2021 in Review

 

Well, I have to say that 2021 was not my best year.  I wasn't very productive, I have hated the changes brought about by Covid, and there have definitely been some rough patches!  However, I am starting 2022 by taking a deep breath and focusing on what I have to celebrate.  

First of all, the members of my family are all healthy and have what they need!

Then, I have this precious baby, Cosmo, pictured above, to take care of and enjoy, along with our lovely cat, Gracie who has been with us for just over a year.  

I managed to lose 35 pounds this year, though I haven't stepped back on the scale since Thanksgiving and fully expect to be more than 5 pounds back in the red...restart coming soon...

I have managed very little quilting this past year.  The focus has been on crochet, reading, and painting, when there was any time at all...

Here are some of my finished and unfinished projects.  There are many more unfinished ones not shown and a few completed ones that did not make the cut...

I have spent a lot of time painting by myself as well as with my daughter who works at a Paint and sip place-none of those results shown here.  In the above images, ...the fox is mine, the bunny is hers and those are actually kits from Michaels.  The sunflowers are an ArtSherpa tutorial.  The girl is my daughter- a picture I had made into a paint by number that I will hopefully get finished soon- she is an opera singer, about to graduate in June with a Masters in Opera Voice Performance.  The abstract is the result of my own playing and then there are the more crafty projects such as the rocker and plate.  

Here are some of my fiber projects.  I did a few wreaths around Thanksgiving and Christmas time.  I have enough Ribbon to do many more and hopefully will pace myself throughout the year.  I had just a few finished quilts.  That little art quilt with the bee might be my favorite.  I did quite a few machine embroidery projects.  Here are the 39 books I read this year.  My favorites were:  The Witch's Heart, Project Hail Mary, and The Anthropocene Reviewed.  

I think I may reread all the Harry Potter Books this year.  I am currently on Chamber of Secrets.  

I also hope to complete many quilt projects and Crochet projects that are already started.  Mostly, though, I want to enjoy the year, see some new things, spend time with my family, and be able to celebrate all I have!  

Blessings to you all in 2022!

Some sewing

 

This is my test block that I made after being completely inspired by quilt diva Julie!  Here is her quilt...https://quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com/2021/06/gerful-quilt.html

The light fabrics were all in my stash but I had to go out and add to my blacks.  

I currently have all the half square triangles sewn together and pressed.  This project may go with me when I visit my daughter next week.  She has my mother's sewing machine and is learning to sew. 

I used 5 inch squares to start with because I had some already cut.  

 

This is another scrap project I started and didn't get very far on because I need more Ocean life fabrics.  They have been ordered and are on their way.  I haven't decided if I will place them randomly or put squares of the same fabric in the same area of the quilt.  I will have to play with it when I have the blocks made.  Maybe diagonal rows of all the same animals????

This is a quilt I started with the plans of having it grace my dining table.  If you look closely, you will see the focus fabric has teacups and teapots along with birds and flowers.  

This is ready to sew into rows and may also go with me on my trip next week.  

Then, I need to get our new bikes moved into the garage so I can quilt some of these flimsies.  I have about 10 waiting to be quilted!  And another 100 waiting to be completed tops.  But, I think I will venture to some quilt shops today that I haven't been to in a long time.  I have really been working on using my stash and am doing pretty good but variety is slowly dwindling.  I may need to take some focus fabrics with me to match them.  

I am happily spending more time in my sewing room this summer.  It gets pretty neglected during the school year.  I am trying to decide what makes me want to work on one project over another.  I have so many things started that need finishing...Any pointers?

Summer!

Summer here in Albuquerque!  Can't believe that almost the entire cooler part of the country is experiencing our 100 degree weather while we are sitting pretty in the 70s for the last few days with clouds and drizzle.  Nice to come home to after a very hot and humid vacation!

We ventured out to the Galveston/Houston area.  My daughter joined us.  We had a great time despite the very uncomfortable heat that we knew we would experience.  We went kayaking on the ocean as well as on the Waterway in The Woodlands.  First time for all of us and we really loved it!  We went to museums, historic homes,  shopping, and our daughter even talked us into the  Haunted Mayfield Manor.  First haunted house I have ever gone through but it was fun.  The actress that lead the tour was great!  Though it is just a boo experience, we had fun.  My husband said he never knew I startled so easily.  Yes, I was the one screaming and jumping the entire time..

Great pictures from our kayaking tour with Beach Town Tours- a husband and wife shop that took us through the bay and the wetlands.  We had originally scheduled a morning tour but due to winds it was postponed until evening!  Nature was gifting us with that- the sunset was amazing!!!!!

A few days later we went kayaking on the waterway.- it was a great way to spend Father's Day!  Then my husband and I enjoyed an evening stroll to take in all the lovely lights.  

My daughter hated the heat and humidity even more than we did.  She had been planning on applying for her Doctorate work in the Houston area and has had a big change of heart.  Mostly looking at Northern schools now.  

 I got to have lunch with my son and daughter before she flew back home.  A rare occurrence to have them both together.  The son did not join us on our vacation because, lucky duck, is in Florida this week with his girlfriend.  They are checking out the area for Graduate schools while vacationing!  They are looking at the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area.  I have a feeling I am going to need to visit there myself very soon.  It looks awesome!

While vacationing, my daughter saw a Garland that she loved so I came home and recreated it for her, the top one.  I'll be visiting her soon to take it to her.  The rest are ones I made for myself and are hanging in my bathroom.  They are very cheerful!

That activity got me back into the sewing room where I haven't spent much time lately.  

Yesterday I worked on my pineapple blocks (very monotonous) as a leader and ender project between playing with creating a zipper block.  I used my 2.5 inch strips so they measure 12.5 inches unfinished.  

Perusing my quilt blogs over the past few days has given me a lot of inspiration so I will be spending the post vacation doldrums in the sewing room, getting back on track with some new and some old projects. 

Thank you to all of you quilt bloggers for the inspiration!