My immune system has been getting quite a workout– for over two weeks now, I’ve been battling a huge cold. I’m finally starting to feel good again– wow, it feels good to feel good again after all this time. I did force myself to sew a few hours last week so I do have things to show for myself. Are you ever in a situation where you force yourself to sew?

This finish was totally worth a bit of force this week! I’m redubbing Summer Memories as Winter Memories. 🙂

All I had left to do was add on some 100” borders– not my favorite job, and it’s been draped over the longarm for quite a few weeks. I discovered that the longarm is a great place to pin up long borders. You can guess how much longarming has gotten done in those weeks. I now have my Fruit Cocktail Table Runner (Fig Tree Fabrics) uncovered which has been queued up since mid-October. One of my goals this January was to get moving on quilting again!

I also got another couple of blocks done for Moonbeams. These are the “Friendship Star” blocks. It’s a very sparkly quilt and I’m starting to have a nice collection of blocks.

I made 15 hourglass blocks which gives me a head start this week on four “Piece and Plenty” blocks. These blocks have a lot of pieces, but they are big at least!

After that, there’s just two tree blocks left. I do love a tree block. I see it has a lot of pieces. 🙂

I mentioned I was waiting to make the dragon blocks until I see how much fabric I have left over. But I really need to add another green to make the horns show up– those areas are sketched as yellow here.

I didn’t want to add another color to the quilt– I thought it might look strange just being in the corners. BUT– if I also use it in the leaves of the trees I think it would work. I wasn’t totally fond of the white leaves anyway. There is really something to be said for my slow, methodical way of doing things– I think I am a genius for thinking that leaf idea through! So I have two greens and a little extra red of the Strawberry Lemonade fabric on the way from Fat Quarter Shop. Time is of the essence here– I have a deadline in late June. I can’t wait to make my dragons.

My snowflake block– more perspiration than inspiration on this one! I was so hoping I’d have this done for the blog post. If you think this looks completely overworked and overstarched, you’re right!

First of all, (you know it’s bad when they start with FIRST OF ALL), these tiny units have too much seam. I did get it flat and tidy– but nobody in their right mind is going to want to join me in making these. Granted, some of you, my beloved friends, are as crazy as I am, so there’s that.

Second, since every good cross stitcher has the top stitch of their X’s going in the same direction, that was my goal. I took me all week to figure out you can’t simple rotate one of these tiny blocks 180 degrees to make the cross go the other way. You have to rotate 90. That means you unpick. These two crosses are finally going the same way.

Third, even though I have the handy dandy little trimmer, I’m having trouble getting the finished rows to measure 5-1/2″. I will give myself an A+ for getting the white strips to align from block to block, though! I’m sure once I flip all the crosses the same way, that skill will evaporate.

Now that I know what I’m doing– I’ve decided to soldier on. The 2025 Tiny Sampler is the key to the 12 months of blocks I am making– did you notice? Look at the little snowflake under January. Next, I need a little heart, like the one under February there. Hopefully this will go better.

No one is really clamoring for this finishing kit– I’m just going to take my time and come up with some easier options if you have all twelve blocks sitting around the house. Do you? I am giving up on perfection and just letting the finished piece be what it wants to be– a fun thing to look at.

On the business front, the Titmouse and Hellebores are really coming along!

Oh– and there’s that pesky word– JANUARY! I just can’t resist– I love the months and the seasons. I’m going to make JANUARY a color change of its own, so you can omit it if you feel miffed that this is probably going to release closer to February. This blending of thread work is difficult and can’t be rushed– it will probably take two or three stitch outs to perfect. I’m also waiting on a new fabulous Grunge color, “Soothing.” to test it on. Stay focused and we are going to end up with a gorgeous show quilt– I’m calling it “A Year on Sugar Meadow.” xox

I sense a great determination to finish old work this year– more than usual! Let’s do it. To that end, I made up a set of 2025 labels. Looks like “Summer Memories” will be the first to have one! I am going to change the basket label to a red, white, and blue color scheme for that quilt– you can match your colors to your fabrics as well.

Finally, I finished one of my fantastic heirloom felt ornaments and hung it on the tree. I’ll probably give the tree another week. I wasn’t feeling well enough to haul it down, but we usually let Christmas drag on here every year anyway. I can’t promise I’ll stop working on Christmas projects though– I love it!

So that’s about it! I’ve been watching the California wild fires– it hurts. We lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for two years– it wasn’t particularly a happy time for my family to be honest. The financial pressures to live in that state are immense. I well remember those dry hills and the winds that never stopped. It didn’t rain from about February to October– I could have set up my sewing machine on a picnic table outside, and left it there for months, with no worries. I did need an outlet to combat the loneliness– so San Francisco Stitch Co. was born.

One Sunday in 2005, a spark from a neighbor’s weed whacker caused our hillside across the street to ignite– the dry grasses just burst into flames, like gasoline. In no time, this huge orange helicopter appeared with a giant bag of water– it sounds almost comical–and dropped it perfectly to extinguish the whole fire. It was amazing, to say the least. We didn’t even have time to worry!

Fast forward to today and here I am, a world away, in snowy Maine, beavering away in my sewing room while a state burns. What else can I do? I don’t like harsh realities to intrude in this space, but I just don’t want you to think I am a mindless moron, unaware of the suffering that’s happening. I have to admit I don’t have a great feeling about 2025, but I hope you remember you can always come here if you need a break from the news.

Sew on, friends.

xox
Carol