The Year in Review

As the year winds into its final hours, I thought it would be fun to run through my blog entries month by month to catalog my accomplishments and activities from the year. It really was a good year for me, both with my family and with my quilting. I feel so happy to have kids who love that mommy quilts and enjoy playing in my sewing room or at work day, and to have a very supportive husband who had moved his crap stuff out of 1/2 of the basement to make room for my HQ16 and who watches the kids so I can go to retreats, shop hops, sewing days, quilt shops, etc.

The highlights of this year were: 

• From a family perspective, our trip to New Mexico. It was great to visit a new place any take the kids on an adventure. They still talk about parts of the trip and the fun of flying and staying in hotels with pools! 
• From a quilting perspective, several things...
• Attending the St. Jude's retreat in April and meeting some great women, visiting new quilt shops, and sewing uninterrupted all weekend. 
• Participating in a fantastic quilting bee where I have friends who help me practice my longarm skills, and give me lots of advice (both quilting and life advice). 
• Learning and loving my HQ16. A year ago, I was really intimidated by the machine and was easing my way into using it. Now, I love the challenge of it and try new things all the time and I am having a blast. 
• And, from a blogging perspective, it has been so great to "meet" so many new people online. I can't imagine my days without your stories to read and thank you for all the comments you leave me. 

My accomplishments by the numbers: 
Quilts finished this year (means that it was quilted, bound, ready for use) -  15
Items Quilted on my HQ16 = 17
Tops pieced this year (not yet quilted) - 5
Misc. Quilting projects - 3 Blankets, 2 placemats, 2 fabric books, 4 purses, 1 table runner, 7 Pink Penguin bags and many individual blocks and other one time projects for myself or others.
Cross stitch projects - 4
Total number of hours sewing for the year = 305
Avg. number of sewing hours per month = 25.5

Wow! What a year! I can't wait to see what next year brings!