Friday, December 31, 2021

Best of 2021

It's hart to believe that the end of 2021 is almost here. It was a rough year in many ways but it did help me enjoy more slow stitching and try a couple of new things. It's only by looking back (I'm so grateful for my blog) that I realised what I accomplished.

Slow stitching finishes

My favourite is by far my "After the Storm" piece. I really impressed myself 😊! It was made from a workshop with Jette Clover. The links to all of the posts are in Related links below.

After the Storm

I am still receiving workshops from TextileArtists.org but have been doing less of them this year than last year. I just can't keep starting new projects, or I'll never get anything finished. I have a few UFOs from the workshops, but not as much as you might think. I'm sure that I'll be going back to these new, interesting workshops when I'm ready (now less than 10 months!) 😊 

I did re-do the eco printing workshop with Caroline Nixon. I didn't want to get hooked...as if I don't have enough to do! but I did and I love it and want to get good enough to add colour to my eco prints! I am taking Caroline Nixon's online introductory workshop, which has some additional content than the course on TextileArtists.org. I will be doing the course this winter so that I'm ready to take her second, advanced course in the Spring.

The first eco-printed fabric that I stitched

I did have to add a category for the wildest thing that I did this year....couching on a Hosta leaf! 😁 I also discovered so many threads....wow, another collection!
Bengal thread from Maiwa

Stitching on a Hosta leaf













Doing the #100dayschallenge on Instagram has really helped me do more stitching. I didn't stitch or post every day, but did a lot more than I ever have. I'm looking forward to finishing up my 100 days (I'm at Day 75) and continuing to stitch and post one way or another.

This is a UFO that I finished through the #100dayschallenge. I'm actually more thrilled about the video that I posted on YouTube showing this finished Concertina Book made through Mandy Pattullo's workshop. The link to the YouTube video is below as well as on my blog's sidebar.

Best and Worst of Time

The project the closest to my mending heart is All for One (both versions).

All for One embroidery

I know that the list is long, but I can't leave without mentioning my Traveller's Blanket. This UFO will be finished in 2022!

Traveller's Blanket - coming together

Free Motion Stitching 

My all time favourite FMQ project was finished this year. It's going to it's new home soon (I hope).

An Out of this World Finish 

I also took a virtual workshop with Amanda McCavour. It was a lot of fun working with water soluble products. This one is my favourite flower - an Allium. Now it's part of a larger project that will one day get finished! 😊

Allium made by FMQ on water soluble products

Rose, my Garden Fairy was created for the Fairy Tales Blog Hop.

Meet Rose, my Garden Fairy

Another fun piece also related to the garden is my Garden Fence Art piece.

Made an art piece for my Garden Fence - it's water resistant

I have to mentioning my son's quilt....it's slowly coming along. It will also be finished in 2022!

My son's quilt - it's going to get done in 2022!

Finally I have two holiday projects that are some of my favourites. The first is the Christmas Tree Wall Hanging made using a version of pojagi.

Christmas Tree Window Hanging

In my post, Surviving the Holidays, I mentioned that you can give quilty IOUs to lower the stress of the holidays. Well, this is the second of two placements. It's now finished and was given to my son's girlfriend yesterday. 

On Instagram, I mentioned that I learned to FMQ ivy leaves from a great tutorial by Happy Quilting. I've included the link below. 
The second placemat - ready to be given!

Learning to FMQ ivy leaves & berries

What I learned

  • It's so gratifying to be able to look back and see what I accomplished last year. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all!
  • I'm finding it difficult to keep track of what I posted on Instagram vs what's on my blog. I'll have to figure that out if I want to continue using both media.
  • I am grateful to all of you for taking the time to read or even glance at my blog. It's so nice to be connected to such a group of amazing quilters, artists and all-round wonderful people 😊

Related links

Linking parties
Thank you so much to Cheryl at Meadow Mist for hosting this great tradition! Best of 2021

19 comments:

  1. how fun to look back on your year with you. You did learn a lot and do some amazing projects!

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    1. Thanks Alycia. I'm glad that I can look to my blog to see what I did - otherwise I would only remember what I didn't do or what I'm working on now! I wish that I could blame it on age, but I've always been that way! I wish you and your family a great 2022. I hope that you will get the right amount of precipitation this year!!! Take care.

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  2. I have seen blogs with a 'widget' that feeds your instagram posts into a small mosaic for one of the side bars. That would give you a visual reference for IG right here at your blog. I'm not tech savvy enough to explore that just yet, but you might be, so I mention it. Happy New Year!

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  3. Fun to see all the beautiful things that you made in 2021! Happy New Year.

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    1. Thanks Kathleen. I wish you all the best in 2022!

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  4. Wishing you another quilty year in 2022!! You worked on some really wonderful projects in 2021. Enjoy your art SEW much!

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    1. Thanks for joining the December 2021 TABLE SCRAPS Challenge!! I hope you will join in the upcoming 2022 Link Parties, as well.

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    2. I'm really glad that I found the link. I don't make lots of quilted items these days but I will try to join. I hope that you have a healthy, productive (sewing wise :-) ), and joyful year!

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  5. You tried lots of different things in 2021 and ended up with some beautiful projects. Wishing you a very successful 2022!

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    1. Thanks so much Kate. I'm so happy to have this blog to remind me of what I've done, otherwise I would barely remember :-) Wishing you a lovely, fun, and healthy 2022 with lots of time to stitch!

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  6. I've enjoyed following along with your sewing adventures in 2021. I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year and I'm looking forward to seeing what you will sew in 2022 :)

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    1. Thanks so much Janine. I've really enjoyed following your adventures also :-) I wish you and your family a healthy, fun filled 2022!

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  7. My two favourites are your Out of This World FMQ quilt and your Garden Fence Art quilt! Wishing you many more happy stitching adventures in 2022!

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    1. Thanks so much Sandra. It's going to be an interesting year and I'm going to try to enjoy the moment...I don't want to spend all of my time anticipating my retirement! I wish you all the best...health, productivity and joy for you and your family!

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  8. Congrats on a wonderful 2021, such great finishes! Happy New year and I hope 2022 is wonderful for you!

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    1. Hi Cheryl, thanks so much for the linking party. It's always fun to review the year and also see what others have accomplished! I wish you health and joy in 2022!

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  9. You have such a unique and interesting style, Andree!!! I enjoy looking through your review of projects for 2021!

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    1. Thanks so much Nancy. I find it really rewarding to see what I actually accomplished - it's always more than I thought. Happy New Year!

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  10. Quel plaisir de revoir tous tes projets de l'année ! Ils sont très beaux, bravo !
    Bises, et merci pour le partage de liens ;)

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Hi! I would love to hear from you and I will try to answer you. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message. :-)