Menu Monday’s ~ What’s on Your Crafty Plate?

I’m posting my weekly plans a bit late today simply for the fact that I have been switching between loads of laundry, cleaning and making chocolate chip cookies most of the early afternoon!  It’s amazing how much laundry 4 boys can create…and how many cookies a Troop of Boy Scouts will eat.  But now I’m in the home stretch with laundry, the cookies are done and the sun is actually out in CNY! Time to relax for a few before the boys come home.

This weekend, I started on one of my 2014 sewing resolutions, which is to to improve my quilting and piecing skills.  One way I am working on this is participating in the Sugar Block Club with Amy Gibson. This is once a month and I really enjoy Amy’s teaching style and directions, so I’m learning quite a lot. The second part of this quilting resolution is more of a personal challenge.  I am going to *try* and quilt/piece my way through:

This book is titled (roughly):   163 favorite pattern of patchwork  .  ISBN 9784391140.  It’s slightly over 200 pages and was published in 2011.  It can be hard to find, but I found my copy on e-bay last year through the seller rose.tree.  This book is fantastic. Each block has a finished picture, a picture of the back so you can see how they press the seams and diagrams on the bottom that show you how to assemble it. Love,Love,Love this book!

Ok, so it’s all in Japanese. But the diagrams and visual “explanations” make it totally do-able for those of us who cannot read Japanese.  There is a paragraph that starts each block that lists the block name, designer and from what I have been able to translate a brief explanation of the meaning behind the block or a story.

Each week I am going to try and complete one block.  This is the first one.  From my iTouch app, the name of the block is “Bow”.  Have a good chuckle at the rough translation I got too!  From what I’ve been able to tell, as you turn the page, the blocks become more challenging  as well.  I’ll share my block and how it all came together later this week.  If anyone has this book and wants to make some too, drop me a note.

Also on my plate this week is to start filling out the New York paperwork I need to re-open my Etsy shop. Not fun, but has to be done. I am also going to continue watching leather how-to videos and reading up on techniques so I can start working on a few more 2014 goals.

That’s about all for now! What’s on your crafty plate this week? Cindy