Wednesday, December 31, 2014

End of 2014

At the end of the year most of us typically review the preceding year, do some soul searching and evaluating of our efforts, and set some goals for the year ahead. It is a quilt blogging tradition to review your quilty accomplishments of the past year, and write about it in your last blog post of the year. I used to make some lofty quilting resolutions, but I know myself well enough now to know that the best I can hope for is fewer new projects started and more UFO's completed!
This year I finished 6 quilts that were on my 2014 UFO list (you can see the list posted to the right of my blog).



1) Storm at Sea is a wallhanging I finished in June. It was made from a John Flynn laser cut kit that I purchased in Paducah many years ago. The piecing was a dream, even though the pieces were very tiny. You can see the machine quilting better in this post.









2)  Sunflower mystery was a large lap quilt finished in October. It was a UFO from 2007 so I was delighted that it was finally a finished project. I used this UFO to try a new (to me) circular quilting design, which you can see in this post.






3) Civil War Sampler
These blocks were started in 2011 as a weekly project on Barbara Brackman's blog. You can read more about it and see the great backing I made for it here. All of the fabrics were civil war reproductions. I almost abandoned the project early on (read about the reason why here) but persevered and am soooooo happy that I did. I love this quilt and feel proud of the accumulated effort that produced this finish! Cathy quilted it for me and did a beautiful job!

4) Plaid Beauty
This quilt was started in a workshop with Bonnie Hunter in 2010 and was finished in July this year! You can read more about it here.
This is another quilt that I am very proud of and I machine quilted it with straight lines in the middle and a feather in the border. I was going to give it as a gift, but find I am not able to part with it just yet!






5) Fandango and Friends - Scrappy Hexagons
This quilt was 4 years in the making, and was completed in August. I enjoyed machine quilting it with free motion curvy lines. You can read more about that here.










6) Countdown to Christmas This quilt was a sew along with Temecula quilts last December. It became a finished quilt in April.
You can see the quilting design here.








I enjoyed participating in the Lovely Year of Finishes in 2014 and was delighted to finish half of my list. Some of the finishes took 2 months of goal setting, but it worked out fine. The deadline and accountability does help to motivate me to finish projects.
These were my other non-UFO finishes this year, listed in order of their size:  Mini Hearts, Civil War Kisses, Cascadia, spring tablerunner, Market Day, Superpowers, autumn HSTs, Nabby's Dowry, a flannel baby quilt, Not Just Any Rail Fence, Journey of a Quilter, Civil War BOM, and Angel Solstice. (You can see all of these finished quilts here.) Wow... that's 13 more finished quilts!! Of these finished quilts, I machine quilted 10, I hand quilted 1, and the 2 largest projects were long arm quilted by fellow blogger Cathy.
So that's a total of 19 quilts completed in 2014. 
And that is the benefit of a year end summary post - you can see what you have accomplished, and all of a sudden the lengthy UFO list doesn't seem so discouraging!


New Year Greetings Messages 2015
Happy New Year
I am wishing you many blessings in 2015, lots of fun quilting adventures with good friends, and an abundance of time to spend stitching! Thanks for visiting my blog this year and contributing your positive energy, ideas and encouragement!

32 comments:

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Happy New Year...you always have so much going on and get so much done ; you amaze me :)

Ellen said...

Fantastic accomplishments for 2014 - looking forward to seeing what happens in 2015. All the best to you and your family for the coming year.

CecileD said...

Hello Kathy !
Did you achieve your goal with your amazing quilts ? I hope so...they are beautiful !
Happy new year for you and your family !

Sherill said...

Happy New Year to you and your family! I so enjoy your blog! I check it first thing in the morning. You are amazing with all you accomplish! Thank you for your inspiration!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Congratulations on such a successful year.

Deb A said...

Thank you for your constant inspiration in all your blog posts and your encouragement to slow down and enjoy the moments when we hand stitch. Love your year in review and wishing you a Wonderful and Productive 2015.

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

What a productive 2014 you had! I look like such a slacker in comparison! Happy New Year!

Terri said...

Wow! 19 quilts in 1 year! You are amazing. I love two of the ones you showed... I love color, so #1 and #6 are especially lovely. I've just recently signed on to follow, so I haven't seen any of these yet. Thanks for sharing them.
Hugs and Happy New Year

Kevin the Quilter said...

All of your quilts are simply stunning! However, you know I am particularly found of "Plaid Beauty!"

Scrappy quilter said...

Great job on many accomplished projects. Beautiful quilts however I am really partial to your civil war quilts.

Chantal said...

Happy New Year Kathy. Hope you have a very productive new year with fun challenges, not despicable ones, and lots of joys and health!

Kate said...

Congratulations on a very productive 2014! Hope 2015 is just as productive for you.

I'm going to follow your lead and give the 2015 Lovely Year of Finishes a try.

Karen said...

The red star quilt is my favorite.

Catherine said...

Happy New Year to you. Wonderful quilts but I particularly like Plaid Beauty. A great year for your quilting.

AnnieO said...

I am impressed by your final tally and know that many happy hours (and a few frustrating ones) were spent with needle and thread. Congrats on spending lots of time doing what you love and filling your closets with quilty goodness!

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Lovely quilts but I am going to agree with Karen, the red star quilt is my favorite too!

Julierose said...

Beautiful quilts--you are amazing! I hope that you will find joy in all of your projects in the New Year--Happy Wishes, hugs, Julierose

Terry said...

I love seeing all your finishes...and I love that cartoon at the top too! Happy New Year! :0)

Barb said...

Awesome quilts!!!! Happy New Years to you as well!!

Vivian said...

Impressive quilts, both those featured in photos and the ones listed and linked. You've been a busy girl, and just look at your lovely pile of finishes!
Happy New Year to you as well, Kathy.

Rebecca in AK said...

All your quilts are just beautiful! Congratulations on so many finishes. I hope you have a wonderful Quilty New Year!

audrey said...

What a great year for you! Way to whittle down that ufo list.:)

Denise :) said...

I'm saving my final thoughts and resolutions for later. After my procrastinators anonymous meeting. :) You've had some really lovely finishes this year, Kathy. Your Storm at Sea is particularly lovely -- that's on my bucket list of quilts. And I've got a UFO of Barbara's, myself -- the Grandmother's Choice quilt, which I'd like to finish in the next year or so. A blessing-filled and Happy New Year to you and yours!!! :)

Janet O. said...

Amazing amount of finishes! I am not doing a year-end roundup because I already know how much I DIDN'T get done. : )
I especially love your Plaid Beauty!

Nell's Quilts said...

What great accomplishments this year. It feels so good to cross those to be complete quilts off the list. Happy New Year to you. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for 2015.

Mary said...

Nice to see all of your FINISHES in one post! I know how it feels to check those off the list. Good going. Happy 2015 to you!

Frances Meredith said...

Truly some lovely finishes. Your Storm at Sea photo belies its actual size. I love the Christmas quilt along too.

margaret said...

19 finishes is very good and the ones you have shared are all lovely. All the best for 2015 and hopefully more finishes

Gretchen Weaver said...

Beautiful quilts! I wish you well in 2015 and may you finish 19 more this year!

Deanna W said...

We dwell so much on what is NOT done and forget to remember what we have accomplished in a year. I am hoping (by my post yesterday) to be more productive this year.Only time will tell...
Happy New Year to you my friend, here's hoping we can get together again this year for a weekend of fun!!

Sally Ann said...

Happy New Years Kathy. Congrats on your finished quilts! Good luck with your 2015 list of quilts

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Some pretty quilts for 2014. Happy New Year!