Today I’m joining the Best of 2017 Linky Party going on at Meadow Mist Designs, and sharing five (well, ok, technically six) of my favorite finishes from this year!
Favorite Quilt
What else could it be but my Long Time Gone quilt, right?? I started it in March and finished in July as part of the GnomeAngel sew-along and it still gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies. I’ve been snuggling underneath it on the couch yesterday and today as I fight the flu, and I still find myself staring at it and admiring all the scrappy blue fabrics and tiny pieces. Love love love.
Runners Up: L Is For… (MQG Quilt of the Month), Pueblo Mesa (I just love the colors so much), Gypsy Wife (which might have stolen the “favorite” title, except it’s not finished yet)
Favorite Mini Quilt
I made this Pentagon Star mini back in the spring for the MQG’s Riley Blake fabric challenge and although it didn’t win anything, I really love it and was proud of the thought I put into it — from fussy-cutting the prints to emphasize the shapes to the unique pentagon shape to the combo of machine quilting with hand quilting around the edge.
Runners Up: Backyard Chatter (which is going to QuiltCon!!), Intertwined (in rainbow colors)
Favorite Hand Stitching Project
Well, this was really the ONLY significant hand stitching I did this year, but we’ll ignore that little detail! I finished up the cross stitch in the spring, and finally turned it into a stocking for Charlotte in time for Christmas.
Favorite Wearable/Carryable Item
There admittedly wasn’t a ton of competition in this category this year, so my Range Backpack wins fairly easily. I thought carefully about my fabric choices for this one, took my time with the construction process, and was very pleased with the final result!
Runners Up: Trolls dress (for my 5-year-old), Poppy Troll dress (for the 5-year-old’s Halloween costume)
Favorite Block
I spent all year working on my barn quilt block of the month project. My favorite — and this was a REALLY tough choice! — was Railroad Crossing, which I made in February. I didn’t realize at the time how much I would end up liking it, and how it would stand up throughout a year of similarly striking blocks to keep the top spot. Something about the color choice and contrast, and that neat checkerboard center, kept my love for this one strong.
Runners Up: Blackford’s Beauty, Double Aster, North Star
Bonus: Favorite Non-Sewing Project
As a bonus, I’m throwing in a 6th favorite, because I can’t recap 2017 without mentioning the 100 Day Project! I doodled a repeating pattern for 100 days between April and July and it turned out to be such a fun and rewarding challenge. A hundred days is enough time to really get into something, while also being over soon enough to prevent too much burnout. I’ll be doing it again in 2018 if I can come up with a project that sparks my interest.
And that’s it! 2017 was full of lots of fun project and I can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!
p.s. I’m doing a 31 day blog writing challenge!
How about 100 days of posting! Ha! (Thanks for posting up on your blog— I can’t even imagine how you do this and work full-time and be a Mom.)
That would definitely be a challenge! Ha!
I thought that your Gypsy wife quilt might end up a big favorite! You had a great year and it is fun to see it recapped here. 🙂
It might have been, but I decided to restrict it to finishes — and Gypsy Wife is just a top at the moment! 🙂
Your Long Time Gone Quilt is really stunning – you must be very proud. I’ll have to look into your 100 day doodle project – that sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing – I love meeting other quilters who are engineers too!
The magic of the 100 day project is that it can truly be anything! The patterns was just what I happened to choose this year.
Beautiful projects, I love your mini 😉
Great finishes and idea around doing a 100 day challenge! Thanks for linking up and have a wonderful new year!
Love your Long Time Gone, you used a fantastic colour palette. I’m sad you didn’t include your Gypsy Wife, it’s my favourite pattern, but there is always next year. Congratulations on a wonderful year.
Perhaps I was being too strict on “finishes” and should have included Gypsy Wife after all! 😉