I had work around the house to do getting ready for company tomorrow and an annual inspection for our wildlife exclusion service (there was evidence of rodents in the attic when we bought the house although none were actually caught in the traps)… So I didn’t expect to get any sewing done but I managed to squeeze in a little time to start my February Precut quilt.

I had looked at several options for charm squares but my time is very limited this month because I’m traveling twice in the last two weeks so I’m going for easy! The Charm packs were bought from BluPrint. I made this quilt last year in a different color scheme and while it’s simple, it turned out cute. Click the link to see it.

I’ve been out of the habit of regular exercise – walking or biking – over the last several months. I started to work on getting back to doing something daily in December but it only lasted a couple weeks before the holidays and getting sick, and I stayed sick most of January. One of the ways we encourage each other in our family is competition … Chris created a photo stream and we all add photos of our activity … seeing him or Keith post, motivates me to get out and do SOMETHING! I did get out today for a ride along the bay.

Thank you all for the feedback on the wool pressing mats. I used some steam with mine last night and there was no odor… from the comments it seems some have an issue and others don’t. I am definitely considering buying a larger one that will cover the entire big board but I’m going to hold off and use the block size one for a while.

Today’s appointment was the dentist – I had to have a filling replaced and didn’t get in the sewing room until late. I don’t have any new photos to share although I still have to take a photo of the whale Strippie that I finished binding last week. Other than that I’m still just plugging away on my list … the map quilt is more than half assembled, I’m working on the yellow crochet blanket, the printer was purchased and is set up, and one of the Maine quilts has been trimmed and the binding is machine stitched to the front, I’m going to save all the hand stitching on them for April when I’m actually in Maine.

I saw an ad for a discounted wool pressing mat and I thought I’d get it and see if it was as good as they claim to be. After just a day … I do think the seams lie nice and flat and I kind of wish it covered the whole big board. For now, I’ll use it a bit and decide whether a larger one is worth the cost.

Do you use one? I’ve read mixed reviews but I’m leaning toward the “worth the money” camp.

Go Chiefs! Sitting here watching the game with my crochet in hand and Finn by my side. (Keith’s here too). It’s even cool enough for a fire!

I’ve got a busy week (for me) coming up with appointments almost every day and company coming for the weekend so I need to think about what I wanted to accomplish.

• Assemble the Map top – I got started on this today
• Quilt the last Maine top
• Sort/File/Shred the in-box papers setting aside the tax related documents
• Buy a new printer
• Work on the yellow crochet blanket
• Get the guest bedroom made up for company
• Trim and make binding for one or two of the Maine quilts

I know I whined about being sick most of the month and I felt pretty bad for 3 weeks so I’m a bit shocked at my results for January. It just goes to show that progress can be made even working for short amounts of time in the sewing room and that lots of knitting and crochet can be done when I can’t sleep! Of course almost nothing got done around the house and when I get home I need to get back to my daily organizing and decluttering.

January results

Piecing
• Light and dark Heartstrings top assembled
• Tumbler top made
• All the blocks for the Map quilt pieced
• 32 Rainbow HeartStrings blocks made

Quilting
• 6 tops quilted

Knitting and crochet
• 3 hats knit
• 2 blankets crocheted
• A 3rd blanket is 3/4 finished

Bound
• 1 quilt bound and it just happens to be my first UFO finish for 2020