New Year means New Beginnings!

Happy 2019 to all of my cherished readers!

When I used to have to work for others, I always despise the annual exercise where you had to list things you would Stop, Start and Continue to do.  I would always just list the items that I knew my boss wanted to hear.  Now that I am my own employer, I find this exercise to be quite helpful to organize my goals.  Of course, as my own boss, I now have the power to make it happen!

So here are just a few things in the works...

Continue

Of course, I will continue to host the Oh Scrap! party every Sunday.  

That is my favorite day of the week!

I plan on a number of scrappy finishes over the year too.  Not only these RSC quilts that are in the works, but many others that a bouncing around in my mind just waiting for me to start cutting fabric.

I am also thinking about bringing back Scrap-A-Palooza.

I have been making good progress finishing up a number of my older UFOs.  I am down to 17 projects right now and I hope to continue working on reducing them down to at least a dozen.

Start

I want to start posting a mid-week blog post like I used to do in the past.  I want these posts to be focused more on process, views of my design walls or tutorials and tips (like the hera marker tip I shared last week.)

I am also back to posting more faithfully to my Facebook page in 2019.  I am toying with starting a Facebook Group for scrappy quilters.  It will be similar to our Oh Scrap! community for those that prefer the FB platform.  Let me know what you think?

Stop

These lovely backings I picked up from Connecting Threads are probably going to be the last fabric I buy/share for a long time.  My stash grew in a lot 2018 and I need to work it down before anything new can come home with me.  I may need to buy something to finish up a project but right now, I can't imagine that there will be anything that I don't already have!

And if you haven't heard, Craftsy dumped a bunch of pattern designers from their database.  I still have my Wiggle Time pattern there but they dropped the rest of them (including my Spin! pattern which is a best seller - go figure!).  So I guess I am forced to stop selling my patterns on their platform!

I have opened up a Payhip account where you can now find all of my patterns (including the Exploding Bowtie) and Etsy still has all of my patterns listed.  Sadly, all of the links throughout Pinterest and other social media that link to my Craftsy patterns are now dead links.  There is just no way to track them all down.  It really is a bummer and will probably affect my income in 2019.

So if you find yourself with some extra time, feel free to send a little hug my way and pin/like/heart my patterns and blog to your favorite social media.  I appreciate the love!

I will continue to think about what 2019 will bring.  If you have any thoughts, feel free to let me know in the comments or shoot me an email.

I really do appreciate all of your friendship and support!

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Sew Fresh Quilts (Bee Social)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

*This post contains affiliate links.  I appreciate the support!

Oh Scrap! : The Battle is Real

I am really making a concerted effort to work down my scraps so that I can at least close all of the bins.  I realized this weekend that all of my design walls are filled with scrappy goodness.

All of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks are up on the design walls in my studio behind my longarm.  I will continue to work on them into 2019.  I think I need 12 more blocks for the quarter log, 13 blocks for the zig zag and who knows how many for the center garden quilt.

I love seeing all that color as I enter my studio every morning!




The postage stamp quilt is slowly growing in my sewing room.  Green is just starting to make an appearance.  The next block will be tricky because I have to blend green, yellow, peach and purple.  But I only have 6 more blocks to go!

And the slab blocks are over on the other wall.  I have decided to create a zig zag design.  I am just switching over to some orange scraps now.  If you look closely, I am creating some low volume scrappy strips to create a space between the slabs.  I am not firm yet on the color placement.  I will decide that on a later date!

What are you doing with your scraps?

*********************************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

• This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
• You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
• If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
• If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
• This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
• Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)

Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)

Freemotion by the River (Linky Tuesday)

So Scrappy for RSC18 

The holiday season always brings some great opportunities to save some money.  I saw a few in my in-box from my affiliates that I wanted to bring to your attention.

First, the 2018 Limited Edition Jolly Box is on sale at the Fat Quarter Shop.  Many of the items contained in the box are exclusive to FQS.  

You can have a holiday gift sent to a friend or even yourself!

They are shipping out now and once they are gone, they are gone!

An Out of this World Finish

I knew that If I focused on some finishes, I could quickly cross a number of items off my list!

Today's finish is Out of this World!

 This project started out with two Lily & Loom Space Camp charm squares.  These are one of the Craftsy fabric lines and I like to ensure that the quality is nice if I am going to be an affiliate.  

I like to use the products I promote!

I can say this fabric is really nice.  There was almost no lint or fraying as I assembled the quilt and the colors in the fabric are bright and well printed.

I pulled some Kona Navy and Coal to go with the fabrics.  I used Cheryl Brickey's Building Blocks pattern (Moda Bakeshop) as inspiration.  Mine looks a little different but 2 charm squares works perfectly for this layout (with the ability to toss a few out).

The space themed prints in this collection are so much fun.  Perfect for that special future astronaut!

I should have ordered some backing fabric from the same collection but you know I can't wait to get things quilted up and finished once a top is complete.  So I pulled a Kaffe Collective piece that was already in my stash.

 The finished quilt measures about 49" x 54".  And it is cute, cute, cute!

So I was really pleased with the quality of the fabric and the prints included in the collection are adorable.  If you want to make one for yourself, I see this collection is already on clearance as Craftsy releases new ones quite often.

I should also say, I tested out Craftsy's new Pima Cotton thread and I have to say it ran really nicely through my machine.  I have already almost used up an entire spool!

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday)

A Bit of Housekeeping

First off, I want to thank everyone who participated in the Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.  It was great to see that about 14 unfinished and unloved projects found new homes and many are once again being made for various charities across the US.  I have plans to hold the event again next March so keep that in mind if you become uninspired with a project you are working on.

I have been quite remiss sharing the new items that have entered my stash.  Some have been from giveaways or prizes for participating in a blogging event and I always like to recognize the wonderful bloggers and generous sponsors. So here goes....

Back in July, I won this Airmail layercake from Melissa at Happy Quilting.   Melissa was one of the first bloggers I started to follow and I still enjoy reading her blog.  This layercake was a prize on her Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Days.  It was sponsored by The Scarlet Thread Quilt Company.

I have already sewn this up into a quilt that is waiting to be quilted.  I am hoping to get it published either in a magazine or as a pattern so I can't share it quite yet.  But maybe I will try and share a sneak peek soon!

Also in July, I found out I was one of the winners of this Mixology Fat Quarter Bundles sponsored by Massdrop for the Scraptastic Tuesday link up.  Leanne at SheCanQuilt hosts this event every second Tuesday of the month.  I still haven't broken into this one yet but ideas have certainly been percolating.

Very recently, these two items came in the mail.  The Modern Neutrals layercake I picked up on sale from Craftsy.  I love the mid-century feel of the collection by Amy Ellis.  And I was just notified that my name was drawn for a gift certificate from Gotcha Covered Quilting.  I thought I would use it to get a backing to go with the layercake.  Now I just need a plan.

Thanks to SewBitterSweet Designs and Fiber of All Sorts for hosting A Lovely Year of Finishes.  I was one of the August winners.

September is my birthday month so I bought myself a little present in the form of this big stack of fabric from the Good Neighbors collection (designed by Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts).

I have no idea what I am going to make but I am very tempted by all of the pincushions I am seeing in the Good Neighbors Pincushion Party Blog Hop going on right now.

...and there are giveaways so go check it out!

Another big giveaway going on right now is the Craftsy School Supplies Giveaway where a lucky winner will receive a mystery box full of supplies from the category of their choice (art, cake/baking, sewing, quilting, knitting or crocheting) and a class of their choice.  Wouldn't that be nice to win!

In my sewing room, I have been having a hard time focusing on one project.  Right now there are pieces for about a half dozen quilts scattered around my machine, all being worked on at once.

 And this Bear Claw quilt is what has me a bit stuck.  I can't decide between a light or dark gray solid for the sashing and the pieced border.  I am leaning toward dark...

 Off to go sew and ponder a bit more!

Linking Up:

Sew Fresh Quilts

My Quilt Infatuation

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may make a small commission, which I appreciate so much!