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. 

2023 - Happy New Year

Hello, and Happy New Year to all my friends and followers.  

I'm just back from five nights in Sydney, Australia and I feel refreshed and re-energized. It was great to dust off my passport and travel internationally again.  Sydney was vibrant and busy and I loved it. 

Thank you for all the kind comments on my 2022 Christmas Countdown.  I enjoyed taking you through all my Christmas makes.  Maybe I'll do it again in five years time when I've got some new things to show you.  

Now it's time to think about 2023.  Normally I'd write lists of my quilting and embroidery priorities for the year ahead, but I'm going to change things up this year.  I'm going to focus on two key themes:

• finish what I've already started
• use what I already have

That may sound a bit boring to those of you who come here for inspiration, but I can promise you that I've got some beautiful things half finished in my spare room.  And even more lovely things that I haven't even started yet.  In 2023 it's time to buckle down and use what I've already got.  

First up I intend to make some summer dresses.  In Kaffe Fassett fabrics of course. I ordered these beauties some months ago but it's hard to get motivated when the weather is cold. The first one just needs hemming and then I'll be able to show you.  

And in the evenings I'll be working on my cross stitch.  I've joined a couple of mystery Stitch A Longs (SALs) this year.  I can't show you the patterns or I'll be kicked out of the groups, but I am excited about them.  Mum gave me a set of 3 lovely pear designs for Christmas and I've finished the embroidery for the first one already. 

I'm hoping to finish a few quilts in 2023 because I've got quite a few half made already! Plus plenty of new patterns I want to try out.  

I've also got quite a few teaching weekends booked already. so I'm going to be busy in 2023.  

But never fear, I'll still have plenty to show you each week.  Thank you for continuing to visit my blog, and best wishes for the year ahead.  

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

30 June check in

Greetings from Christchurch.  Yes, I'm away again.  No wonder I feel like I'm not getting anything finished this year.  I keep going away for long weekends!

But we did pass the half way mark of 2022 last week, and I usually check in against my priority list when we reach 30 June. So here goes: 

1.  Licorice Allsorts Block of the Month from Wendy Williams

I've started doing the embroidery blocks and I'm really enjoying that.  I haven't started machine piecing any of the blocks yet.  

2.  Ruby Star

The piecing is finished and it's currently at my long arm quilter - Rayna Clinton.

3. Starry Night

It's finished and gifted to my mother in law. You can read more here. 

4.  Tea Party BOM by Wendy Williams

No progress on this one in 2022 - yet. 

5. Neptune and the Mermaid

It's finished!! And I've entered it in to Symposium so I don't want to show a full photo until I find out if it's been accepted or not.  

So that's the five things that I had on my list.  But I've also worked on a lot of other things:

6. Bordered Diamonds

This was a fun quilt to make. You can read more here. 

7. Quilts for Ukraine

I dedicated April and May to making blocks and 11 quilt tops for Ukrainian refugee children.  You can read more here. 

Plus of course there's lot of other things I've done this year, including trips to Dunedin and Taupo for quilting.  Overall I'm happy with my progress and what I've been able to achieve in 2022 so far.  If I stay at home a bit more in the second half of the year I might get even more done.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Have you written a list for 2022? How are you tracking against it?  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

2022 - My quilting priorities

It's a new year, and that means a load of new possibilities.  Of course I still have some of last year's quilts to finish, but I love dreaming about new possibilities.  Here's some of the things I'd like to work on in 2022.

1. Licorice Allsorts Block of the Month from Wendy Williams

I enrolled myself and my mum in this Block of the Month back in July 2021.  We're meant to be making it together, but I haven't even started mine yet.  I've been trying to get a few other things finished first. The block of the month is sold out, but Material Obsession may offer it as a kit or a pattern later in the year when the block of the month is finished. 

Photo from Material Obsession website

  

2. Ruby Star

This is another version of the Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head pattern by Willyne Hammerstein from Millefiori Quilts 4.  I've finished my first version of this quilt which I've called Bollywood, and I'll post about it soon.  But I wanted to try the pattern again with quite different fabrics.  These fabrics are all from the Ruby Star company, so I'm calling this quilt Ruby Star. It's all hand pieced, and there's lots of fussy cutting. 

3. Starry Night

I like to make a Kaffe Fassett quilt each year, and this year it's going to be Starry Night from Quilts in an English Village.  It's a great pattern to showcase some of the larger prints in my Kaffe stash.  I'll do mine in a different colour way from the book.  In fact I made a sneaky start on it this week while we've all been at home on holiday. 

Of course there are still some quilts from 2021 to finish up, so I'll add them to my list now:

4. Tea Party BOM by Wendy Williams

I need to do the wool felt applique on 8 big blocks and then sew it all together. 

5. Neptune and the Mermaid

This one is so close to finished.  I might just finish the hand quilting while I watch the Australian Open on TV in the last two weeks of January.  

So, my list is quite short this year, but next week I'll be posting my embroidery priorities for 2022.  I wish I had two sets of hands so I could everything on my wish lists. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party. Have you made a list for 2022? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter