Happiest of Sewing New Years

My first finish of 2023 was my grand dog, Floppy and her fish. I made a stab at trying to finish 2022 projects before beginning anything new. Well, I bet you can guess how that went! :)

Happy new year! I cannot believe that it is already January 18, 2023. It seems that the holidays were right around the bend and now they are in the rearview mirror. Like many crafters, I have arranged my plan for the new year. I am trying to finish some 2022 projects first but there are so many new ideas out there. I have already started something new. You too? 

What are your plans for the 2023 quilting and crafting season? How are you getting ready? If you are like me, you already have that list of new techniques to try and new colors to add to your work and new fabrics as well. 

Here  are some things that are on my list in no particular order:
1. I really want to make pillowcases for our new pallet village that was built for the homeless population near me. I think that it would be nice to have a cheery fabric greet them in their temporary homes. I am hoping to enlist some of my quilting guild friends in this endeavor. 
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2. I went to a retreat recently and saw something that I decided that I must have. A friend had made these wheels for a chair in a hotel. Most ballrooms have four legged chairs that are not very comfortable and do not move well. Her husband made these so that her chair would glide across the carpet and give a big of added height. 

You will need four of the leg dollies and four tennis balls. The balls are cross cut and bolted to the leg dolly. You can even be a bit more stylish than I was and order tennis balls of all colors and patterns. I found tiger striped, cheetah, zebra striped, etc. Who knew? They don't use those at Wimbledon!

3. I picked up a book by Karen Eckmeier at a craft sale called Happy Villages. I know that this book and pattern was released in 2007 but I had never tried it. I have done other fabric collage techniques but never one of these. So as my first official start of 2023, I embarked on the "happy village". Needless to say, my first village was not very happy. There is a learning curve to this process but I persevered. My first attempt is on the left and my second is on the right.

The one on the left was overwhelmed by the dots. I thought that the texture of the grunge fabric would be great but the dots were definitely not working for me. So I scrapped it and started over with solids which is what she had done along with some batiks. I was much happier with the result on the right. I did this last week at retreat. It was very liberating to use only my scissors and a glue baste bottle as well as my imagination. It was like being in elementary art class with lots of bits of colored construction paper. If you keep looking, you will see little details that I have added. I am not done as I want to add a few more surprises. This was a fun project. When it is finished, I will share the photograph. 

4. My third goal is to really use my stash of fabrics. I am sure that we say that every year and I really do make a run at it. I am hoping to do better this year. Although I have received gift cards for my local quilt stores and I live so close to Lancaster, PA that it is very difficult. :) To do this, I am hoping to step outside the box a bit and try something really different. Any suggestions?

​5. Finally, I am hoping to share more of my patterns with all of you. I am in the process of formatting them better. A new laptop will definitely assist in that. 

So, what are you goals for the 2023 sewing season? I am getting in shape by cleaning my sewing space a bit and stretching my imagination. Please leave a comment to let me know what you are prepping for this season. 

Until next time,

Trisha