Cold winter days...and a new sewalong!

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 Hello friends!

Back again with another quick update on the kitchen reno, AND a special announcement about a new sewalong!

I hope all of you in North America are staying warm! It has been sooooo chilly here the last week or so! My car really let me know it was not happy being started up at 0* Fahrenheit, but at least it started! And I do love all that sunshine we get when it is so darn cold....makes it more bearable, don't you agree?

This past week we celebrated 2 more birthdays in our house...yep, we really know how to pile things on! But now we are done until July ;). So one of my journal entries was this piece of chocolate cake, to commemorate the cake my hubby bought to celebrate my birthday. 

I haven't yet decided what to embroider for daughter's birthday, but I have until Sunday to come up with an idea!

Our kitchen reno is coming along so nicely! I was able to get the paint we need for our final top coat, so hopefully that will go on this weekend, along with the rest of the hardware. It has been a little tricky opening drawers without handles :P.  And happily we were able to settle on some new and very affordable countertops and a new sink....I am SO excited, especially about the sink! Now comes the hard part of waiting for the company to come out and template and measure....everyone is so busy and the wait is quite long, and have I mentioned that I am not patient?? You will have to wait and see the countertops, but here are some of the samples that we were looking at...

Other than work on the kitchen, I did manage to complete at least one of my projects for January! I started this one a few years back. It is very simple, made up of half-square triangles, all done in reds and whites, but I really like it. I machine quilted diagonally between the rows and then hand-quilted a scallop pattern with a big stitch in the borders. 

See that bright spot in the bottom left corner? That would be the sunshine streaming in! Now it's time for my next Christmas quilt to get finished, although it might have to be delayed a bit because as I mentioned above, I am hosting a new sewalong!

This one is based on a pattern by Lori Holt and will be a great scrap buster! 

( image via Lori Holt)

Isn't it the cutest block? I will be sharing all the instructions right here on my blog in the next few weeks. This is a simple block and I think anyone can join in, no matter what skill level. I will be sharing a few tips and hints along the way, AND will also share a bigger option, for those that would like to use bigger-sized scraps. 

I have been busy sewing up some test blocks too and will share some information about those next week as well. 

Even though there is nothing for you to get ready yet, IF you don't have scraps, you might want to purchase a 1 1/2" strip roll ( click here for some options or here for more options), OR, if you want to make a bigger, alternate version of this block, a 2 1/2" strip roll ( click here for some options or here for more options).

Alright, that is all from here for this week! I hope you will join in on this newest sewalong...I always enjoy seeing everyone's versions at the end!

Until next time, stay warm, and, as always, happy creating!

Monique