Recap of 2022

Happy New Year!  Bring it on 2023!

I brought in the new year zooming with Chookyblue and other friends from around the world.  Mostly, all were already in 2023 but I and another lady from Missouri were still in 2022.  After midnight, that was it for me, but the other ladies down under kept on zooming.

On the most part, I'm happy with the results of my quilting year.

Let's start with the good stuff!  How many quilts got finished last year?  Thanks to the binding challenge with no-blog Mary, 15 quilts got done.  Very good indeed.  Goodness, just look at all these beauties!  If it wasn't for the challenge, I'm not sure these quilts would be finished, but would still be in a pile waiting for their turn.  To me, the binding challenge is very rewarding!

On the quilt binding challenge, so far, there are 7 quilts to bind.  That will bring me to July.  There will be more tops going out to the LAer, so no problem with having 12 quilts to bind this year!

Now, onto the UFO's.  Progress has been made and ..... finally ..... am under 30 projects!  First time in many, many years.  Woohoo!  Very happy about that.  For 2023, only 6 projects have been selected to finish and .... of course ..... there will be new projects.  There is NOOOO way I'm going to just be working on old stuff.  Nope, that is not ever going to happen.

For my 6 UFO's that I want to finish ..... no, I'm not going to show or list them.  You will see them as they become a finished top.  Not going to put any pressure on myself.  Whatever gets done, gets done and I will be happy with the results.

So, 2022 was a good year and I look forward with excitement to see what I do in 2023!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

A New Year!

A New Year .... 2022 ..... will it be a good year?  Covid cases are up in our area.  For two years, our numbers sat mostly in the single to mid teen digits then wham we are in the four hundreds now.   Are people getting lax or is the virus getting stronger?  Hubby and I received our booster shot last week.  Will we need to get another down the road?  We will, if necessary.  To keep us safe, we are still wearing our masks, washing our hands and keeping our distance.   To be clear, everyone in our province must wear a mask.

On another note and a more positive one .... let me do a recap of what got accomplished in 2021.

First up, what quilts got made?  Six quilts.  Not bad, but I could have done better.  Not to worry, this year will be better!

Oh, I mustn't forget the three baby blankets for our local NICU.

How can I do better?  Well, there are quite a number of quilts waiting to have binding sewn on them.  How many?  Eleven, so far.

Plus, these three which are at the LAer and I will be getting back in a week or so.  That will bring the total to 14 quilts to have binding.  Will they all get done this year?   To be realistic, probably not, but what exciting times ahead!

Tops waiting to be quilted.

ZERO

NADA

NONE

ZILTCH

That is happy news for me!  My garage friends will be so happy.  No more kicking me in the butt to get those tops quilted.  No more lectures with fingers wagging.  No more diarrhea for one of my friends when she thinks about them.  She would get nervous and have to make a mad dash to the bathroom.  True.  We all laughed whenever she told us about it. Oh dear, I didn't want her to suffer like that, so I quietly worked away on those tops.

From now on, my tops will get to the LAer in a timely manner.  

Now .... UFO's ..... always a tough spot for me.

The year 2021 started off with 35 tops.  Seven projects (see all those x's) got to the flimsy stage and quilted.  Some of these are on the binding list.  Seven projects ..... actually not bad at all.

So .... 35 tops minus 7 should bring me down to 28 UFOs.  Right!  Wrong.  There were a few squirrels that came to play and stayed around.  

My UFO's are sitting at 32 at the start of 2022.  I figure about seven will get done this year.  We shall see ..... we shall see ......  Some of these UFO's were worked on last year and they have moved along nicely.  Just need to bring them to the last stage.  Will there be squirrels?  Absolutely!

So, that, my friends was 2021 .... time to move forward and see what 2022 will bring.

I've been zooming with other ladies from around the world.  So interesting to see what they are working on.  A number of these ladies have blogs which I've read for quite some time.  How lovely to meet and talk to them.  Chookyblue (http://chookyblue.blogspot.com/) is the hostess and she sets up the zoom meetings for all of us.  When I zoom, handwork is the preferred project to work on.  The last few meetings, my EPP Xmas Stars has been pulled out and that is my go-to project at the moment.  I do want to get the top finished and move that one along to the LAer.

During our Xmas zoom meeting, Chooky asked what Xmas food traditions are in our family.  Well, I got everyone's attention when I mentioned Pig's Feet jelly on buttered toast.  What?  Yes, google it and you will get more information.   There are different versions on the making of this meat dish.  Then, we started talking about pastry and dough.  What is the difference?  I talked about what my Mother did with leftover pastry by making  "pets de soeurs" or nun's farts.  That got a chuckle.

Yes, zooming is fun.

Cherish your day, cherish your life, make the best of 2022!

Looking back

So, another year has already started.   How many of us will survive the virus?  Right now, our area is in lockdown for two weeks.  There is community spread of the virus in our area and the experts are trying to get it under control.  The rest of the province is under lockdown for a month as their cases are higher.

So, I will just sit tight and sew on.  Excursions to get groceries will be limited.

Looking back to last year, for me, it didn't feel like much was accomplished in 2020.  My goodness, but I was sure surprised.  Seven quilts were made.  Seven.  I had to look at the Quilts 2020 tab at the top of my blog (under the large photo) and look to see what quilts were made.  Seven!  What a surprise.  Go there to see them better!

Now, this is where I have to actually look at the stats to see what tops and UFO's were there at the beginning of last year.  It is my way of keeping tabs on what is remaining to be quilted and what UFO's need to be pulled off the shelf and worked on.  It is also to remind my readers that I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to this type of work.  LOL

Tops: 

Ten at the beginning of 2020.  Look at all those x's!  How lovely it was to x off a top once it was finished!

Now for the beginning of 2021 .... only 4 tops!  I'm still debating on sending all of them out for quilting or to keep a few and hand quilt them?   Oh, what to do, what to do?

Quilts that need binding

There are four quilts and they will be worked on during the winter months to help keep me warm while I sit and watch t.v.  A new folder in my files had to be created for these quilts because I actually forgot about the second quilt from the right.  It was quilted back in 2018 and it has been hidden away since then.  You can imagine my surprise when it was discovered recently.  How in the world can you forget about a quilt?  My guess is a good clean up and sort is badly needed in my studio!  LOL

UFO's:

The year 2020 started with 33 UFO's.  Sadly, only three were x'd.  Not as good as I hoped for.

I don't know how it happened, but my UFO's increased to 35 at the beginning of 2021.  Oops.  Can I do better than finish three UFO's this year?  Let's see what can be done this year?  No promises.  No resolutions.   Nope, not going there.

So, that is my recap for the year that wasn't!

Will any new projects be started?  Definitely!  I can't just work on old stuff, you know!  LOL

On another note, it is time to de-clutter our home.  When my Aunt and cousin passed away, it was the task of my sister, her daughters and me to pack up and move their belongings here to North Bay.  A lot of their furnishings are in storage, but boxes are sitting in my studio bedroom to go through and decide their future.  Keep, donate, sell or toss.  They had only an apartment.  We have a house full of stuff.  That was an eyeopener to all of us.   Getting rid of clutter in our home has been ongoing for a month now and we are starting to see the difference.

What about in my studio?  Lordy, that is a topic for another day, but cleaning out has already started.

We all have high hopes for 2021.  Things have to get better?  Right? 

Until we all get vaccinated ..... wear a mask, wash your hands, keep your distance and don't gather with family and friends.  We are getting close to getting the virus under control and now is NOT the time to drop our guard.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

New year and a new decade

2020 ..... how time flies by when we are having so much fun!  Here we are in a new year and a new decade.

Today, I'm looking back at 2019 and what was accomplished.  You know that I don't do well with lists but a photo says it all for me.  It keeps me motivated (well that and a friend who also keeps me on my toes) to just get things done.

As we get older, we see friends and family get ill and you know that time is more precious than ever.  Right now, an elderly aunt is quite ill and that brings the meaning of time closer to home.  Time to get more things accomplished this year.  Time to clear out stuff that no longer has any meaning or need.

Time to look back now.  These are my quilts that got completed.  Quite a few of the quilts are English Paper Piecing (EPP), a lot of them scrappy (makes my heart sing!).  A good year.  Only one was hand quilted, the rest were machine quilted.

Some of these quilts never made it to the UFO stage.  They just got started and completed.  That is what I'm trying to do with new projects.  Just work on them until they are done.  No more shelving.  Here are 20 items that got finished in 2019.  Such a good year .... the most that I've ever done.  If you want a better look at these quilts, just go to the top of my blog (just below my header photo) and click onto the "Quilts 2019" tab and enjoy.

This is my visual photo to keep me focused.  Tops completed.  Love it when I can cross a top off that photo.  2019 started with 22 tops to be quilted.  Twelve got done and crossed off this photo.  Yeah!

Now, my UFO's didn't get a good rating.  Only four got to the flimsy or quilted stage.  Still, that is better than zero.  For 2020, I will just have to work harder!

For 2020, this is my record.  Down to 10 tops.  Holy cow!  That is a record for me!  I'm looking forward to getting backings ready and sending most of these to my lovely LAer.  I might just keep a couple for hand quilting, but will get them basted by the LAer.

My UFO's are at 33.   Oh humbug!  There could even be more lurking about if no photo was taken of them.

Now that I've looked backwards and forward, let's see what 2020 will bring forth!

Have a great year!

Chevron Log Cabin

Here is another ufo that got finished before 2018 ended.  How glorious is that!

So .... how did I do for 2018?  How many quilts got finished.  How many ufo's got moved to the tops ready for quilting stage?

I did a print screen of all my finished tops and my ufos at the beginning of 2018.   This is how I keep track of my tops and ufos and new projects.  A file was created for each topic and as a item gets finished, the photo gets moved around until it gets a big X.  As each one got done on either the ufo file or top file, a big X crosses that photo off the list. 

The photo below were my tops ready for quilting.  There are 23 tops shown below.  Eight got crossed off  that list during 2018.  That is GOOD in my books.  Thanks to my LAer, Tella, she helped me achieve this goal and my husband and friends are breathing a bit easier.  Everyone is happy to see me sewing binding on a quilt.  Heck, I'm happy to do that too.

This one below were my ufos and there were 40 here.   Seven photos got crossed off during 2018.  Really, that is not bad.  Seven is better than nothing.

Does doing this work for me?  Seeing the results, I think it sure does.  You have no idea how good it feels to me to make a big X on a photo.  Before doing this, a list was made each year, but I'm a visual type of person and seeing a photo helps me more than first realised.

What actually is happening is downsizing.  I'm starting to see more room on the shelves in my studio.   Stuff is not crammed on them like before.   Fabric is still being purchased but not in any great quantities anymore.  Bins are starting to get emptied.  I can't believe I actually wrote that.  But, yes, that is happening.

What exactly got done for 2018.  Here are a few group photos to remind me.

First up, 5 baby blankets for the NICU at our local hospital:

It was definitely a good year!

So, for 2019, this is what I have.  New print screens have been done and I'm ready to do my bit to start crossing off a few tops, ufos and new projects.  Yep, bring it on!

My tops (ready for quilting) has 22 items.  Some will be sent out and some will be done by me.  I would like to get a few tops hand quilted.   Big stitch hand quilting is calling to me.

My ufos (or works in progress) have shrunk nicely but a few new projects have been added to the list.  My ufos can include any old project but also new projects too.  Only 35 now.  

To sum things up, I'm far happier now than I was a year ago.  There are a number of quilts that I can pull out at any time for hanging up with the change of each season.  Yes, very happy.

So, which top will I work on next?

The one at the top of this post.  Hand quilting.  I want to get it done.  What else?

This quilt.  The binding is on and even the label, but I had asked LAer Tella not to do any custom quilting on the leaves and circles in the borders.  These are being hand quilted.  There are a lot of flowers and each is taking time, but they will be worked on now and then and by spring I can show you this quilt as finished.  That is my goal.

I'm hand quilting around each leaf and circle and then putting an X right through each circle and a single line on each leaf.  Love the look and so love this quilt.  Gotta get it finished!

Which ufo?  This one from 2015.  It is time.

Have a great stitching day!

Linking to: http://www.esthersquiltblog.com/ and http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/