2023 - My quilting year in review

Well, it's almost the end of 2023 and it's time to look back at what I've achieved this year.  

My biggest achievement this year was my 5 week trip to Europe.  I loved every moment of it, but it did mean that I didn't make as many quilts as usual.  

That's OK because my goals for 2023 were to:

• finish what I'd already started

• use what I already had

I think I did quite well on both of those goals. Here's what I made in 2023.

1.  Good Fortune - Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt from 2018

2.  Kaffe Fassett Hand Quilted Sampler

3.  Dear John - Jen Kingwell's Dear Jen

4.  A baby quilt

5. Pretty in Pink

6. Spooky Darlings

7. Club Tropicana

Four of these quilts were started prior to 2023 so they fit the goal of finishing what I had already started.  

The three new quilts were all made from fabrics that I already had on hand so they meet my other goal of using what I already had. 

I can't promise I'll be so frugal in 2024!

I also finished three more quilt tops in 2023 and I will show them again when they are finished in 2024.  They are Licorice Allsorts, Don't Leaf Me and a mystery one. 

Licorice Allsorts - pattern by Wendy Williams

Don't Leaf Me - pattern by Wendy Williams

My Summer in Tekapo bags were also an important part of 2023.

It feels funny to be signing off without opening the Peacock Party, but as I said last week, I've decided to retire the Peacock Party of five years of hosting.  Thank you for all your kind messages and understanding. 

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year too.  I'll be back in January. 

Happy 10th Birthday to my blog

I can hardly believe this, but I started this blog 10 years ago today.  Here's a link back to my very first post.  

I started my blog because my friends and relatives had told me that they really looked forward to receiving my Christmas letter and seeing photos of the things that I had made during the year.  And also because I wanted to keep a personal record of what I had made.  

Some pears I finished last week

I've made 689 blog posts since 16 December 2013 - that's at least one a week, every week for 10 years!!

Five years ago today I started the Peacock Party - a weekly link up party for fellow bloggers to share what they have been working on. 

Since December 2018 I've blogged and hosted the Peacock Party every Friday.  When I've gone away I've scheduled posts in advance.  I'm really grateful to all the people who link up to the Peacock Party week after week, and to all the people I meet who tell me they look forward to reading my blog.  

But hosting the Peacock Party has been a big commitment so I've decided that this will be the last Peacock Party for the foreseeable future. 

BUT, I will still continue to blog on Fridays when I do have something to share, so please continue to check in, and you can always follow me on Instagram or Facebook because it's easier to share a quick photo there.

Another decoration I finished last week

I've been working on a at least three secret quilts this year and it's hard to find things to blog about when all my time has been spent on projects I can't to share yet.  Some of these projects are secrets because they are Block of the Months and we are not allowed to show anyone yet, and some are my own quilts that I want to keep a surprise until they are shown in exhibitions.  

So there's going to be plenty of eye candy on my blog in 2024 when I'm finally allowed to share these secret projects. 

I will not let my blog die - it's been a great way to connect with so many people, and it's also my own personal record of what I make.  I'm still going to do my recap of 2023 before the end of December because I like looking back before we start another year.

So, for the very last time, feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

Thank you to everyone who has linked up over the past five years. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Christmas Stocking

Do you like the Christmas Stocking I made?

A few months ago a family member asked if I would make a Christmas stocking for her baby.  It's baby's first Christmas so of course she needed a stocking.  

I spotted this very cute fabric by Mia Charro for Free Spirit Fabrics so I bought it and proceeded to quilt it with my walking foot.  Then I cut out the stocking shapes and bound it using my Patterns byAnnie instructions. I do like the red striped binding - it finishes it off perfectly.  

After two long weeks the parcel has finally arrived in Australia and the baby has given it her seal of approval.  I hope she received lots of presents in it at Christmas.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Peppermint Purple 2023 SAL

The Peppermint Purple 2023 stitch along finished on Wednesday and I can now show you what I've been working on all year.  

I love how the outside border is the inverse of the inside border - clever.

Clare from Peppermint Purple has been running mystery stitch alongs for a few years now and she's really perfected the art of running a very well organised programme.  

She releases one little black work design each week and people stitch along at their own pace with their own fabric and thread choices.  It usually only takes about an hour to stitch that week's filler pattern. 

The best bit is that there are so many variations amongst the finished pieces because Clare also releases about 20 different layout designs.  A few are free, but the best ones are the ones you pay a few dollars for and they really are worth it.  

The 2023 stitch along is finished now, but the 2024 version is open already.  It costs nothing to join, and just a few dollars to buy the different layouts.  There's a lot of support in the Facebook group for people who are uncertain about their colours, or are just interested in what everyone else is doing. 

I used hand dyed linen from Cath at Country Stitch in New Zealand and one strand of some variegated DMC that I had left over from something else.  

I've really enjoyed this stitch along and am very pleased to say that I both started AND finished something in 2023! And I'm going to get it framed in the new year.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Free free to link up a recent blog post below. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter