Resolved To Sew, 2012

When I saw Manda from Quilty Moments post about this, I knew I had to enter ... obviously I did necause I'm a hopeless fabric addict and there are some delicious prizes on offer of a fabricatious nature! ... but in all seriousness, this really struck a chord (or should I say cord? you know how I love my cords!)because if there's one overarching aim I have for 2012 it's to resolve to sew more ... and I do mean I need to be resolved to do so, not because I lack the desire to sew, but because I let everything else in life get in the way, and especially the little obstacles that I let become barriers, like threading needles, needing to master the sewing machine, getting the mobility van to and from quilt club sew nights .... as you can imagine, I'm not short of excuses for why I have nothing for show and tell week after week!

The original post is here on Very Bery Handmade One of the rules is that I have to name my preferred prize from the list .... I think my number 1 choice would be the lifetime's supply of Christmas cake, delivered at monthly intervals until there is a world shortage of almonds with which to make the marzipan to go on top of the cakes, or the world supply of brandy that moistens the cake and plumps up its pretty little raisins hits drought levels,or I end up in a diabetic coma, whichever comes first ...

... oh,maybe I imagined that prize! OK, my next number 1 choice is ... (7 FQ) from Dan Bennett’s Premier Lord collection from Eclectic Maker
www.eclecticmaker.co.uk

and I think I can name my other prize preferences too, so second and third choice would be:

2. Fat quarter bundle (3 FQs) of polka dots from Lake House/Tanya Whelan from Quilt Me Happy
www.quiltmehappy.co.uk ... polka dots are one of few patterns I still can see quite clearly ... they litterally jump off the shelves at me in the quilt stores!

3. Fat quarter bundle (4FQs) from Kate Spain’s Terrain collection from Gone to Earth
www.gonetoearth.co.uk

So here they are, my resolutions for 2012. I've focused on half a dozen "aims" rather than projects, which you can find a plethora of in my "Between Now And The End Of The World" post back in December... these are skills I want to work on throughout 2012, and that list of projects will hopefully be the nitty gritty way in which I accomplish my resolutions!

1. I am not going to let every little thing stop me from doing *something* with a needle and thread each week
2. I am going to learn as many of the "basics" as I can, primarily through Craftsy.com where I've signed up for aa 2 blocks per month challenge.
2b. ... I will make as many of those blocks as I can without any assistance, no matter how clunky they turn out!
3. I am going to try and fit in learning some Free Motion Quilting, using Quilter in the Gap's very helpful introduction video tutorial, and Quokka Quilts's recently started QAYGFMQAL which I know several of you are also doing!
4. I hope to hold my own challenge midway through the year, with more than a little inspiration and help from Quokka Quilts (her again!) ... the plan is for a tactile quilt challenge though the details are still in deliberation ... more later!
5. I will have a giveaway myself too, having been the very happy winner of several over the course of 2011. Having just passed 50 followers I would like to celebrate that, and will do so as soon as I think of what would make a nice prize!'
6. I will try and respond to more comments and get to know my new followers, even when their blogs aren't on Blogger and therefore aren't part of my update summary list ... I'm bad at forgeting to stop by their websites and I must do better! I hope you do know how much I appreciate your comments, whether you comment on every post or just once or twice .. they all add up to a great bunch of happiness and I know I don't tell y'all enough!

So that's it, my resolutions for 2012. You have my permission to come round my house and take a handful of my stash mountain for every resolution I fail to keep ... I'll even make you a cup of tea and a cake before you leave.