Back in the sewing room - with a purpose

Monday found me in my "happy place" - the sewing room - where I landed most of this week.  I finished up a mountain of mug rugs to give away next year.  Hope I can find them when the time comes!  I like sewing with Christmas fabric during the holidays, but I just didn't have time this year.  I finished a year-round mug rug to replace the Christmassy one I had made Pam and delivered it Tuesday.  The weather got in my way before. 

This week I also put away the Christmas fabric, organized the string baskets, worked on blocks of the month, and then 10 string blocks in both colors and neutrals.  Those are waiting now for me to remove paper foundations while watching TV.  

Then I tackled the cake stand blocks that I'd receive in a swap, making some additional blocks to come up with nine total.  That top is now finished and waiting for quilting.  Not sure how yet.

Here's the block of the month for the local guild lottery.  It wasn't easy but it's done.  The center is very bulky, so I'm glad it's covered up.  If I make one for myself, I think I'll make it a bit bigger.  This year, all the lottery blocks will have a white background but my blocks for myself will vary.

My online Friendship Swap group is doing a sew along with one of the group members suggesting a block each month.  Debra chose the "Snow Churn" block for January, perhaps because she's had so much snow already this winter.

Next on my quilting agenda is to finish the two Austen Jubilee quilts made with blocks that have been shown all year in Quiltmaker magazine.  The resulting quilt is extremely busy so I have broken it into two smaller quilts.  I have yardage for borders on each so have a few decisions to make.

In 2020? I went on Weight Watchers on January 1 and then a general diet after a couple months, resulting in 25 pounds lost.  I spent a lot of time sewing so I wouldn't snack, and I plan to do that again this year.   Writing down what I eat seems to work the best for me, and I don't need WW for that.  I also found eating more vegetarian meals helpful.  I signed up for an online class sponsored by the hospital called "Preventing Diabetes" which starts January 23.  It's free, so I figure I have nothing to lose (but weight!).