Cook, Make, Think

 I messed up the next few steps so it doesn't look the way it should. The Next step is to make the frame around the basic block. Below is what it is supposed to look like.  Rather than walk you through the rest I'm going to send you to the pattern so you can follow instructions better than I did. The base is not the most important part of this block for me what comes next is. The next step for me is to add snowflake embroidery and beads to truly convey what January means to me but that is a topic for another day. I hope you enjoyed this little exercise I know for all the frustration I did.

Ok so now you have all these pieces what are you supposed to do with them. I am going to assume some basic knowledge of sewing by hand but if you are truly a beginner check out this site . Got thread and a needle? Got your pieces handy? Today you will begin sewing them together. If you are good with a sewing machine you can use it as well, I just prefer to sew little pieces by hand. Take two of the two inch triangles and sew them to the top & bottom of the square. Iron the seams open to flatten it a little. Once you have the first two triangles sewn on and ironed, sew on the left & right pieces. Iron and put aside. Trust me if you sewed all four sides in one day you will need the rest. Once you have completed those two steps rotate the square 90 degrees and repeat the process with the larger triangles. Iron it flat. You are done for this week.   A video from youtube on how to thread a needle

 So I am going to assume you have fabric and scissors at least. The first thing you need to do is choose two or three colours that go well together. For the January block I chose two blues: a navy and a light blue. This is simple to sew by hand if you wish to start with a simple pattern The size of the centre block will depend on how big you want your block. I started with three squares 3 inches by 3 inches. One in the dark fabric and two in the light fabric. Cut the two light coloured squares in half and set aside for now. You will need two more squares in the dark colour, these should be around 4.5 inches in size. You need to cut these in half as well. Once you have the blocks listed you are done for this week: 1x 3" square in the dark material 2x 3" squares in the light material 2x 4.5" squares in the dark material Cut the 2 x light colour in half Cut the 2 x dark colour in half Put aside. Next week you will need a needle and some thread.

 I have been sewing by hand for a long time but recently decided to up my game by getting a sewing machine. There are some nice inexpensive ones for kids and I started on one of those, the only thing is I have had a difficult time with sewing machines so I'm a little leery around them. I am slowly overcoming that but it is slow because I seem to have lost a good portion of my patience lately. To sew you need:  a needle thread fabric scissors a pattern of some sort Nice to have are: Square ruler for straight edges a sewing machine a table to work on a rotary cutter & cutting board This is a basic sewing kit for hand sewing I linked each item with Amazon items, as much as possible they are samples of my own tools. No, I don't make money if you click the links at this time I have no affiliates although if I chose one or two Amazon would be at the top of that list. Tips: You can find most of the beginners' items at a dollar store or a thrift shop including patterns and book