We kicked off 2021 feeling optimistic that it would be a better year than 2020 and happily, for our family, that came true. The kids were in school the whole year, we took a couple summer trips, and we enjoyed some activities we’d avoided in 2020.
In January, I shared my Countdown quilt that I’d finished right before the end of 2020, and made a butterfly mini quilt for the Forebatten Foundation. I released my Modular Maze pattern and shared how I keep my threads organized. I didn’t write a single post about general life stuff, which is a shame because now I can’t look back on it! But rest assured there was some bike riding, some playing in the park, some weekend Starbucks runs, and more. Oh, and we got a new President! That was a relief.
February was more memorable, for both good and bad reasons!! We survived the Texas winter apocalypse — whew, what an ordeal that was. We were among the very lucky few that only lost power for a few hours (instead of a few days) but that week was not an experience any of us would like to repeat any time soon. But there were good things too! I got my first dose of the covid vaccine!! Perserverance landed on Mars! (And I made a quilt to celebrate.) I enjoyed QuiltCon Together, and my Split Level pattern was in QuiltCon magazine.
March brought my birthday, and I celebrated with a pedicure and haircut, plus takeout sushi and cake. (I also celebrated my second covid shot and being fully vaccinated!) We also got a full-size digital keyboard that I have really loved! I continued working on my star-themed 100 day project that I had started in February. We didn’t travel for Emma’s spring break, but we did a few fun things around town like visiting the natural history museum and meeting up with friends at a couple nice parks.
In April I finished a quilt coat, made an updated version of my Modular Maze pattern, and hand pieced a mini quilt.
May began with a good helping of both good and bad. I had surgery to remove my gall bladder — boo! — but my parents came down to help out while I recovered — yay! It was the first time we had seen them since covid started, and it was a great week despite the surgery. I was feeling a lot better after a week, and over the rest of the month we were able to enjoy a visit from Jose’s mom, Jose’s birthday, our 12th anniversary, and Emma finishing 3rd grade. (Here’s one big post where I mentioned all these things, because apparently I also didn’t blog much in May.)
June was great! We began the month in Colorado — our first family trip since March 2020. We had SUCH a wonderful time. I still haven’t written a post/photo dump about our trip and while it’s been 7+ months now, I may still try to do that in the next few weeks for posterity. The rest of June was much lower key. Charlotte went to daycare, and Emma spent a couple weeks at camp. I didn’t do much sewing that month.
The highlight of July was our trip to Lake Lure, NC with the rest of my family. This was a repeat of 2 years ago — we stayed in the same house and everything — and it was even more fun this time around! I’m already looking forward to our 2023 gathering. Earlier in the month, our neighborhood held an Independence Day gathering, after not having it in 2020, and we all enjoyed that! Ah, the rosy days of spring and summer when vaccines were available and covid hadn’t started surging again. Jose and I enjoyed a day date at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. I did a quick and easy destash to clean out some space in my sewing room.
We celebrated Emma’s 9th birthday at the beginning of August, and were able to have a small party with friends at the neighborhood pool which was great. A week later, school started with Emma now in 4th grade and Charlotte finally starting kindergarten! I released my Notes to Self pattern and made a Firefly tote bag. Oh, and we got a Peloton! Exciting!
I wrote exactly one post in September, and it was to share my Zero Eccentricity quilt. But of course there were other events too! Charlotte turned 6 and we celebrated with another pool party. We did a lot of swimming that month with friends. A tropical storm blew through. I did some sewing. Life went on.
October is always one of my favorite months! We enjoyed the airshow and art festival, and went to Zoo Boo with friends. The Astros went to the World Series so we watched a LOT of baseball. The International Quilt Festival was back after a year off, and it felt great to be back at an actual quilt show. I took a class, wandered the show floor, and best of all, got to meet up briefly with some friends! And then of course there was Halloween. We carved pumpkins and went trick-or-treating with friends.
I taught my first guild workshop at the beginning of November to a guild in Huntsville, TX (about 1.5 hours away from me). We made my new Spiraling Triangles mini quilt pattern and had so much fun! A week later, the girls got their first covid shots!! I shared my Unscripted quilt, made in cooperation with my improv quilting bee. We drove to Corpus Christi for a few days to spend Thanksgiving with Jose’s family.
December was a pretty typically hectic holiday-infused month, with the added stress of another surgery for me and another covid surge for everyone — whee! The girls got the second doses of the covid vaccine, which was such a relief. QuiltCon notifications went out and I was thrilled to have 5 quilts juried into the show. I did some holiday baking, and we attempted to see The Little Mermaid only to have the show cancelled due to covid. I shared my 2021 quilt biz income report, best of 2021, and pattern plans and overall goals for 2022. We had a great Christmas, with my parents and brother in town followed by my sister and her family.
Whew! And thus ends another year. It was full of good things, bad things, exciting things, and just-plain-weird things. I am thankful for the opportunity to look back on it and reflect, and optimistic for good things to come in 2022. Happy new year, friends!
