What's On My Sewing Table + Getting Organized for the New Year

Sorry about the wrong link in the newsletter. If you're looking for 15 Lessons in 15 Years go HERE.

Well, here we are friends. The 2023 holiday season is officially over and we've started a new year. I didn't get to as much sewing as I'd hoped over the holidays - but I did enjoy slowing down and spending time with family who were in town. Now it's time to start getting back into a routine and to wrap up the seasonal Christmas projects I've been working on. Not to mention get my space organized for the new year. I love cleaning things up so that I have a fresh start for the year. Plus I've got some new supplies to help with that organization. So with that - here's a peek at what's on my sewing table this month.

Wrapping up Christmas Projects

I've had a couple of long-time Christmas WIPS (Works In Progress) that have graced my design wall for many past Decembers. At this point, they're kind of like the rest of my Christmas decorations and they come out and look festive for the season.

This year I took a page from last year's plan that seemed to work well. Prep next year's Christmas-quilt-sewing before it all gets put away this year. That worked great for the Christmas Patchwork quilt I finished this year. I cut a ton of patchwork squares from my Christmas fabric stash and this year, when I pulled them all out, all I had to do was layout the quilt and start sewing.

So this year I decided to make the final plan for all of my Lori Holt Vintage Christmas sampler blocks I've been making over the past 5-or-so years. I decided I'm going to do a quilt version with 20 blocks - so I counted up what I've made so far and made two more finished blocks.

Aren't they cute? I'm now going to put them away, ready to go next fall when I can just pull them out and add the sashing and then that quilt is finally done!

Another block I made about 5 years ago is this Shaker House block from the All Through the House quilt pattern. It was originally in an issue of Quilt Mania and I just fell in love with it. My husband's parents live in New England and the shaker-style house reminds me so much of Christmas where they live.

I decided that with this block I want to make wall hanging for the landing on my stairway. I usually hang a seasonal quilt there, but I at the moment, I don't have a great Christmas quilt to fit that space. This will be perfect.

So I finally added the Seminole first border using the original instructions. (I'm only making one house block - as opposed to the four in the original  All Through the House pattern.)

I plan to use that block as a center for a medallion-style quilt and add at least one more patchwork border - probably with some mini trees. But getting that lovely pieced-Seminole border (squares on point) on the house finally was a huge step in that direction. I'll add this addition to the Christmas WIP pile to finish next year.

I keep all of these blocks organized and easy to find in a 12" x 12" clear plastic tote. You can find these bins on Missouri Star Quilt Company or from Joann's or Michael's. They're usually a on sale this time of year.

Another tool I'm using to get organized this year are these pattern binder notebooks from Missouri Star Quilt Company.

These ringed-binders come with sturdy, clear page-protector pages to help you keep your patterns organized. The binder and page protectors are just the right size for 8 ½" x 5 ½" pattern booklets or an 8 ½" x 11" page folded in half.

And bonus: you can get an additional 15% discount on your entire Missouri Star order if you use my affiliate link. (Discount automatically applied at checkout. Only one discounted order, per person, per month.)

Sewing Room Organization Tips

If you're like me and in the mood to get organized I've got lots more Sewing Room Organization tips and ideas here!

Last project new to my sewing table this week is the January Perfectly Pieced subscription box from ME Time Delivered. This month's block is a classic log cabin quilt block - one of my all-time favorite quilt blocks. I'm so excited to have a foundation pieced version - especially in that mini 2" x 2" size!

The fabric bundle is a gorgeous wintery blue/gray palette. Next week I'll share what I've made!

Happy January! Best of luck as you prep for 2024. Or just relax and hibernate. That's not a bad option either.