a quilty 2019 review

Everybody is doing it.  I've done it before.  Let's do it again!

A trip down memory lane for this past year.

It's been a BIG quilty year for me!

33 quilts finished (plus one)

5 unquilted tops also made

16 books read

The year started off with a BANG and the Project Quilting challenges.  I completed all six!

My photo combining software made them all the same size, but they are truly not!  My favorite wavers between the unicorn and the hearts.  But they were all fun and I'm gearing up to start again in about a week for season 11!

I also had a challenge problem early in the year...

I joined in the Fat Quarter Shop National Quilting day challenge, the Modern Mini challenge and the Pantone color challenge.  By far the Twirly quilt, made for the Pantone challenge, is my favorite.  And again, I'm planning to join the Pantone challenge in 2020.  (The color is a bright royal blue, which is kind of disappointing for me, but I guess that's all part of the challenge?!)

There were a number of quilts given to charity.

Six quilts, all 36x36, went to Jack's Basket.  All made from scraps...except that elusive red for the checkerboard border on the bottom center block.  I had to buy a little more for that, but it was a small purchase and I'm okay with that.

And the blue hearts quilt, made from blocks donated by guild members, went to Quilts for Cops.

I decided to make one quilt per month for the Hands 2 Help charity challenge in 2020 and have finished four already!

I also have three more in top stage...

And one more in, um, just-pulled-fabrics-from-the-stash-yesterday stage...

I'm headed to a retreat this weekend and hope to have this cut to start sewing while I'm there.  (The hubby is also excited for this retreat, as he can apparently sit around at home in his underwear all weekend.  And that's different from when I'm here how?!)

I gave a LOT of quilts for gifts!

A few of them haven't even been blogged yet, but since they were Christmas gifts, they had to wait their turn.  And well, time ran out!  I'll get to them soon!

And we can't forget the finished-in-2018-given-in-2019 quilt!

For me, I completed a few quilts, mostly from the Rack of Shame!

All of them are my favorites!

And finally, the remaining two tops completed this year, waiting for me to decide how and when to quilt them!

I tried to find a graphic to show the books I read, but the app on my phone is not being friendly about making me a nice collage.  (I have the app because I buy books at used book sales, read and donate them back to sell again.  Sometimes I buy the same books over again and this saves me that "hmmm...this sounds familiar...have I read it?" feeling!)

In all, it was a productive quilty year, but I feel like the first half was better than the second.  Of course, those of you who read my blog know there were some significant losses this year (that I would rather just not think about right now) that I think contributed to my lack of motivation.

I promised photos of some Christmas gifts, and since at least one of them is motivating me back to my sewing room, I'll share the quilty gifts!

My awesome sister-in-law got me this kit!  The cutting took two days, but it is ready to head to retreat with me this coming weekend.  The instructions are one LONG set, not broken up into different designs, so it will require some thinking.  But I labelled every piece with fabric letter and size, so hopefully all goes well there!

My mom got me this layer cake.  No ideas on how to use this yet (as most layer cake patterns also call for yardage...), but I'm sure something will surface in time.

And my hubby, at my request, got me this book.  It's pretty cool and has little interviews with quite a few quilters and those involved in the quilty world and industry.  I've read a few pages in, but it's something you can't just read like a novel, so I'll probably take this to retreat, too, for a little winding-down reading.

Goals for 2020 include making more quilts to donate for the Hands 2 Help charity event.  I still have January through April to make, but since December is still waiting to be cut out...  I've not committed to any size, though, so baby quilts are an option...and go faster!  Last year the gal organizing the event had a few charities rounded up to donate to (which is how I found out about and donated to Jack's Basket), but there is a gal locally who works with families that foster kids.  She has a ginormous warehouse and collects donations of new and gently used clothes, new shoes, new and gently used toys, bedding, and just about anything you can imagine.  She writes grants to purchase mattresses and bed frames - that she buys from a local supplier at cost - and anything else she can think of that will help transition these children into families.  I think I will probably take my stack of quilts to her first and if there are any that won't work for her, I will keep looking.

There are also a couple of gals pregnant right now.  One is family, so of course she will get a quilt.  The other is a coworker - and a new one at that - so I am still in the processing stage of that one.  (I believe she would appreciate it and is in a position that it would also be useful, but I don't know her that well and don't want to make things weird.  Or open that can of worms.  So maybe.)

One of the older nieces moved to Florida earlier this year and her boyfriend became her fiance on Christmas.  So a quilt will happen there, too.  But they haven't set a date, so that's in limbo.

There may be a cousin turning 50 in the coming year.  I need to find out!

I hope to continue using my stash, though supplementing it always seems to happen whether I try or not (leftovers from quilt backs seem to be a big problem).  And cleaning up and hanging quilts on the other side of my sewing room would be nice.  Perhaps along with that project I will clean out the closets and find new homes for some of my fabrics?

And I am going to try to read more.  I find myself, later at night, picking up my phone and playing games for far too long.  So those games are going away and my official goal is one book a month, but if I can do one a week?  That would be awesome!

I would also like to cook and bake more.  But my hubby is extremely picky (today he turned up his nose at garlic bread because it wasn't burnt - or "properly toasted" as he calls it) and trying to lose weight.  The guys at work would be happy to eat any sweets I bring in, but I have to be careful there too, as the hubby refers to them all as my "boyfriends"...  (He is joking and one man in my life is plenty thankyouverymuch, but I still feel the need to be careful!)

Happy quilting in 2020!

Katie