Friday, January 1, 2021

Happy New Year!

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Happy 2021!

The Quilt as You Go tutorial, Part One, is up!  You can access it HERE.  Let me know what you think!


Are you ready for a new year of quilting?  I'm looking ahead to weeks and months of happy sewing, starting with this Rainbow Quilt in a Box.  I'll show you what this is once I starting actually working on it.  Can't wait!

But first, I had to do this.

The little tag says "new blades".  A new year of cutting up scraps deserves a fresh blade, right?  (Yes, I do change it more often than once a year!)

I use this canning jar lid lifter to safely move the sharp old blade out and the extremely sharp new blade from the package to the cutter.  This tool is basically a magnet on a stick.  Of all the quilting innovations in the last 50 years, the rotary cutter is my absolute favorite, but we do have to be careful with it.

A new year is a good reason to try new things!  Yesterday, I made a jar of mincemeat from an old recipe that fell out of my cookbook.  There's no meat in it, just apples, apricots, and raisins with honey and spices, and a tiny bit of brandy.

And making mincemeat led to making some little mince pies.  Jo Kramer of Jo's Country Junction showed how she made cute little pies with canning jar lids and rings for the little pie pans.I followed Jo's recipe HERE and just made mine with mincemeat.  A successful experiment!  I do have a lot of mincemeat left, though.  I guess that means more pies!


 Guess who's trying to learn to walk!  Here he is, my Baby Buddy.  He is getting around so quickly now, and pulling up on everything.  Look out, cat!

Baby Buddy's big brother, Little Buddy and I played in the snow on Wednesday.  He pretended to be a T-Rex, his very favorite dinosaur, and I was the paleontologist following his tracks.

Being outside was fun, but he could hardly wait for a cup of hot chocolate when we came back in.

Some pink sewing will be happening soon  for the 2021 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'm finding I like the color pink better than I used to.  Who knew?

While we don't know what the new year will bring, I'm heading into 2021 with appreciation for all the blessings in life, and hope for what's to come.  And lots of ideas for quilts to make!

Again, Happy New Year!

Cheers for reading this,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge
Cynthia at Oh Scrap 











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13 comments:

  1. ChantalJanuary 1, 2021 at 2:36 PM

    Sounds like you have a lot of fun with your buddies. Looking forward to that rainbow quilt. Have a wonderful New Year! ;^)

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    1. Sylvia@TreadlestitchesJanuary 1, 2021 at 7:02 PM

      Thanks, Chantal! We do have lots of fun around here. A wonderful new year to you, too!

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  2. BonnieJanuary 1, 2021 at 6:46 PM

    Your brightly colored fabric looks beautiful. I'm curious what you are doing with it! RSC should be starting now.

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    1. Sylvia@TreadlestitchesJanuary 1, 2021 at 7:04 PM

      Thanks, Bonnie! I can't wait to start sewing. But first, one more socially-distanced Christmas celebration.

      Delete
  3. maggie fellowJanuary 2, 2021 at 7:39 AM

    rainbow in a box sounds like so much fun

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  4. Alycia~QuiltygirlJanuary 2, 2021 at 8:40 AM

    Little buddy has the BEST imagination - how fun to play with you! and yay for the new blade - I did the same, but I don't hve a canner lid remover thing... I will have to search for that one!

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    1. Sylvia@TreadlestitchesJanuary 3, 2021 at 7:24 AM

      Hi, Alycia! I found my canning lid tool in the canning section at the local farm and fleet store. Very cheap, very useful.

      Delete
  5. scraphappyJanuary 3, 2021 at 7:17 AM

    I can't think of anything better than a rainbow in a box. What a fun quilt that will turn into. Thanks for he reminder to start the new year with a new rotary cutting blade. What a nice way to start fresh. I might just change my sewing machine needle at the same time!

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    1. Sylvia@TreadlestitchesJanuary 3, 2021 at 7:25 AM

      Hi, Angela! What a good idea, I should change the sewing machine needles in both my main machines. Oh, and do a little cleaning and oiling. There's lots of sewing coming!

      Delete
  6. LIttle Penguin QuiltsJanuary 3, 2021 at 7:22 AM

    Your tub full of all the colors of the rainbow is very appealing, Sylvia! You'll have fun playing with those scraps. I never knew what mincemeat actually was until recently, and your ingredients sound delicious! Those little pies are so fun - I bet they were popular. Thanks for sharing those sweet smiles of your buddies!

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    1. Sylvia@TreadlestitchesJanuary 3, 2021 at 7:29 AM

      Hi, Diann! My grandmother used to make mince pies sometimes at Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I have fond memories of mincemeat. She bought hers in a jar at the store, though.

      Delete
  7. The Joyful QuilterJanuary 3, 2021 at 7:22 PM

    I'll be looking forward to seeing what project(s) you will choose to work on for RSC21, Sylvia! Not a fan of PINK, huh? I'll let you in on a little secret... Neither am I, but I've got plenty of scraps to sew. :P

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