New Year, New Projects!

I celebrated the first day of the New Year by watching the Rose Parade and sketching out some new designs.

I realized I hadn't stitched a quilt in a while, so I decided to look through the quilt blocks on Electric Quilter (a software program for quilters to design their own quilts). It's one of the best resources I've found to search for quilt blocks. Sometimes I'm inspired by the quilt block's name...sometimes it's the block's arrangement that catches my eye. In any event, there are so many hundreds of quilt blocks, that it doesn't take long to find an interesting block and then start playing around with colors and compositions. And voila! I print out a draft layout of the desired quilt, and I have a quilt design that inspires me to start stitching....

I also realized that I needed to start another flower collage...it's been some time since I've done a new one of those too! So I sketched out a collage composition, and then sketched in some different patterns and ribbons to fit the various sections. And another design is now ready to stitch...

But of course, one of the most important elements of any new project is picking out the variegated thread I'm going to use. EVERYTHING depends on the colors within that variegated thread. So I spend a lot of time pawing through my drawer of threads, looking for JUST the right color combination that will work in whichever design I'm working on at the moment.

The next step? Cutting the canvas and attaching it to stretcher bars. Then I'm ready to start stitching. And then it's my FAVORITE part of the whole process: starting to stitch on a new project.....

Here's to a wonderful New Year, filled with wonderful New Projects!
(Now go celebrate the New Year by starting one of your own...)