2017 In Review

Posted in News

As well as I can remember, 2017 is the first year that I am incredibly relieved to see in my metaphorical rearview mirror. So long, 2017, and keep your fish next time.

My time and motivation for sewing got pushed aside in favor of dealing with life. There were certainly some highs to go along with the lows, don’t get me wrong—we traveled to Alaska for our 10th anniversary, for starters! But overall, the theme of 2017 sewing seemed to be “whip up this gift before a deadline,” and had very little “me time, addicted to this project” sewing.

Quilt Finishes

2017 was all about babies. So many baby quilts. And, a lack of blogging. I still owe you all some words about numbers six, seven, and eight.

I also finished a mini, “All the Ys”, that took up a third of my Instagram #2017bestnine slots (of course, then I decided to be lame and not even post the collage to Instagram after it generated). I never quite know how to categorize minis—part of my list of quilts (currently 52 finishes, not including minis)—or part of my list of random small projects every year? Something to think about in the future if I start making more than one or two a year, I suppose.

* This isn’t exactly a finished quilt, but is a completed iteration. Semantics.

Quilt Shows

Human hung at the Vermont Quilt Fest and won a second place ribbon on its own merits. Cyclist was also present at VQF, in the “Lobby Lights” exhibit along with many others by my guildmates.

Samplers, Meetups, Exchanges

With my crafting mojo as limited as it was, I didn’t get involved in much this year. I started participating in my guild’s block of the month, but only finished the first two months. I’m about six behind at this point (we started mid-year). I helped my guild piece #quiltsforqc quilt tops during a sew-in, but that was it for various collaborative projects.

The Backlog

I barely touched my existing project backlog this year. I did finish one old project, Sampler On Point, which officially finishes off my old sampler projects from Utica. And, I made the first full panel of my history quilt (48 blocks). But, I started two projects in May that I didn’t touch again after August or so, which means I’m technically net negative on backlog progress.

Progress in 2017:

Meta history quilt
Farmer’s wife / EPP Crosses

Untouched:

Witches Bubble Brew
Organic Spins
Self-portrait of an American Woman

New:

Giant Pixelated Churn Dash
2017-8 VTMQG BOM

Resolution

Looking back at my 2016 review, I didn’t do a great job of being on the same playing field as my goals for 2017, let alone accomplishing them. Which, of course, makes me hesitant to make any goals for 2018.

That said, I’d like to finish a quilt to enter into VQF this year. I’ve found the feedback from judges very interesting for the previous two years. At the time of writing, I hope to finish up Organic Spins once and for all, and enter it. I started it in September 2011, which makes it my oldest work in progress that I’m still trying to finish as originally envisioned.

I’d also like to catch up on posting about my final finishes of 2017 before too late in the year and keep up in 2018. Thanks for sticking around!