Link Love: Fussy Cutting, Strawberries & Getting Organised

Whoa! That first week just seemed to fly! I’m off to a cracking start this year. I feel re-energised and excited about this year. I’m happy and enthusiastic about being back in the sewing room and just having fun. I think sometimes I loose track of the joy in what I do under the pressure of commitments and worries and I’m determined to focus more on the simple pleasures this year.

I’ve set myself a challenge this year to make a block-a-day for the entire year based on the prompts from Fat Mum Slim’s photo-a-day challenge on Instagram. I’m only a week in and I’m loving it. I’m using the blocks as an end of day palette cleanser. I spend all day looking forward to getting into my sewing room to do some random fun sewing. It’s no secret that I have a crazy large stash and so I’m determined this year to sew it down and this challenge has been the perfect excuse for shopping my stash.

I’ve also made myself a challenge to get through the year without buying too much fabric. I looked at my records and I bought less fabric last year than the year before, but I still need to improve. I went through my sewing space last week and started culling. I did a mini cull late last year and offloaded bags by the kilogram on Instagram but it still really didn’t make a dent in the stash, so last week I went through my scrap bins and emptied them out. I keep all my scraps, but I’ve never made a truly scrap quilt – I always sew from my stash. So I decided to go through my scraps, keep the bits that I absolutely couldn’t live without and donate the rest to friends. It was liberating. I still have a couple more colours to do, but I’m determined to get rid of them.

Are you looking at ways this year to change how you accumulate and use fabric? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks. Who knows, together we might be able to crack the code when it comes to stash control! Speaking of stash, I hear it calling my name so I’m off to fondle some fabrics! Wishing you a most fabulous day!

Are you dreading returning to work after your festive season break? I loved this article from Kelly Exeter that gives some great advice on how to deal with it positively. Click here to read all about it.

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Speaking of stash control, did you see this post by Alison at Cluck Cluck Sew about how to quilt on a budget? (Just ignore #1 *wink*) Read more by clicking here.

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Elizabeth at Simple Simon & Company has developed these great sewing and quilt planners and she’s giving them to you for free. Get all the details by clicking here.

If you’ve been having strawberry quilt envy in 2016 like I did then it might be time to check out my super sized strawberry blocks and get cracking on your own strawberry quilt. Get all the details by clicking here.

Have you got an event, a charity drive, a pattern release, a class schedule or something else that you think my community would be interested in hearing about? Why not drop me a line and let me know – I’d love to share it with my readers. Click here to email me.

• Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts is hosting “Have a Jolly Little Christmas” quilt-along which begins January 14th. The quilt-along will provide instructions for 12″ quilt blocks made using traditional piecing methods. There are 15 blocks to choose from and multiple layout options for mixing and matching the blocks are provided. Click here for more details.
• Jen from Faith and Fabric has this great stacking basket tutorial available that’s perfect for those looking for some customised storage solutions or gifts. Click here for details.
• Fat Quarter Shop are launching their 2017 Designer Mystery Block of the Month. It’s a big one this year as it will mark the tenth year of this special event. You can find out more about it by clicking here.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!