Best of 2023

Each year, Cheryl invites bloggers to join the best of year link-up and share their 5 best blog posts of  the year.   And the best part?  We get to define what 'best' means so my best of 2022 all correlate to some major things that happened in my quilting life and documented on my blog.  They are listed in no particular order.

Favorite make:

Each year I try to make a quilt that challenges my skills and gives me a chance to puzzle out how to best move image from paper to fabric. My quilt Echo fit the bill this year! Echo will be hanging in QuiltCon 2024 so more opportunity to celebrate my favorite 2023 make coming soon. Read more about Echo.

Favorite quilting event:

QuiltCon Atlanta! What a great time with friends and amazing quilts. My quilts Patent Pending and Decade were on display at the show! Patent Pending was a group quilt and it was such fun to grab a photo with some of the contributors. Read my QuiltCon recaps - Part 1 - My Quilts,  Part 2 - The Quilts, Part 3  - The Best Bits, and Part 4 - Final Reflections. 

Favorite Quilt to Quilt:

Islands in the Sky was inspired by Irene Roderick's quilts displayed at QuiltCon and her book Dancing With The Wall . This quilt sat on my design wall under construction for at least 6 months and you can watch the progress through these posts -getting started (mid-May) to making block (mid July) to combining block (early August) to Which Way is Up? (mid-September). The quilting is a mix of walking foot and hand quilting - such a fun adventure!

Favorite Bag Make:

Anna @noodlehead released a new pattern in February and I jumped on the chance to make the Haralson Belt Bag to bring to QuiltCon Atlanta. It was a fun make and this bag is used any and every time I leave the house to run errands. I love it so much that I want to make another! Read more about my bag.

Favorite QAL:

Summer is by far my favorite season of the year. I love to swim and hit the pool early every morning. I love sitting on the back porch in the afternoon to read or stitch. And I love the long days of daylight. Joining the #summerlovinseaglassal hosted by Kitty @nightquilter and Allie @exhaustedoctupus was an easy decision. Recognizing joy in daily life is a harder task than you might think but what a delight it was to focus on joy and collect seaglass pieces of fabric to help me remember all the moments. My Summer of Joy quilt hangs in my sewing room. Read more about my journey.

I enjoy participating in the link-up each year even though it is always tough to choose just 5 highlights.  You can find my previous yearly top 5 here: 2022, 2021, 2020,  2019,   2018,  2017,  2016

Have a wonderful day! Patty