Join the Block a Day Challenge in 2012

This is the time of year we all think about making resolutions to improve our lives, learn a new skill or to become a better version of ourselves. I’m going to make a resolution to finish more quilts and I’m issuing a challenge to help all quilters do the same.

Quilters lead busy lives. We work, manage households, cart kids around, make sure the family has food to eat and clean underwear. Sometimes fitting in a couple hours of uninterrupted sewing time is just a fantasy.

That’s where the Block a Day Challenge comes in. Here’s how it works. Take a few minutes for yourself each day to sew one quilt block. Then post an image of the block to the Block a Day Flickr Group. Each week I’ll post a round up on Quilt Addicts Anonymous of the blocks that were finished that week.

Are there prizes? Of course there are prizes.

Each quilt block you post will count as one entry, but you will be limited to one entry per day. That means if you make 45 quilt blocks in the month of January, you’ll only receive 31 entries since there are only 31 days in that month. Blocks sewn by hand will receive 5 entries because Lord knows that takes time and dedication, just specify your construction method in the photo description to get credit.

You can get bonus entries for publishing photos of completed quilts made from blocks created for the Block a Day challenge. You’ll get 10 extra entries for posting a photo of a finished top, and 20 extra entries for posting a photo of a finished quilt. You’ll also get 20 extra entries for quilts donated to charity, just indicate the organization the quilt is going to in the photo description.

At the end of each month, one winner will be chosen at random from among the entries. The winner will receive a prize that will help them complete their quilt, such as batting, variegated quilting thread, backing fabric, basting pins and books on quilting.

And there also is the prize of actually finding time to finish quilts one half hour at a time. I figure I can complete 4 king sized quilts and a few smaller projects in 2012 by sewing a block a day. Let’s see how many quilts we all can finish next year.