Tag: New Year

It’s only January 3rd …..

……and I am already feeling hectic!!!!   My week of sewing that was planned between Christmas and New Year’s ended up being a week of cleaning house,working in the yard and setting up a new computer and printer!!!! 

Also, in the last few days we have found out that our son’s wedding date is now set for  July 17, and not in December as was the original plan.  My husband was invited to Kunming, China in March, and they have invited me to come as well, so we are looking at 10 days in China…..IN THE MIDDLE OF TAX SEASON!!!!

In with all of this, I have a guild challenge quilt due in 9 days and I haven’t even started on it!!!

OK…..deep breath…….it will all get done as long as I take it one day and one thing at a time.

SO, my New Year’s resolution is to continue moving  forward ONE DAY AT A TIME!!!!…..starting tomorrow!

A look back at 2009

WOW….remember when it was 1999 and we were all worried about Y2K??  Can you believe that it was  TEN years ago??

At the end of last year, I photographed 18 projects that I considered unfinished and set a goal to complete a few of them in the new year.  I actually managed to do that, finishing up two small ones as gifts, two queen size quilts, and one lap size  that turned into a charity quilt for my guild.  I also got the Christmas lap quilt from the previous post a WHOLE lot closer to being finished.

During the year I participated in the British Quilt List calendar challenge and finished all twelve quilts before the clock stuck midnight on December 31st!!  I also participated in our guild  Polka Dot challenge and their show challenge .

I worked on four different charity quilts….. one given to a local Cancer treatment center, and 4 given to local Relay for Life programs.

I had the opportunity to sell my first quilt which was quite a thrill and also got to teach in a LOT of new venues (some of which have invited me back in 2010).

I completed my first whole cloth quilt and fell further in love with machine quilting.  I tried something totally new with two quilts based on stairs photographed in Porto, Portugal.  I played some with painting on fabrics and even did a bit of hand embroidery.

I finished a quilt that was a collaboration between my Mother and myself and we have seen it displayed in 3 different shows.  I am considering sending in the Paducah application on Monday and see if I can get it there as well.

I gave myself permission to put the needle felting machine  away and NOT feel guilty that I really dont like using it. 

I cut ALL of my scraps into usable sizes and have already made a wallhanging, a lap quilt and a queen size quilt from that stash.    In addition, I have USED much more fabric than I have BOUGHT this year!!

Finally, I have not left any projects unfinished.  I dont consider the “People on a Train” quilt to be unfinished yet…..it is simply set aside for a short time.

All in all, it has been a wonderful year, both on a personal level and also in my quilting life, so…….……

BRING ON 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2008 Retrospective

Well, we are up to the last few hours of 2008 and I have to say that I am glad to see it go. We have had an interesting year, including 2 wonderful overseas trips, but have also had 3 major surgeries in our immediate family. I am thankful for all of the blessings of the year and that we have made it though the hard times.

I always try to recap the quilts of the past year, so here goes….

This first quilt was made for an Australian friend’s daughter’s wedding. She wanted it to be primarily blue, but with a contemporary look.

The next quilt was made for the same friend’s son who married in October. I was told that they were planning to use earth tones in their living room and was very excited to remember that I had this top lying around waiting to be finished. The top was made as part of a Mystery Quilt project at my local shop, Dragonfly Quilt Shop.

This quilt was made for a family who moved from Athens to Boston to take up the Pastorate of a church in Dorchester. They told us that people pronounced the city “Dot – Chester” so I made them a Dot quilt to take to keep them warm during the cold Northeastern winters…..hope it is working!!!

The final quilt that I will show here is one that I am proudest of. It is a design that was inspired by a stained-glass window that I saw in the Mysore Palace during our trip to India this past summer. I had a wonderful time designing and putting it together. It is probably one of my most favorite quilts ever.

There were also the two smaller quilts that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

All in all, this has not been my most productive year as far as quilts go, but I have enjoyed quilting in other ways, mostly from the interactions of the wonderful friends that I have made thru this wonderful art.

Finally, I have had the honor to speak at several different venues during the year, including the Georgia Quilt Council Spring Convention, a meeting of my local guild, Cotton Patch Quilters, and also at the Lake Oconee Quilt Guild. I have also taught machine quilting workshops and given a “Using photos in quilts” lecture at Dragonfly Quilt Shop.

For 2009, I hope to put more energies into my quilting, both making quilts and teaching about them.

Anyway, I wish each of you a very Happy New Year!!!!!

….until next year…..