Welcome New Year :)
This past year has been a good one for us. Hard, but good. Unfortunately, the holidays came and knocked us on our backs, so I haven't been able to get much done here for quite awhile! We've had sickness after sickness, even with some hospitalizations (thankfully nothing ended up being serious) and weren't able to really enjoy ourselves the way we would have hoped. I've been doing a great job of feeling sorry for myself, which is not necessary, because we really do have a blessed life! I'm currently 6.5 months pregnant (yes, that's my official announcement!) and third trimester exhaustion is hitting, so I'm not sure what all I'll be able to get done before the baby comes. On top of that, the projects I have been doing lately are for publication, so I can't even show them. Gr...I'm starting to hate that!
Usually when I look at every one else's mosiacs of how much they did this past year, I just get depressed about how much less I got done. But when I did look back at this past year, I was pleasantly surprised. So if you're a pessimist like me - just take a look. You might be surprised :). And really, everyone's lovely posts wrapping up the year and talking about their resolutions shouldn't do anything other than inspire me. The New Year shouldn't be about getting as much done as everyone else did. It should be about being happy with my own life. And if I'm not happy - I can work on changing it or realize that yes, I really am blessed. And it's ok if I didn't do a million things - because sometimes, it's the single, little things that make the biggest difference in the world.
I'm really quite bad at thinking the grass is always greener on the other side and wishing for things in life - or just a life - that I don't have. So this year, I'd like to work on loving the life I live - and if there's a legitimate reason to dislike something in it, then I'd like to work on making it better, not just be upset about it.
With all that mushiness out of the way, here's some of the things I did this year - many of them I thought were from much longer ago! It's crazy how much happens in a year :)
1. Flocks of HSTs, 2. Bliss Churns, 3. Sari Bari quilt, 4. wreath 001, 5. Prism quilt top, 6. Juicy Fruit, 7. Paper Pieced Diamonds, 8. Rosie's Baby Quilt, 9. Charity Quilt, 10. Zig Zag Quilt, 11. Curvy Pinwheels, 12. Improv Herringbone, 13. Butterfly Baby Quilt, 14. Madrona Road Challenge, 15. Something New Sampler, 16. New Juki!
This year, I'm really happy with my newly gained confidence when quilting. You've seen these projects all before, so I won't go on about them, but they sure are fun to look back on!
1. Quilting the Scalloped Diamonds Baby Quilt, 2. Quilting the Scalloped Diamonds Baby Quilt, 3. Quilting: Intersecting Diamonds, 4. Quilting: Intersecting Diamonds, 5. Finished Something New Sampler, 6. Something New Sampler - quilting stage!, 7. Finished Something New Sampler, 8. Finished Something New Sampler, 9. Finished Something New Sampler, 10. Juicy Fruit, 11. Prism quilting, 12. quilting fun
Definitely my proudest moment of 2013 (quilting wise) was being named one of the winners of the Madrona Road Challenge. I was pretty disappointed that my Fire & Ice quilt didn't make it into the juried show, so it was a bittersweet way of feeling represented. I wasn't able to go, but it was really amazing and humbling to see photos of it popping up on social media. I started this quilt when my second-born was only 3 weeks old and didn't have much time to work on it (obviously!). It was a huge moral booster when I was working through early baby blues. The sweetest thing, I think, is that my husband actually designed the quilt block for me. Good ole' husband-wife teamwork :)
I'm looking forward to seeing what 2014 brings - hopefully I have time to get a project done before the baby comes!