Journal Notes

In August 2023 I set about busting my Christmas stash. I assembled the fabrics, picked the patterns and started cutting. Many were Cozy Quilt patterns as I had bought them early in my passion and decided purchased patterns needed to be used as much as my stash! They were also easy. I made 2 quilts in 3 days (Ski Lodge* and Snow Flakes) and another before the weekend (Bellagio*). After that I decided to finally do my friend’s (Windows*). Curious and driven, (how many can I do?!) I grabbed the HSTs I’d made years before and finished another (Christmas Tuxedo*). There were two other quilts I had started but hadn’t finished so I finished those, too. (Christmas Cactus* and Snowy Village*.) Still on a roll, I cut out and pieced a practice quilt (Emilia, I call Diamond Window*). THEN, in a burst of energy I hit the Halloween stash and made Build-a-Bat*, the Jack-o’-lantern wall hanging*, and other Halloween things*. Whew! *this quilt is pictured elsewhere in the app. Although the tops were pieced just about everything needed borders. I got everything done and to the long armer by the end of the month (I was there for 2 hours, picking out backing and patterns!) EXCEPT this one and Bellagio. By then my energy was finally pppffffttt so they got folded up and put away. I suspect they may not get done in 2024 either but that’s okay. I have plenty of Christmas quilts! At some point I will give each member of the family one of them but I do plan to enjoy them until then. Oh… I did make a major dent in the Christmas and Halloween stash but there is still a lot left. Of course! I did destash some of it in 2024 and it felt SO good to finally see a more manageable stash. 1/11/2025. Three weeks ago I was preparing for a quilting marathon. The long arm machines where I work sit idle between Christmas and New Years so it’s the perfect time to get our own quilts done. I pulled this one out, trying to decide if I had time and energy to do the border. After a minute, I thought, “naw. Doesn’t need a border. Finished is better than sitting in a box for another year or more.” So it is done! Yay! Just in time for January winter! Peacock minky on the back.