Monday, January 2, 2012

2011 in Review

Well, I am late putting up my 2011 mosaic because there has been rampant sickness in the house - it seems to be our yearly Christmas tradition for everyone to throw up over break!  Why?!?  :)

I did manage to finish up one last quilt on New Year's Eve.  That poor Chicken Quilt had been waiting for binding for over a month!  I will write more about it tomorrow because today is when I take time to review 2011.

Diamond Quilt, 2. Tree Quilt, 3. Close up of the 100 day Ticker-tape Quilt,
4. 
Amish Briad, 5. Tree quilt, 6. Baby Jane's Tumbler Quilt, 7. The Finished ToP, 8. Chicken Quilt


I was feeling bleh when I made this mosaic because I have "only" finished 8 quilts this year - and that is counting my daughter's ticker tape quilt as one of my finishes  :)  and I didn't finish any of my UFOs as planned.  But as I made a mental list of all the things I did do in my little quilting world, I realized what a crazy year of blogging and tutorial writing growth this has been.

I wrote my first quilt tutorial for the Diamond Quilt in April and then jumped into planning the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler.

1. Skill Builder Sampler, 2. Fabric I will be using for the sampler, 3. Value 9 Patch for the We Can Do It! Sampler, 4. Log Cabin, 5. Block 3 - Churn Dash, 6. On the Line, 7. Untitled, 8. Pinwheels, 9. Block 6 - Bow Ties, 10. Blocks 4,5 and 6 in the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler, 11. Block 7 - Virginia Star, 12. Block 8 - Breaking Out, 13. 9 - Double Star, 14. Ohio Star, 15. 3rd Quarter, Hive 10, 16. Quilt Block Storage, 17. String Block, 18. Beacon Light, 19. House Block, 20. 14 - Crazy Quilt Block, 21. 15 - Diamond Dash, 22. Starry Night, 23. Circle of Geese, 24. Block 20

The Skill Builder Sampler has really stretched me.  It hasn't been easy, but I am so glad I am doing it and look forward to the second half of the Sampler.



Following along with the Civil War Quilts Sampler hosted by Barbara Brackman helped me grow as a quilter too.  The precise piecing needed for the 8 inch blocks, combined with trying to use larger scaled "modern" prints tested my skills every time.  I want to finish this quilt in 2012.

4. Not available, 5. Not available, 6. Easter Dresses 2011

I even managed to do some sewing with and for the girls this year.  It tries my patience to the breaking point to have guide every step of the sewing process as they learn, but it is sooo worth it.  Emily showed absolutely no interest in sewing until she sewed up a messenger bag with her friend, but now I find her sewing random bits of scraps together and trying to make simple totes and even slippers on her own.


What else did I do?  I led an online quilt bee, A Twist on Tradition, participated in 2 rounds of the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, joined the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild, quilted a king sized quilt on a long arm machine and had three projects posted at The Moda Bake Shop.

 Bleh?!?  What was I thinking?   I realize now  how many amazing things I had the opportunity to participate in and do this year.  I am so very grateful and look forward to another great year of growth.

Thanks for stopping by - I know I wouldn't be writing if you weren't reading!  :)  Have a great New Year!

7 comments:

  1. YOu really have had a great year!! I have enjoyed the Skill Builder Series so much and thank you a TON for hosting it!! Here's to a great 2012

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow - you do have alot of great things you accomplished this year!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are SOOO inspiring . . . you have motivated me to get out my old sewing machine, dust it off, and start sewing along with your skills sampler! Now that my kids are in school, I feel like I have time to 'create' again - thank you for every tutorial and post!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes Leila, amazing!!! Beautiful things, fantastic quilts and wonderful blocks! I can't wait to see what you do in 2012 :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your quilts and other projects are wonderful and I have learned so much from you this year. I wish you the best for the coming year. And 8 quilts in a year is never bleh, even if your accomplishments ended there!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a crazy productive year Leila! All your work looks great. congratulations on a phenomenal year!

    ReplyDelete