2018 In Review; and, Goodbye

Posted in News

As I sat down to write this year’s review post, I realized that I was behind on posting by multiple quilts and other projects yet again. And worse, it wasn’t due to a lack of time like last year, but general lack of motivation.

So, after spending a couple of weeks thinking about it, I’ve decided that I’m going to stop blogging in 2019. For now, this site will stay up. Thank you to those of you who have stuck around all these years.

Catch me on Instagram, where I’m slightly better about posting finished projects and in progress shots. My sewjo was back in 2018 despite all of the moving, and I’m looking forward to many new techniques and projects in 2019. @raevenfea

That said, here’s 2018 in review.

Quilt Finishes

I didn’t finish nearly as many quilts this year as I have in the past, and most of them were rather small quilts. But, I did manage to knock off one old work in progress and a second that was not as old, but I was just as pleased about clearing out.

1. Volute (Bang!)
2. Wild Swoon
3. Welcome
4. Give a Flock
5. Welcome 2

It was the year of small quilts. All but Volute (Bang!) were 42″ square or smaller. It almost motivates me to start the process of quilting my giant pixelated churn dash again (queen bed-sized, 1/2″ lines).

Quilt Shows

Volute (Bang!) hung at the Vermont Quilt Festival. Mustang Summing, All the Ys, and The Sum of Scraps all hung at the T. W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier, VT for a show in October.

Samplers, Meetups, Exchanges

Give a Flock finished up the Block of the Month my guild kicked off in mid-2017. I signed up for our 2018-19 BOM as well, and three months in, I’m still caught up.

Welcome was started after I learned about the Welcome Blanket Project. I gifted it to the project after finishing it.

Other Sewing Projects

While I was living in Atlanta, I took advantage of the wide variety of classes I could access and different materials I could buy in-person. As a result, I did more non-quilt sewing than usual. That included knit leggings, a sweater/sweatshirt, a waxed-canvas bag, and espadrille shoes. That’s in addition to a variety of zip pouches, and random other small projects; none of these made the blog.

The Backlog

Aside from the two quilts I finished from this backlog (Volute, formerly Organic Spins; VTMQG 2017-18 BOM), I didn’t make much progress on it. I’m actively working on the one new quilt I started but didn’t manage to finish in 2018.

Progress in 2018:
Meta history quilt

Untouched:
Farmer’s wife / EPP Crosses
Witches Bubble Brew
Self-portrait of an American Woman
Pixelated Churn Dash

New:
C+S Charm Quilt

Resolution

One thing that was reinforced by my time in Atlanta is that I love sewing with people and learning new things. Sure, I can puzzle pretty much any technique out, but I enjoy learning them in person, with others. Rather than focusing goals on how many projects I might complete in 2019, I want to focus on learning things with people—taking classes, going to sew-ins, etc. I think there may be more garment sewing in my future as well, after reigniting that passion and receiving a serger for xmas.