January musings.

Lots of people have been posting their plans for the year ahead and in particular for January. They have been posting about link parties and quilt alongs they are hoping to join in with. There seems to be so many things for us to join in with this year that I am feeling slightly overwhelmed and I just don't seem to be able to make up my mind. What I do know is;

1. I'm going to take part in 2014 A lovely year of finishes

Last year I managed 8 lovely finishes as a result of linking up with Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs. The monthly goal setting and link ups helped keep me focused to complete my projects by making me plan what I wanted to do.

So my January goal is to complete my baby quilt. I thought I had already prepared the quilt sandwich but when I pulled it out I found I hadn't. Never mind, the plan is this quilt will be completed including binding by the end of January.

2. I am going to link up with Lynne at Never too hot to stitch for her Something old, something new link party.

Pop over to Lynne's blog to see what it's all about by clicking here. My something old is to finish the baby quilt above. My something new is to have a go at paper piecing. I've never tried this before but how difficult can it be? Anyway nothing ventured nothing gained so I hope at the beginning of February to be able to show you how I got on.

3. Sharon at Vroomanns Quilts has come up with this great idea of making use of all the quilt books and magazines we have by making some of the projects from them. I only have 2 quilt books at the moment (it will be 3 tomorrow if Amazon deliver my Christmas present), but I do have a folder with lots of patterns I have pulled from magazines plus a folder on my computer with patterns for projects from various sites. Some of these patterns are desperate to be made so I'm in with this idea. I will link this to my NewFO project each month. I haven't made up my mind what I'm starting this month but I shall be starting it at the weekend.

4. I am going to join in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014. Last year I joined in but didn't make something for every month. This year I plan on making two lap quilts.

I'm keeping the pattern easy for both. The first one is using the simple nine patch block. The middle square will be white in all the blocks and I went wild and cut out all the middle squares I needed. The colour for January is blue so here are my 3 blocks for this month. Some of the blue looks green but it really is blue.

The other block is made up of hexagons and is EPP. This block is still in progress.

5. Barbara's NewFO. You can find this challenge over at Cat Patches. I love this challenge as it is all about starting something new rather than trying to finish something.

There may be other things I want to join in with but I'll make my final decisions over the next few days. As always I reserve the right to change my mind as this is my hobby so I want to enjoy myself. I'm going to join in with blog hops along the way as they are always fun. Projects for blog hops will always be ready to post (except in dire emergencies) but if I fail to complete anything else or change my mind don't bother sending the quilt police round as I will not be getting guilty about anything.

I'm linking up with Melissa at Sew Bittersweet Designs and Lynne at Never to hot to Stitch for their January link parties. I'm not working tomorrow so I have some sewing time. I'm sending warm thoughts and prayers to all of you caught up in the bitter weather. Stay warm and safe.

Lyndsey