2017 Recap – Happy New Year!

One year ago today, I started a new job that would give me more time to tickle my creative fancy.
I am in several FB quilting groups, and have seen women who have made dozens of quilts in one year, and a few who have made one quilt in a dozen years. I don’t know how either of those people did it, but I chose not to be intimidated by them. It’s not a race. It’s a journey – and what a journey I’ve had!
Lets see, I have made 11 quilts, all but one [Sunbonnet Sue] of which I gifted.

An Exploding Block quilt for Hubbys Grand Daughter

Minne Mouse baby quilt made from Strip sets.

A pinwheel with crosses quilt made entirely from remnants for a special lady

Same strip sets made with same fabrics resulting in very different quilts for a set of twins:

I call this one “Stripped Pin wheel”

and  this modified Arkansas Traveler which is NOT paper pieced.

When a hurricane hit Texas, myself and some others sent quilts. Patriotic ones went to the first responders, and other designs were to be handed out as the first responders saw fit.

Rhombus Star

S block, and “Bob and Weave”

Finally Sunbonnet Sue has a home in my quilt as well as my heart

I rushed to make 2 more to gift for Christmas.

[This is what quilting flowers on a stack and whack with a domestic machine looks like]

Of course I stitched in the ditch everywhere else.

In addition to the quilts, I made . . .

A dish drying mat

A cat trap [to keep her off my fabric]

When things got heated this summer, I made 2 sets of “Don’t Call Me A Hot Head” insulated curtains

and sleeveless top made from leftovers

I designed [and had my husband make] a thread stand that beats that plastic one all to heck, with it’s 3 spool holder and pre-tension for when you need a little more control. and of course you don’t have to unthread your machine to wind bobins!

I also designed [and had my husband make] a “Bed Mate” for my Rocketeer that holds my diagonal sewing guide [The Angler], so when I sew diagonally, I don’t have the draw the lines, and when I change the bobbin, I don’t have to line the needle back up with the guide.

I figured out the best way to make Frankenbatts – hint: it’s not the zig zag stitch.

I got better at sandwiching [still looks like a Crime Scene but I’m quicker now] and binding.

Plus signed up for the Sew Sampler monthly box which gave me all sorts of ideas and gadgets to try this past year.

but the best thing about that whole year was I got to spend Christmas with my Sister and Mother for the first time in about 30 years! We weren’t mad at each other, well not really, but they had moved out of the state we all started out in, and we often went years without seeing each other. I have “a thing” – If you move away from me, I am not obligated to visit you, and if you want to see me, you have to come to me. Of course I don’t enforce it – as I hate the “critical cleaning” one must do in order to give the impression we live in a “Better Homes and Gardens” competition home.
This year I didn’t clean much, but not because of working 80 hrs a week this time. Nope because it was my year of selfish indulgence. Oh sure, I did things for others, it’s just in my nature, but I got to do more of “my stuff” and I ended it with a lot of doing for others, which is a kind of self indulgence in a way because it’s makes one feel good.
I traveled – not for Christmas to see my Mom and Sis, but ON Christmas to see my Mom and Sis. Yep I was at the airport on Christmas day. My mom had a health scare and didn’t come to my state this fall like she usually does, so she decided to visit my sister for Christmas. I decided to crash that party. The plane tickets were crazy expensive  but spending Christmas with Mom and Sis was priceless. I had started a quilt when I had bronchitus that I had found pre-cut in a bag of scraps gifted to me by a quilty neighbor, and the more I worked on it, the more I felt like it belonged to my Sister’s Daughter. I was right – she loved it and it was her colors. After buying the plane tickets, I went balls to the wall to finish it plus a quilted table cloth for my sisters Christmas table setting.

I wasn’t alone, though. I had my husband make about 50 pounds of pork sausage, 30lbs of which I brought with us  in an insulated bag inside another insulated bag as my carry on.
Our plane was so late that we arrived 8 pm instead of the 8 am it was suposed to, and the table was already cleared of the dinner we missed, so before taking my bag upstairs while they made up our dinner plates, I said “Wait!” and pulled the table cloth out of my bag and said “This is for you” as gaudy as I knew it would be considering her taste, I tossed it on the table and it fit perfectly.
Her taste in decor had been altered due to the passing of her husbands mother, and the home was now sprinkled with antique glass – something my sister never showed and intrest in – and since I used to sell antique glass on ebay for about 10 years, I recognised many of the pieces. but more than that I realised this was the first Christmas that my Sis and her Hubby weren’t having with his parents. They had both passed away, one at a time that year, and they had always spent Christmas with them.
So my Mom’s visit and my party crashing actually served as a distraction for what would have otherwise been a notable void in the festivities. If they thought there would only be 4 of them this year, they were mistaken.

So, did I finish everything I started this year? Not quite, but I finished the important stuff.
People are important.
Hug your loved ones!

PS, if you can’t be there to hug them, you know what to do – make them a quilt!

I can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!

#WhatchaGot2018! #HugYourLovedOnes