January Goals Recap!

Hmmm... over a week into the month and I'm finally getting a chance to check-in on how I did with my January goals.... and I promise I have my February goals written up - will post those soon, too!

Main Goal: Do more sewing that is NOT paid orders
I think I did pretty great on this one!  During the month of January I sewed 57 items - and 9 of those items were "just because" / not for paid orders.  Yes, I realize that's only 15.8% - but that is a MUCH higher percentage than I have had in the past.  Included in those 9 items were BOM quilt blocks, some fun "add-ons" to paid orders that were gifts for a friend, and Project Quilting sewing!

A Lovely Year of Finishes (ALYOF) January
Goal was to make a stop sign pillow - and I completed the stop sign pillow on January 13th.  Colby has slept with his head on that pillow every.single.day since! :)

Project Quilting 
I completed challenges 1 and 2 during January - my "Bath Time" wall hanging and a fun construction wall hanging for Colby's room.  A fun bonus: I have won prizes both weeks so far - as one of the random winners!  Score!  Week 1 I won a sewing pattern, and week 2 I won a quilt pattern book.

100 item challenge
Oh gosh - this has been a "fun" one!  Actually - it's been great!  As of January 31 I had made 57 items - not bad for 29 days with a few days completely void of sewing!  As of this post, I have sewn 7 more items, bringing my total to 64.  Oh.... and have I bought fabric?!  NOPE!  I placed ONE order for two half-yards of fabric needed for a custom order - but I found a seller on etsy to buy from - not my usual "big box" online seller that offers free shipping after a certain amount spent (which would have made it REALLY easy to add to my order).  I bought the two fabrics, and that is ALL!  This has been a great challenge for me.  Since I am unable to buy fabric, I have to look at / use the fabric I have on hand.  It's interesting that there are fabrics I still don't tend to work with even when I can't buy a better replacement - - - guess I'll have some fabric to sell soon! :)

Vice Versa BOM
I recruited my mom to do this BOM with me!  I got my blocks sewn up on 1/7 - can you tell I was excited?!  It took me forEVER to decide on the fabrics.... but I'm happy with what I picked!

Wishes Quiltalong
This one was a "maybe" on the list - and I joined in!  I found a FUN quilt pattern that has football blocks - and after I saw that, I thought it would be fun to make a quilt using some of the football blocks as well as all sorts of black / orange / grey / white blocks from a few QALs / BOMs - the hubby and I are Oregon State University alumni and LOVE football - and the team colors are orange & black.  Should be fun and scrappy - and I'll be able to work on it throughout the year and finish it up during football season!

My January block!  These are big blocks - - - 14" plus seam allowance!

Mystery BOM
I decided not to join in on this one.  Didn't feel like my style and I had LOTS of other fun things I was excited about!

Additions
I added one more QAL / BOM - the Aurifil Designer of the Month sewalong.  Each month they're featuring a different designer, who will share a block of their choosing and we'll sew along with them.  January's block was "spools" - so I thought I'd make a block I could eventually make into a wall hanging for my sewing studio. {the fabrics coordinate well with my adorable ironing board cover, and the red face on my beautiful sewing machine.... and all the pink gear I have from my Susan G. Komen 3-day walks!}

For future months, I plan on using fabrics that will create blocks for the black / orange / grey / white / footballs quilt, too.  Oh.... and each month you complete the block you are entered to win a box of Aurifil thread (which I've heard is wonderful.... though I have yet to experience it!)

Phew!  Lots of sewing for January - - - feels good to have gotten so much done (including a bunch of custom orders for my shop, items to stock my Etsy shop (that sold out VERY quickly), and starting on a BIG upcoming project - Zoe's quilt!)

Oh - and one of my non-sewing goals is to find / make more "me" time and.... of course.... eat healthier / exercise more.  A friend of mine started the Bikini Body Mommy 90 day challenge and I saw it as an opportunity to have some measurable, attainable goals - - - Today is day 23 and I have only "missed" one day (and I doubled up my workout the next day to catch back up!) - Wahoo!!!!

I'll get a post written up about February's goals ASAP..... because there are only 20 days left in the month and 9 of those days we're on vacation!  Hahahaha.