2012 OPAM or One Project A Month...

Two years ago I signed up for the OPAM Challenge and did fairly well on completing projects.  Then last year I didn't get in by the deadline, but I thought, "I can still participate, but just on my own".  HAH!!!   I find if I don't have a deadline or some one to push me a little, I can be a very lazy crafter!!  It's so easy to just sit at the computer and cruise the web, or play games, or do jigsaw puzzles--anything, other than work on projects.  So this year when I saw Kris and Peg were taking signups again, I hurried over and signed up.  I have tons of UFO's to get finished and I need that little extra excouragement to keep my nose to the grindstone.

 

 

The idea of the “One Project A Month Challenge is pretty simple ... To try to finish at least ONE craft project by the end of each month. This can be something you’ve had partly done for a while (a Work In Slow Progress WISP), a pattern you bought ages ago that you finally get around to making up, or a completely new project. This is meant to be a low-stress challenge  - if you don’t finish a project every month  - that’s fine! Sometimes life interferes with our plans. Some projects are meant to be long-term and have a LOT of work involved, like a quilt or an embroidery. The main aim of the OPAM Challenge is to give everyone a bit of a motivational boost and to give us all a big cheer squad to encourage and inspire us.

 

So with help from my friends in OPAM-ville, this year I hope to have lots and lots of finished projects.  I'm off to a good start so far, lol, I have one project already done.  I can't show it yet, because it's part of a swap and hasn't been delivered yet.  But I'll post a pic as soon as I know my friend, ------------, has received it.

 

Until next time,

Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

 

 

More goodies for us...

Val Laird Designs has a wonderful BOM for 2012 that starts today and continues all year.   "Thoughts in Thread" is a wall quilt measuring 34 inches square and consists of nine blocks. Each month over nine months, she'll give you the pattern for each block, then in the tenth month you will receive the finishing instructions.

Coming in July 2012 will be a new project from Denise Russart, the Christmas Town Sampler. It's a collaboration with four very talented quilting friends:  Judy Laquidara (http://www.patchworktimes.com/), Sheryl Till (http://quiltingtizzy.wordpress.com/),  Susan Neves (http://7and7.wordpress.com/) and Denise will each be presenting different parts of this quilt.  It’s part Block of the Month, part Mystery and part Blog Hop.  

The Raspberry Rabbits also have a new BOM starting, The Adventures of Harrington and Hannah BOM.
Each month on the 15th, they will bring you a new block featuring stitching, wool applique, and patchwork sashing. The January Block, Harrington and Hannah give a carrot to a friend is up now.  I probably won't do the wool applique, but I think the design will look great just stitched!

Off now to work on my stocking project for a friend.  Until next time...

Happy Quilting
from Sharon and the "girls"

Some new Freebies for us....

FaveQuilts has put together its very first free eBook of free quilt patterns! The 12 Awesome Free Quilt Patterns and Small Quilted Projects eBook has over 50 pages filled with applique quilt patterns, patchwork quilts, and small quilted projects. Whether you're a novice quilter or you have years of experience, you're sure to find some free quilt projects that will keep your sewing machine humming!

 For 2012 Aurifil Threads will have a whole new set of designers bringing you blocks of stitchery each month for free on their blog!  January is Roseann Kermes of Rosebud's Cottage, with a darling Snowbird stitchery.  Sign up for Aurifil's newsletter and you'll make sure to get your free stitchery every month!

Cindy Carter at Quilt Patterns from Seattle has another new free quilt for you to help celebrate Valentine's Day.  She's just starting it now, so don't get behind.  And if you've never been to her site before, be prepared to spend a LOT of time there!  She has tons of adorable free quilt patterns there for you.

Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and "the girls"

Happy New Year !!

    

The girls and I hope you all had a great Holiday Season, no matter how you celebrated.  We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Eve hubby and I ushered in the New Year with a delicious lobster dinner with baked potatoes, corn, and Italian bread.  Yummy!  Of course, the only time we have lobster is about every other year at New Year's--too expensive for our strict budget, lol.  But once in a while we indulge ourselves.  Of course hubby never stays up to watch the ball drop, so the girls and I saw the New Year in and then went to bed in anticipation of the next day.

New Year's Day was spent with 6 of my quilt club girls at Ann's house.  We sewed along with the Planet Patchwork NYD Mystery .  Ann served us breakfast and a great lunch of baked spaghetti, tossed salad, garlic bread, and a yummy vanilla wafer pudding.  Between that and the snacks, lol, we all sort of got behind in the clues.  Jill was the only one who even started sewing the rows together to see what the pattern might look like.  I think she had one row left to go when I had to leave.

Most of us got our blocks sewn, but with other dinner commitments that day, we all had to pack up and leave at different times, so we'll probably end of finishing the top at Joan's house on our normal Wednesday sewing day.

But what a lot of fun and laughter we had.  And we got another to chance to say goodbye to our BFF, Diane, who is deserting us for the warmth of a Florida winter.  Traitor!  Just think of us back up here in the frozen North, Diane, while you're down there lolling around in your bathing suit!

Here are the pictures I took yesterday.

 

The last picture is of my blocks as I was almost done with them.  I had a jelly roll from Kansas Troubles called Kansas Winter, so that's what I used for my blocks.  I love their fabric and colors.  I have several more jelly rolls, layer cakes, charm packs, and turnovers in Lynne's other lines.  You should stop over at her blog and say hello.

Until next time...

Happy Quilting and may your New Year be filled with peace and joy,

from Sharon and the girls, Katie and Patsy Cline