It’s been quite a Year

Looking back over the year is always interesting for us quilters, especially when we see how productive (or not) we have been.  (I don’t stress too much about my productivity, I do what I can, time and circumstances permitting).  My year started off well with an early January finish with a pair of cute burgundy place mats for our caravan.  I found the pattern on Suzy’s Artsy Crafty SitCom, a fun blog I follow which is full of all sorts of things.  Craft, cooking, dogs, and living in a  RV.  I used Suzy’s pattern for her free Happy Camper potholder pattern and made it into a set of place mats.  And here they are set out on the caravan table.

Place mats for the caravan

Then in February I decided that I really should get serious about my many UFOs.  First I made a list of  six UFOs. Then each week with a roll of the dice, that was the one I worked on during that week.  And so it went - each week, another roll of the dice, another UFO, and another week to work on it.  Working on different projects each week, it took some time till I had an actual finish, and then they came thick and fast.  First off the assembly line was Little Letters, an ABC quilt I made for future babies in the family.  This project was designed by the Temecula  Quilt Company and offered as a free weekly Quilt-Along.

Little Letters

Then I finished two aprons that I had started and put away – the story of my life.  A messy cook can’t have too many aprons.

Two new aprons

Way back in 2000 I took part in an international block swap organized by Morgan of Down Under Quilts (DUQ) Internet quilt group.  The idea was to stitch a maple leaf block using fabrics which related to your home country.  The blocks arrived from Australia, New York, Ontario, Alberta, Indonesia, plus mine made with a New Zealand inspired batik.

International Maple Leaf quilt

 

Next item finished was my Mega Churn Dash duvet cover

Then a large squishy cushion for each of the grand-daughters

And my extra special finish for the year was the Great All Breeds Horse Show quilt made for grand-daughter Emma.  She lives and breaths horses and has several on the family small holding.  So she will love the addition of 18 different named horse breeds, with everything from an Appaloosa to a Welsh Pony.  These exquisite embroidered horse head blocks came from Kings Treasures.

Finished in time for Christmas

Last finish of the year, apron, place mats and oven cloth for the caravan

My year of knitting was a bit of a disaster – although I completed a lovely cozy cream cardigan, it turned out much too big!  So I’ve pulled it to bits and have started on a new pattern.  Never mind, I’ll get there eventually, and I rather enjoy knitting on long car and caravan journeys.  My “slow stitching” project of Christmas ABC blocks is coming along well, and I enjoy stitching them.  Once I finish stitching the blocks, this project will get added to my List of Six to get completed.

We Three Kings

It’s been a difficult year too, and we lost out beloved 20 year Birman cat Muffy in May.

Muffy enjoyed her caravan trips too

And sadly, my health took a knock when I was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier in the year, and spent months with tests, hospital appointments, surgery and radiation.  That is all behind me now, and two weeks after radiation finished, we flew to Australia for a wonderful three and half week trip.  So I had to convalesce very quickly, no time to mope around when we had an Aussie Adventure to enjoy.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock

I am so pleased that my “roll the dice” method is working very well for me in keeping me motivated.  And I have one quilt away getting commercially quilted, plus two tops up to the flimsy stage, and lots of other UFOs ready to slot onto my list whenever I get another finish.  Some weeks I have more time to sew than others, it all depends on other commitments, appointments, social activities, or time spent away in the caravan.  My little pink dice is having a well earned break over Christmas and New Year, as we are. 

Happy New Year to you all, and many thanks to all  my wonderful supportive readers.  Your comments really made a difference when I was feeling rather miserable during the year with health issues and when we said goodbye to Muffy.