Review of my 2015 embroidery achievements

Thank you for all the kind comments on my last post about my quilting achievements in 2015.  Back in December 2014 I also made a list of all the embroidery projects I wanted to complete in 2015.  It's nearly the end of the year, so it's time to see how I got on with my embroidery.  

1. The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Christmas Celebration Sampler. Finished and framed.

2. Mill Hill beaded ornaments. Finished what I had planned plus a few more.

3. Your Place or Mine? Finished - this is a quilt, but there was a lot of hand applique required so it appeared in both my quilting and embroidery lists.

4. Northern Expressions Needlework Celtic Snow. Finished and framed.  I think this is my major embroidery achievement of 2015.  There were soooo many tiny beads to sew onto this piece. It was my first time using hand dyed linen and I loved the colours in this fabric.

5. The Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Etui. I'm working on it frantically now, and still hope to have it ready for Christmas this year.  Three sides and the base are finished - just one more side to go now, plus assembly of course.

Etui with only two sides attached - who would know?

6. Elizabethean Sweet Bag. No progress. I think I should officially give up on this. I know it's 90% done, but it's just so hard to get motivated outside of the classroom.

7. The Victoria Sampler Haunted House. Finished in time for Halloween and very happy with it.

8. The Victoria Sampler Needlework Shop. Not even started - it will go on 2016 list.

not my photo - from the Victoria Sampler website

9. Wool felt applique bag from Flying Fish Kits. Finished.

10. Needlelace - green. This only saw minimal action in 2014 and deserves better in 2015.

11. Needlelace - purple. I need to work on this again while I still remember what to do.

12. Heirloom Christmas Tree decoration. I've had the book, silk and decorations for 2 years but am still putting off starting. I guess I'm worried about mine not being good enough, but I do have plenty of silk, and the decorations could be recycled if I needed to start again. If this was a class I would have had it finished by now. I think I'm just a bit worried about doing it by myself - silly I know.

13. Sundry other projects:

I did finish one this from this pile - the Blackberry Heart:

And I also finished the Fandango Sky canvas work which had been in the cupboard for two years:

And I made a small start on a needlelace stitch along with a group of Russian ladies I met online.  They've gone AWOL at the moment, but assure me they will return in 2016, so I'll just wait for them to start translating the instructions from Italian into Russian, and then into English for me (thank you Google translate).

So overall it's been a successful year for embroidery too. I've finished some lovely projects, and I've still got plenty to be going on with in 2016.

Review of my 2015 quilting achievements

A year ago a wrote a list of quilting I'd like to achieve in 2015.  Before I write my list for 2016, it's now time to check back on that list and see if I managed to stay on task.

The list was as follows:

1.  Your Place or Mine? - wool felt applique  FINISHED

2.  Halloween Mini  FINISHED

3.  Kaffe Christmas Tree  FINISHED

4.  Mini Medallion  FINISHED

5.  la passacaglia  - still working on it, but I didn't expect to finish it in 2015

Half done in October 2015

6.  Stacks of Colour - still a WIP, but the hand quilting is almost finished. Then it just needs the binding which is already cut and set aside.

7.  Possum Magic.  I finished working on everyone else's quilts, and have my original quilt back now.  I'm looking forward to hand quilting it in 2016. You can see the other quilts from this round robin on the Possum Magic tab under the header photo at the top of the page.

8.  Women of the Bible.  I joined all the blocks up at the end of November.  Next I'm going to make a pieced back from all the scraps.  I think I might get this one quilted because I've got no great desire to hand quilt it myself. I am happy with how it's turned out. It's currently 90" x 70".

9.  Oh! Christmas Tree.  I've made a small start, but it won't be finished before Christmas this year.

10.  Folded Star. I still haven't tried this technique, but maybe I will in 2016.


So that was my 2015 list.  I think I've done pretty well.  In addition to all of that, I've also made my scrappy bear paw quilt to celebrate our guild's 30th anniversary.

my Halloween hexie table runner

my mini tree quilt

and my Spinning Stripes mini quilt.

and done a lot of embroidery.  I'll write a separate post about that.

Overall, 2015 was a very pleasing year for quilting for me.  I finished a lot of things on my list, and made 4 extra unexpected quilts.  I know I'm fortunate to have the time to do all this.  I hope I can continue to maintain this kind of work / life balance in 2016. I'm also grateful for all the kind comments you, my readers, have left during the year, and the friendships that I've made through my blog. I hope you all find time to quilt in 2016 too.