I’ve written these recaps for many years running now as a way to look back and get a glimpse of what our year was like. I wrote 50 posts in 2022 — far fewer than any previous year — but it’s comforting to see that even what I did post still gives a reasonable outline of events.
(I hope to write more in 2023, but I’m also making no promises to myself or anyone else about that.)
2022 had barely begun when alas, we all caught covid. It was quite a way to start the year, though I continue to be thankful it was mild for our family. After we were all feeling better, I made a list of UFOs to work on throughout the year, stitched up some drawstring bags, and finished a mini quilt.
In February, one of my quilts was featured in an Art Gallery lookbook — a fun first — and finally made a Sew Together bag. I spent the first couple weeks of the month preparing for QuiltCon, and then enjoyed 5 days in Phoenix in full-on quilt mode. I had 5 quilts in the show and was thrilled to win two ribbons! Jose and the girls stayed in Houston having fun and I was glad to see them happy when I got home.
In March, we took a week-long trip to Disney World for spring break and had a blast! I celebrated my birthday with some introspection about happiness…and also a trip to the art festival and tickets to Hamilton. Heh. In April we enjoyed a great neighborhood Easter egg hunt, got a new tree in the backyard, and took a quick weekend trip to Corpus Christi to meet our new nephew.
I wrote about the 100 day project I started in February, shared goals for spring 2022, had fun coming up with quilt-related Wordle words, and debuted the Cupola Views pattern that I wrote with astronaut Karen Nyberg.
May brought Mother’s Day, Jose’s birthday, our wedding anniversary, and the end of another school year (and all the associated events) for Emma and Charlotte. We celebrated the first two events with outings to Astros games, and our anniversary coincided with Charlotte’s kindergarten graduation. Emma was selected to give a speech at the 4th grade ceremony. And the girls started swim team, which we all ended up enjoying quite a bit! We then kicked off June with a wonderful week in Colorado, and when we got back, the girls started summer camp and class at a local martial arts place.
In quilting stuff, I released my Game Night pattern, shared an associated tutorial on how to make turned edge applique circles, and Emma and I made an easy baby quilt for her 4th grade teacher.
In July, we spent a great week in Seattle with my sister and her family that included plenty of park playtime and a super fun afternoon at a Mariners-Astros game. August was filled with Emma turning 10 and associated celebration (including ear piercing!), martial arts belt tests, the start of 5th grade and 1st grade, a visit from Jose’s brother and his family, and Charlotte’s birthday party.
I released my Ribbons quilt pattern, set quilty goals for summer and shared an update on a cross stitch piece I started in May.
Charlotte turned 7 at the beginning of September, and the fall season arrived and gained steam like never before with so! many! things! happening in our lives. There were fall festivals and school activities and outings with friends and Halloween and the Astros making it to the World Series!
I worked with both girls on entries for the QuiltCon 2023 youth category. In September, I finished my Cosmic Shores quilt — the first full quilt I’d made all year. I also shared quilt backing and binding cheat sheets and quilty goals for the final quarter of 2022.
We kicked off November with a few million friends at the Astros victory parade, and ended it celebrating Thanksgiving with Jose’s family. I enjoyed a few days downtown at the International Quilt Festival and the chance to hang out with several quilty friends in the process. I made a pillow for a quilt book blog hop.
In December I released my Moon Lights quilt pattern, made a cute pouch, shared my “best of” 2022, and set goals for 2023. After a nasty bout with a stomach bug, we had a nice holiday at home with just the four of us, including a trip to see Mary Poppins and Charlotte learning to ride a bike sans training wheels! Jose’s mom flew in on New Year’s Eve, which we spent playing games at Dave & Buster’s.
And that’s a wrap on 2022! It was full of good and bad and everything in between that makes life the crazy adventure that it is. I am thankful for the opportunity to look back on it and reflect, and excited to see what comes my way in 2023.
Happy new year, friends!