2015, 2016

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Ours was crazy busy! We drove North to see the family -- ALL the family. We were very tightly scheduled -- if this is Wednesday, these people must be Shug's family & like that. We saw everyone, even had some bonus visits. Besides seeing family, we also saw a really magical light display.

I have to say I am kind of glad to see the backside of 2015. It wasn't really a bad year, just one with quite a lot of expensive maintenance & repairs needed for our home, our vehicles, our pets & ourselves. Let me repeat, there was nothing really bad or serious, just a continual squeezing of our wallets.

Making-wise, it was a pretty good year. Shug turned some really amazing pieces. This one is my especial favorite.

It wasn't a big production year for me. I spent quite a lot of time piecing & quilting a scrappy Arkansas Crossroads quilt -- which is still not finished -- it needs something more, I'm just not sure what it needs -- quilting? tying? something in the 16-patch squares. I made & gave away 6 quilts -- that is always satisfying. And 2 finishes remain in house: my version of last year's plus quilts made with my parents' shirts & Laura's Lightning. Both were long-time WIPs that I was glad to finish & I am quite pleased with both.

What do I hope for 2016? Firstly, fewer trips to the repair shop. Then there will be 2 milestone birthdays this year, for both I want to make quilts for the birthday girls. There are always a heap of WIPs that I want to see become finished quilts. Also as usual, I want to make a serious dent in my over-accumulation of fabric -- to give, to donate, to keep. And there are quilt blocks I want to explore -- more flying geese, more pluses, maybe baskets, log cabins/house tops? I've only ever made one of those, & how about something very different from anything I've ever done, like a big appliqued princess feather!

Please stay tuned!

2014

I hope all of you had a good Holiday -- actually with your loved ones or with them in your heart. Shug & I went North to be with our families & had a good & busy time. While this was my 2nd Christmas without parents, it was the first spent with my brother; his daughters are now living in another state, so our get-together was just the 4 of us, establishing new traditions & having a good time. My Christmas quilts were gifted & I'm pretty sure they were all liked as well as I liked making them.

So looking back, I guess I had kind of a good year. 16 finished quilts -- there were even a few small ones that I didn't share. Looking at the mosaic, first thing I notice is -- What a lot of SQUARES! I don't know how that happened, normally, my go-to shape is triangles, but apparently 2014 was smazoochie's year for squares! I have to say that my favorites are the out-liers, the thin sides of my 2014 bell-curve of squares -- the Snow Flurries quilt & the Color Party quilt. Both were a bit outside of my comfort zone & both, in my opinion, came out pretty well.

I looked up the goals I made for the year back in January --  how did I do?

1. Well, healthy? Not so much. That is the top of my list again this year.
2. Sewing my stash & scraps? Again, not so much. In spite of making 16 quilts, I am afraid there was NOT a net loss to my stash.
3. I definitely made the 3 quilts using the shirts & the 4th is poised to commence. I even got to a few of others on that list: bow ties, 16-patch, maple leaves.
4. Very sadly, not a single pompom. No circles, all squares. :-(

Stay tuned for my 2015 resolutions, hopes & aspirations.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY DEAR READERS!!!