2015 Wrap Up

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. Christmas was lovely. The weather forecast called for a white Christmas and we were all excited – it’s been years since we had snow for Christmas. However, the forecast missed the mark and all we got was a lot of hail and ice. Oh well….  maybe next year.

Now that things are calmer, it is a good time to look back at the year and celebrate quilting achievements and successes. As usual, at this time of year, it is amazing how the year flew by. Recording projects and events via this blog makes it so easy to remember the course of the year. It is satisfying to take a peek back and see all that was actually accomplished.

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For example, I made:

  •  Five mini quilts, from start to finish, including my first fabric challenge project and my first swap on Instagram.
  • Two tablerunners and three pillows.
  • Finished four quilt tops that I pieced in 2014.
  • Pieced and finished two baby quilts.
  • Pieced and finished three lap size quilts.
  • Pieced two quilt tops, a baby quilt and the Kaffe Fassett strip quilt, both of which need to be completed.
  • All of the rows for my Classic BOM quilt – they are not yet sashed and pieced into a top though.
  • Numerous small projects that were intended to give me areas on which to practice my FMQ skills.
  • One very, very, very fluffy yellow bathrobe!
  • 14-ish (?) little handmade Christmas gifts this year (which I will post more about in a few days.)
  • I also had 80 Etsy sales, of which approximately 65 of those were handmade items.

My sewing machine was well attended this year! Most importantly, I enjoyed just about every minute of it. Spending so much time in the sewing room improved my skills. Specifically, my accuracy in piecing and my efficiency over all. I did a lot of chain piecing which was surprisingly helpful. This is not to say I didn’t have my fair share of fails either. But who wants to dwell on the negative?? As long as I learn from the mistake and don’t repeat it… very often!

In addition to all of the sewing, I spent a fair amount of time at the computer blogging. In fact, this post is my 99th post for 2015 (and due to my fondness of round numbers, I will definitely post again this week to even it out to 100 for the year!!) Looking back at the posts I wrote, I have a short list of favorites. I am fond of these posts either because of the quilty project they recorded, the discussion that resulted, or the event that is represented.

A Finish with a Flange; This post shows the quilt I made for my sister Patti to wrap her up and support her while she endured chemo for breast cancer.

Love and Good Luck Rolled Up in a Quilt;   This post tells the story of two amazing people who journeyed to India to have their baby, via a surrogate mom. I am so happy for them and I loved making a little quilt for their child. It was also one of the first times that I used thread sketching on a project which was very satisfying!

No Easy Solution;  This was a discussion about Craftsy.com and their ability to sell for lower prices, shopping online vs in brick and mortar shops, and Craftsy’s decision to sell their own fabric line.  While it wasn’t an earth-shaking piece of writing, I completely enjoyed hearing the input everyone left in the comments.

Finally, New Quilt Blogger Bloghop; This one was more about the experience than the actual post. Being relatively new to the blogging arena, joining this group last summer was a great experience. I met many great bloggers and we all supported each other as we worked to improve our blogging skills. Led by four awesome bloggers, I learned a great deal. There were opportunities to participate in other projects that our leaders put together which made for a very rich experience.

Yes, 2015 was a productive year in which I learned so much. I am looking forward to the new year and hope to work out a plan of what I hope to accomplish during 2016. I would love to hear what you most enjoyed sewing in 2015. What is your favorite accomplishment? What new skill did you work on? Share in the comments!

Linking to Meadow Mist Designs today. Cheryl is hosting a ‘Best of’ link party for bloggers to share some of their favorite posts from 2015. Hop over and take a peak. I certainly plan to. 🙂

 

13 thoughts on “2015 Wrap Up

  1. Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

    I really like how you summarized your year. Written out, it shows just how productive and busy you were. Besides, I can’t resist a list OR statistics. 😉 80 Etsy sales?! Way to go!

    My favorite accomplishment of 2015 was diving in and starting to write patterns. I learned a LOT! I also really enjoyed going from a participant of the new quilt bloggers blog hop to co-hosting it, and I enjoyed it so much I am excited to do it again in 2016.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thanks Yvonne. It is crazy when you take a look at all that happened in one year. I am really looking forward to Cheryl’s series on pattern writing that is coming up. I’m glad you are doing another round with the new bloggers. It will be fun to meet more like minded writer/quilters.

      Take care,
      B.

      Reply
  2. Linda

    Great wrap-up! What I love most is the joy that comes through about your experiences. I enjoyed reading the posts again but Finish With a Flange was not a good link for me. My personal favorite post was “The Hidden Cost of a Quilt Retreat”, because I was captivated by your fairy tale story about the “little, worn out house” you bought in that charming little town and the minimal negotiations for it – that house was meant for you! I love reading about how you are fixing it up.
    Congratulations on the Etsy sales! Looking forward to reading about your 14-ish handmade gifts.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you for the heads up on the broken link. I fixed it. I appreciate when a reader lets me know of something like that.
      Linda, I hope the new year is just wonderful for you (it is bound to be with that new grandbaby on the way!) – Peace to you and your family!

      Reply
  3. JanineMarie

    Wow, your productivity this year is amazing, especially considering that you took some time off from quilting in the last few months. I so enjoy your posts. Your stories are always wonderfully crafted and interesting. And that combined with the great quilts makes your blog one of my favorites. Looking forward to that 100th post for the year!

    Reply
  4. Lynn

    Sounds like you did do a lot this year – Wow. I am with you I like to have a place to reflect on what I’ve done. It helps me to see that I actually accomplished things when I look at all my UFO’s and it also helps me to see which area I want to continue with.
    Have a great New Year.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Finishing up a few UFO’s is high on the list for sewing in the new year. I am trying to organize my sewing room and see what to work on next after the holiday sewing.

      Happy New Year Lynn!

      Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Sarah. It didn’t feel as busy as it looks when I list it all out. Especially since I did very little sewing in October and November. Now we have a whole new year of sewing to look forward to. 🙂

      Reply

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