January 2023 is here!

 It finally arrived.  It is now 2023 and I'm still wondering where time went by.  Will 2023 be a better year?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not but it is still here and we can't do much about that.  So instead of spending time trying to figure out what will or what will not be, I plan to just wing it.  Yeah....good luck with that Bonni.  Winging it doesn't work well for me so when I don't wing this I won't be surprised.  LOL.

I do have a small plan in place so I'll see how it goes.  Most of my planning deals with crafting.  That part, I hope, is what I can control.  The rest of life is just take one day at a time.  I only have so much money to pay bills, groceries and craft supplies.  What to do with everything else?  Plan.  A loose plan.  One that can be adjusted.  

First up is the elephant on the blog.  The BOMs, BOW, and other patterns that grab my attention first thing in the new year.  Thee are so many.  This year, I am taking my journal and writing down the names and information of any BOMs and similar type pattern's that appeal to me.  Then I go through that list and write down yes, no, or maybe.  I'm not sure I will try to make any in the time it is supposed to be made but I will collect the patterns and then decide.  I decided to write no on the ones that I don't like or ones that cost money.  With my memory, I will forget about three months down the road but now I can look at my list and know if I wanted to do it or not.  That's the plan anyway.

Another plan is to work on some of my UFOs.  I'm starting off with the Rose of Sharon applique BOM going back to 2014.  I will also be working on the cross stitch quilt blocks.  That gives me two UFOs that I will be working on.  I have to finish one block before I will allow myself to go and work on another block.  Even if I only work on one block each month, but the end of the year my blocks should be done.  Then they can be  put into another UFO stack...the one which includes tops that are done but not sandwiched, etc.  So far I am on track for that.  I will post pictures when I get the blocks done.  I have a new computer and not everything is readily accessible on it yet.  

I also have plans to keep up with some cross stitch projects.  Besides the HAED's that are always a UFO, I have those cross stitch quilt blocks that I mentioned in the above paragraph.  I did put a YES down for a Blackwork BOW (block of the week) and I am looking forward to that.  I have the first week done and tomorrow the second week's pattern will be released.  It will be stitched on an 18 count Aida cloth with the color being oatmeal.  Even though there are two different colorways given, I will be sticking to the traditional black.  Once again, I will post a picture soon.

Another plan I have is to get back into stitching blocks.  I signed up for a block exchange in one of my Facebook groups.  It is where you sign up each month so if you are too busy one month you don't have to sign up.  It is very flexible that way as well as leaving up what we will stitch on is up to us.  For February I am going to stitch a heart themed block.  Once again it will be applique.  That will keep me going so I don't get far behind but still keep the stitching bug active.

That's it for me for now.  I have to stitch down one of the hearts in my FB February block as well as work on a couple of the flowers in the Rose of Sharon blocks.  Soon I will be done with the Rose of Sharon block for this month and then I will pull out the cross stitch quilt block.  

What are your plans for being creative in 2023?  Inquiring minds want to know.