techniques are you planning to learn?
3.Set a due date for all the in-progress projects.
4. What quilt-along or free-motion tutorial are you going to follow?
5. What quilter will help me to achieve my goal?
6. Which category is my project: EPP, Free-motion, long arm, piecing, applique,...)
7. List any new project
8. What are my expectations, goals, motivation for this year?

Hum, that's enough brainstorming for now. Let's go sewing or quilting. Enjoy your shopping in this busy season. Be kind, patient, and loving. We're all going through this together.

Spin the Wheel

Most quilters have purchased precut kits of the jelly rolls, charm packs, layer cakes, or fat-quarter bundles from a designer's collection of fabrics that made our cutting session painless and to a minimal effort which is awesome. Until recently I realized that my beautiful precuts were left on display on my sewing shelve or either in my bathroom downstairs as home decor for years. So it was time to unwrap those bundles or jelly-roll and put them to use. The fat-quarter was unwrapped and added with my statch. My one jelly-roll was cut into pieces to make two small quilts. 

My chosen activities like quilting, writing, study the Word of God, training my dog Merlin, walking, are already on a tight time schedule. How much can we accumulate in our lives that have no meaning or worth spending time on?  We're living in a fast economy that plagued us with advertisements that say, "You need this or that."  But do we really need it? Yes, I've been caught in that same frenzy of spending on 'want' rather than my 'need'; or how much time do we spend 'time' on them?

 Well aware of my mid-fifties I came to the realization some of my youth's dreams will never come to fruition. It cast a shadow on my mind and this train of thoughts was added to my personal spiritual struggles. For months I kept saying aloud,  "What's the point."  The more I said it to myself, the more I became detached from wanting anything at all. Depression doesn't need to be deeper. Lies that we put in our minds will lead us away from a joyful life. It's not wrong to dream or have a goal in life, but if they don't come through for one reason or another, how do we deal with it, is another matter.

Through God's Word, I came to trust  Him further. Instead, to live bound to this world,  I wanted to be bound for his glory and not for this earth. Whatever achievements I would set on now would be reflecting upon Him, not this world. No more time spend on regrets over things of the past, but to live my life with joy, peace, and love.

What then should you do that will serve a purpose in your life? Or what you're doing right now that will help someone else in need that is worth spending money, time, and energy on it? So if you have things that need to be dealt with, start without hesitation. Roll your sleeves and get to it done. Like my friend, Leah Day would say, "Put yourself in jail, till you've done what needs to be done."

Lets's Go Quilt

 The pinwheel block assembly was really easy by sewing a square on a rectangle, then trimmed. That way you are not sewing on the bias. Next time I show you how I've done it. These blocks were done with 2 1/2" strips.

                                                 

I sewed a square. Trimmed. Press, and voila

This is a jelly-roll I purchased about 10 years ago. It was time to unfastened it and used it.

This cute baby quilt was made out of a jelly-roll. Fabric line Honey Honey by Kate Spain (Moda). I was able to make two, except for background fabric. A pattern can be found in Jelly Babies: Adorable quilts from 2/ 1/2" strips.

 

See you next year:)