Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!: blog

Friday, July 06, 2018

2018 Mid Year Review

Hooray! The July heat wave has been pushed away, at least temporarily, so I may come out of the house this weekend :-)

2018 Mid Year Review

Hexie flower for the
Kingfisher Stitch Along

In December when I was planning my year (courtesy of Yvonne at Quilting JETgirl), I had learned a hard lesson from 2017 - to keep it simple and as stress free as possible. See, I can learn 😊 So I kept it quite simple, with a few categories and general projects and learning. Let's review:

Possible Quilt Alongs

I knew that I would be participating in Alida's Starry Bright Sky QAL. So far, I'm up-to-date on my blocks, even if my June block was a mess.

I was seriously considering participating in Block of the Month Series presented by Bernina and even bought loads of Alison Glass fabric for it. Although it's a lovely quilt, I think that it's the colours and the fabric that impressed me the most. I will use that yummy fabric but I've decided to minimize the amount of traditional quilting - as in following a pattern - that I'm going to do.

One of two cuddle quilts

I joined my second Postcard from Sweden QAL, this time hosted by mmm! quilts. I'm happy to report that my quilt top is finally done!

Also, I combined my wanting to make charity quilts with Amy's Comfort QAL in April. I adapted the simple pattern to make 2 lovely charity cuddle quilts.

A mix of FMQ designs based on
Angela Walter's FMQ Challenge

I did join the Kingfisher Stitch Along since it's all about making a very simple quilt with hexie flowers. I'm still crazy about hexies but I wanted to make them as part of a larger piece. I've had lots of fun photographing the hexie flowers in nature and slowly hand-appliquéing the hexies onto the diamonds.

Since I wanted to keep practicing my FMQ, I joined Angela Walter's FMQ Challenge QAL. That was a lot of work but I really enjoyed it. Here's the square where I practiced most of the FMQ designs.

Update my blog

I've slowly been updating my blog like I wanted to. Many are just minor changes, like using consistent headings and post formats. All best practices of writing for the web that I've learned at work.

Project finishes for 2017 page created using the InLinkz tool

I've also created more pages for the blog, highlighting the projects that I've completed in each year. Pages for 2014 to 2017 have been created using my InLinkz tool. I only have 2012-13 left to do. I've created a Linking Parties and Events page to help me keep track of dates as well as make it easier to post buttons on the side of my blog. I've learned a lot and am hoping to create a Tips for working in Blogger page sometime this year.

Art Quilts

Morning Has Broken

On my holidays in January, I worked on some embroidery as well an art quilt. Isles Canarias was my first art quilt of 2018. As I hoped, I made another art quilt, Morning Has Broken, for Alida's Art with Fabric Blog Hop.

Islas Canarias art quilt

I was able to exhibit my art quilts at both Fibre Fling 7 and the Common Thread Quilt Guild's quilt show. These two pieces are 2 of my best pieces to date.

I am currently working on an art quilt for a show for next summer with the Out of the Box Art Group. It needs to be finished by the end of September and is coming along nicely.

Finishing Some UFOs

This category wasn't in my 2018 plan but I'm adding it here since I also managed to finish 2 UFOs. Street Art My Way (2014) and Scrappy Triangles Baby Quilt (2015).

Scrappy Triangles Baby Quilt

Street Art My Way

What I learned

Wow! I can't believe all that I've accomplished!!! And mostly without too much pressure. I wasn't sure how true that was so I went through my posts. May was the usual busy month with the Art with Fabric Blog Hop and a quilt show, but otherwise I seem to have done pretty well keeping the pressure down.
If I'm productive, it's because I try to quilt every day, as long as I'm not too tired. I've discovered that since I don't watch television, I have lots of time to quilt or read. I don't often spend much time on the computer since I work at one all day, but I get my small doses of Instagram and reading blogs a few times a week.
Since I work on many projects at a time, I can choose which project to work on in the evening based on how much energy I have. I've been doing this for about four years now and my quilting has really improved.
I've also discovered what stresses me (deadlines and complicated piecing) and what I enjoy (FMQ, art quilts and improv piecing). That has really helped me manage both my time and my stress effectively. As I write this, I realise how lucky I am to have found what I am passionate about and how to make the most of it. I also have to add that, as you know, I love blogging and being a part of this wonderful online community :-)

Two Years of Blogging & Learning!

I can't believe I've been blogging for over two years now.

Blogging has become one of my all-time favourite things to do. What's not to love?

It's about my passions (quilting & learning);

I get to show off my achievements in a culturally acceptable manner :-) ; and

I get to practice my web writing and design skills on something other than information management and email cleanup!!!

Projects included in my blog

What I have learned in the last two years:

The "What I learned" part of the blog has really helped me think critically about my projects, expectations etc. It's a great way to learn from both my mistakes and my successes.

I've realised that I am not a planner of projects and that most of the time that's ok. I think that it comes down to my expectations of the outcome of the projects. To create an amazing quilt, planning is probably a very good thing but to learn new skills, not as much.

My quilting depends a lot on the amount of energy I have in the evenings and weekends. That's why having an assortment of projects to work on is so important to me.

I very often decide which project to start based on what I want to learn. I find that easier to do than when I want to create a quilt for someone specific. That's probably because then I focus on what the person might like, and of course, the pressure is on to make it look good!