In 2014, I finished 6 quilts plus 1 block and 1 quilted mug rug. I did a year-long cross stitch sampler and got most of the way through a Halloween cross stitch piece. I made a dress for Emma, not to mention an awesome (if I do say so myself) Mary Poppins Halloween costume. I made 4 bags & 3 scarves. I made a series of posters and thus completed my digital media master’s degree.
Here are a few highlights:
Favorite: The wildwood quilt, which has now been gifted to my friend Jen’s baby (although Jen and baby’s older sister are the ones actually enjoying it at the moment!). I loooved the way that quilt turned out and am a bit tempted to make another one — same fabric and everything — for myself.
The only quilt still in my possession: My small pointy quilt, which I made as a pattern tester. I gave away the other 5 quilts I made last year. To be honest I’m not sure what to do with this one! I like it a lot, but it’s too small for an adult to use as a blanket and Emma already has her triangle quilt that I made in 2013. I do know that this year I want to make a snuggly lap quilt just for me!
Quickest/easiest: A toss up between the circle snap scarves I made for my sister and sister-in-law and the coasters I made for a swap. These took no more than an hour to make.
Most Used: My poolside tote. I use it on a weekly basis to carry our stuff to and from Emma’s swimming lessons. I love how roomy it is!
Most Technically Difficult: Definitely the social tote I made last spring. There are a lot of pieces in this one and making sure it all came together required some head-scratching and instruction re-reading for sure. Bags are hard, man.
Most Emotionally Difficult: A week or so before Christmas, I decided to make Emma a rather rudimentary Little Mermaid/Ariel doll. Cut to the Saturday night before Christmas, and you’ll find me literally crying in frustration because my sewing machine couldn’t seem to handle the bulk and kept spitting out knotted clumps of thread. In the end I was able to make it work, kind of, and Emma liked it. But geez.
Most time-consuming: The Once Upon a Time cross stitch sampler, no question. When all was said and done I probably invested somewhere between 100-120 hours into this piece. (In contrast, the most time I’ve ever spent on a quilt is probably ~20 hours.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about my crafty goals for 2015, and will write more about them next week!
our sewing machine can sew through wood (byron tried a ruler in it). It was bought to sew through very thick sail cloth. If you ever need it.