Reflecting on 2021 and Welcoming 2022

Temperature Quilt for 2020

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a wonderful time to reflect on goals accomplished and to set new ones for the upcoming year.   I recently shared my Best of 2021 post and now I'll be liking up to #2022PlanningParty.   

I've filled my post with some eye candy of finishes from the past year.  (There are more in the Best of 2021 post.)

The Koala's!

Year 2 of the pandemic was both easier and harder than 2020.  Vaccines offered relief and hope for getting back to normal but reality was Covid is still with us.  As a family, we still stay home as much as possible - certainly more than we did pre-pandemic - which means more time for quilting and blogging.

Firefly tote

In December of 2020, I set my goals for the 2021 and updated mid-year on my status.

For 2021, I choose the word seek - as in seek new challenges in quilting and seek opportunities to connect and collaborate with others.  So how did I do?

• Experiment with color and design and play outside my comfort zone.  I made 2 quilts to really stretch me here - the first is called Left Turn, made using wasabi and purple as the primary colors both of which are way outside my usual palette.  Left Turn (which I've yet to blog about) was juried into QuiltCon!  The second is I Believe in Dragons - my blue improv quilt with touches of orange made for my guild challenge and also juried into QuiltCon.    Calling this goal a win!
• Seek inspiration everywhere and work to provide through my blog posts (tutorials, OMG etc.) - I fell really good about the blog content I published this year - from the hand pieced QAL and associated tutorials to the One Monthly Goal link-up where other quilters can find each other.  Calling this goal a win!
• Establish a social media plan - when and what to post - Calling this near miss but not beating myself up for it.  I publish quite often on my blog and while the goal here was to do better with Instagram, I am fine that this is not my go to share spot.  So maybe this is a win after all because I figured it out!
• Collaborate with another quilter(s) on a QuiltCon submission - Calling this a definite miss - maybe next year!

Created for my swap partner as part of QuiltCon Together

For 2022, my word is simplify.  The world is a complicated place and I want to simplify wherever I can and shift my energies to things that are the most important to me.  

My goals for the year: 

• Make at least one quilt to submit to QuiltCon 2023.
• Join a QAL to create a charity quilt only using fabric from stash.
• Submit a quilt design for publication.
• Play with color to make a improv mini quilt.
• Blog 1-2 times weekly and continue to host OMG (but without sponsors.)

My goals are more focused than in past years.  Although it could change in the future, I've no plans to host a QAL this year and will be running OMG without sponsors.  I enjoy hosting OMG but want to try it without the hassle of chasing sponsors and prize winners.

Quilt Coat

I know I'll keep myself busy with projects - sewing quilts and bags brings great joy to my days and I so look forward to the 'me' time with my sewing machine!

Happy New Year and best wishes to you for a wonderful 2022.  I truly appreciate everyone who reads my blog and participates in OMG.  Thanks for being there.

I'll be linking up to Yvonne's #2022PlanningParty.   

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Best of 2021

Each year, Cheryl invites bloggers to join the best of 2021 link-up and share their 5 best blog posts of  the year.   And the best part?  We get to define what 'best' means!  

 My best of 2021 all correlate to some major things that happened in my quilting life and documented on my blog.  They are listed in no particular order.

QuiltCon Together:  Having 4 quilts juried into the virtual QuiltCon Together quilt show was certainly a highlight for the year!   Read more about my thoughts and highlights from the show. 

Top row:  Boomerang and Carnival;  Bottom row: Cartwheel and Astro

Publishes: I had quilts featured in two different magazines.  Boomerang was featured in the QuiltCon magazine.  This was a big thrill for me - I really enjoyed every aspect of creating the quilt and to have it as one of the quilts in the magazine was very exciting.   I also had an article on One Block Scrap Quilts appear in Make Modern Magazine.

Hand Piecing QAL:  Kristin and I ran our third hand piecing quilt along with our quilt Harmony.  Harmony is composed of a single large block that creates a secondary pattern as you join additional blocks together.  (See the pattern.)  Collaborating with Kristin on our QAL was certainly a highlight for the year.

Quilt Coat - My absolutely favorite make of the year was my quilt coat.  I made a lot of geese and created the panels that turned into the quilt.  On my blog, I I shared the process of creating the panels and the pattern prep (part 1) and then shared the assembly process (part 2) and then the finish!  I love my coat and wear it almost every day.  It is warm and perfect for layering underneath.

Improv - I made a lot of projects this past year - bags, quilts and coats - including one quilt I haven't yet shared.  One of the quilts makes I had the most fun with was my I Believe in Dragons quilt.  Created for my guilds improv challenge - where it tied for viewers choice securing my first ribbon :-).  It was also juried into QuiltCon 2022 which both surprised and delighted me!

I also had the chance to take an improv class with  Jacquie Gering  which was awesome.  You can read about it and see my mini improv study on this post.   Improv hasn't been my first choice when I sit down to make a quilt.  But I've learned from the mini and the project from Jacquie's class is that I really enjoy the process which is a reason to try it some more!

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:  2020,  2019,   2018,  2017,  2016

Have a wonderful day! Patty

One Monthly Goal December Finish link-up

Ready to link up your November finishes?

Don't panic - this link-up is open until December 31 at 11:55 pm ET.

My goal for December was to make a quilt to enter into the latest Curated Quilts mini challenge Energize.  I ended up making 2 quilt!  (Read more about them here.)

Now it's your turn to link-up!  There will be 2 winners - Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate and Oliso is offering a mini-iron!

Congratulations to Barbara and Donna - the lucky winners for this month!  (updated 1/2/22)

Visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. 

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month. (December Goal Setting Link-up)

Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal - December Finish Link-up

Thanks for linking up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a wonderful day! Patty