February 1 Is Finally Here!

Is January finally over?  It's always been my least favorite month, but this year has been particularly trying.  I've had enough cold and snow to last for a long time!

One good thing for the cold, it allows for lots of indoor time for quilting.  When Primitive Gatherings had their after-Christmas sale, I bought a Juki 2010Q, and I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get the hang of it.  I really like it so far, but need a lot more practice on it. I started out my practice on a Soduku quilt.  The fabric for the top of this quilt was a giveaway at a retreat I went to several years ago, so it's good to get this one done.

This quilt top was more challenging than necessary due to the fact that I received only 8 of one of the fabrics, a fact I didn't discover till I was well along with piecing, so I had to scrounge through my stash for a substitute.  It's the floral in the center of the top row, and blends in amazingly well!  This is Charity Quilt #1 for 2014, and is about 55" square, so a nice lap size.  It also features "unique" quilting! LOL

The second quilt I practiced on is this Popcorn the Bear panel, also a Charity Quilt.  It was a lot of fun to quilt, with no seams to deal with.  I've always loved this print, so I'm glad I got to work on it.  I have another panel just like this one to make up someday.  If both of these quilts fit the criteria, I'm ready for the Hands 2 Help challenge.

We were supposed to get a snowstorm today, so I ran all my errands yesterday with plans to stay inside and sew today.  We only got 2" of snow, which at this point we hardly notice, but I stayed inside to sew anyway.  Every time I go to a retreat, I wish I had an iron caddy to bring the hot iron home in, so today I finally made two.

The one on the left is for the travel iron, and the other is for the regular size iron.  They match the snap bag I made a year or two ago, so now I have some great stuff to take to my next retreat!   (They really do match - it doesn't look like it in this picture, but they are made from fabrics in the same line from Buggy Barn).  I even found some cool old buttons in my Grandma's button box.  The caddy pad opens to an ironing surface covered with a reflective fabric.  There is also Warm Tater batting inside to protect the table from the heat.

These were fun and pretty quick to make, once I figured out the first one.  I can't wait for my next retreat so I can try them out!

I also had a couple quick pincushion finishes.

The pineapple pincushion was a pattern from Buttermilk Basin.  The bottom pincushion was the freebie kit at Primitive Gatherings' Christmas open house.  I've had both of these stitched for awhile, but had run out of walnut shells for the stuffing.  I bought a bag yesterday - the smallest they had was 12 quarts, which is a BIG bag.  Wonder how many pincushions I can get out of that?  I'm guessing it's a lifetime supply, but we'll see!

Country Threads picked #1 as their UFO for February, so now I need to get to work on quilting My Favorite Things. 

Hope you're staying warm!