Blog, What Blog??

Happy Epiphany!  Although our Church celebrated the visit of the Three Magi to the Christ child on Sunday, January 6th is the traditional date for Epiphany.  My mother's parents were from Poland and like many European, Central, and South American countries, Poles consider Epiphany an important religious holiday.  Each year, I put on a make-shift turban, an old bathrobe, and occasionally a fake beard and knock on the door singing "We Three Kings of Orient Are."  I present a small gift to everyone in the family and we eat a special dinner.  The three sided candle below is always lit during dinner.

No matter which path you follow in life, whether religious or not, I hope, like the Wise Men, you seek truth and goodness.

For the past four months, I have totally ignored my own blog.  Thanks to those of you who emailed me to make sure I was okay.  My apologies to anyone who did not receive a timely reply to their comments.  I have been reading blogs, but have left very few comments.  I've resolved to follow fewer blogs and spend more time actually commenting on the blogs that are important to me.

After reading many posts across the internet about quilters' plans for the New Year, I realized how helpful it is to set goals early in the year to keep projects on track. Some of the challenges I participated in during 2013 did keep me focused and produced good results.  You can see the buttons for the projects I will be participating in on the right hand side of the page

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge was a great way to use up scraps and stash so I will definitely participate again.  I am using 20 of the postage stamp blocks I made during the challenge last year as my January UFO for A Lovely Year of Finishes at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs. There will be one more row of 4 blocks.  With our Christmas tree still up, there isn't enough room on the floor to lay them all out.

These Disappearing 9 Patch blocks will be put together for a baby quilt. The baby is already here, so there's definitely a need to finish it immediately.  The Moda Bungle Jungle and Riley Blake Zoofari fabrics are adorable.  I originally planned to use my precious stash of Strawberry Fields fabric for the quilt, but the parents are using a jungle theme and love elephants.  Luckily, I found most of the fabrics on sale.

There are a few new challenges and Quiltalongs that I will be participating in this year.  I am overwhelmed by my stash.  It's easy to be captivated by the lovely new fabrics that seem to appear everyday. Unfortunately, I have completely run out of room.  The Elven Garden is hosting Fabriholics Anonymous No Buy until June, 2014.   I don't feel guilty about my stash, but I do have to thin it out.   I will be making an effort to use my stash for any new projects.  I will allow myself to buy background fabrics as well as sashing and backing when necessary. I won't fret if I fall off the wagon, but I already own lots of lovely fabrics that are waiting to be used.

The Goodnight Irene Sew Along at Terry's Treasures has also caught my eye.  The blocks will make a pretty top and there are lots of fabrics in my stash that will be perfect for it.  I joined the Sugar Bowl Club at the Stitchery Dickory Dock blog on the theory that a new block and a recipe each month will keep me interested and productive.  I hope to start on my January blocks this week.
Thanks for stopping by.  It's good to be back.