I started the year off in an organizational mood (don’t we all?) and I binged watched The Home Edit and other interior design shows while I worked on my embroidery. I decided to reorganize my sewing room, taking everything out of the closet, out of storage containers, and out of random bags that accumulated junk. My sewing room was a mess! But I finally got through the clutter and ended up with 3 bags of donations and a bag of trash. My space now looks more cleaner, decluttered, and roomier! I was able to make my sewing table multi-purposeful for my work from home days, I was able to clear my cutting table off, and I was able to move my Etsy shipping supplies onto my other table top that was previously a catch all table.
The white drawer unit next to my photobox was a new purchase, which stores all my patterns. The top drawer holds my rotary cutters, painters tape, and measuring tape. The Ikea pegboard is also a new addition, to keep my rulers up and out of the way. The famous Ikea craft cart, which I had previously had storing random fabrics and projects, now lives next to my sewing table with all my notions, zippers, and notebooks. My goal was to make this space stress free and a productive place to sew. As you can see, Neko really loves how it turned out too. She claims my throne every time!
This year, I’m trying again to keep up with the All People Quilt UFO challenge. For the month of January, #6 was called, which was my x and + quilt project. I started sewing up these blocks in 2015. My goal was 24 blocks and I had 13 complete. I was able to finish up the rest in the month of January. Hopefully I can find some free time to get the top sewn together.
As for cross stitching, I’ve pretty much stuck with one of my recent starts from last year called Possum Song by Mama Witch Xstitch. It was a very small start, a couple of things weren’t working for me and that is why it wasn’t calling to me for progress. The 36 count fabric that I used must have shrunk in the dying process, because the two strands I was using was much too tight. I can usually get away with one or two strands with 36 counts, but it just wasn’t working for this piece. Or perhaps the fabric was mislabeled, but it definitely is stitching up like a 40 count. At the end of December, I unpicked all the stitches and started fresh with one thread. The chart was my other problem. They are not very printer friendly, which I prefer over using a screen to stitch from. I finally managed to print the chart in quarters and tape them up. With these two changes I was off to a good start, making decent progress in the month of January. Here’s where I am now!
A couple of random photos…here’s an apple cake I made one day. I’m not a baker and I sure did make a mess, but it was yummy. Also working on making these custom cricut stickers for my closet dividers as I continue to tackle my organization around the house. Hoping for another productive month!
by Penny Rose Fabrics! The 
Petals and Pins 