Best of 2017

As 2017 comes to a close, I'd like to take a look back at my five best blog posts of the year! Thank you to Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs for hosting the annual linky party! (See my best five from last year here.)

2017 has been a fantastic year of growth for my blog. I've really enjoyed learning about SEO and the algorithms of social media. I started my blog as a quilt journal to record my quilty finishes, but it has become so much more than that! I love the online quilting community and have made many real-life friends through blogging and social media. I hope to meet many more quilters in 2018!

Based primarily on page views, my top five posts for 2017 are:

Hoop + Loop + Line

I really look forward to the Curated Quilts mini quilt challenge every few months. The challenge provides a broad theme, limited color palette, size restrictions (10-16" square), and a short turnaround time.

This quarter's challenge theme was "minimal" and had a color palette of light gray, leaf green, gray, orchid pink, blue gray, and black. (Mini quilts must be linked up by January 10th - so there's still time to enter your own!) I actually had every color in my stash! The fabrics are a mix of brands. The only ones I know for sure are Kona Cactus and Kona Black.

2018 Planning Party

Are you a dreamer? My husband and I have always been dreamers. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I'm also a realist. I keep my head up in the clouds long enough to catch a dream, then I come right back down to earth and start moving my feet to make it happen.

Yvonne at Quilting JetGirl is hosting the 2018 Planning Party. I am constantly evaluating things and crunching numbers, so I enjoy looking back on the past year to see what adjustments can be made so I can reach new goals next year. I also love putting my dreams and goals down on paper so I can start taking baby steps toward each one! Thanks for the prompt to get it done, Yvonne!

It's a menagerie!

I'm just going to be brutally honest with you - I think this quilt is ugly.

The fabric is not my favorite. But (and there are a lot of buts!)...

Paying It Forward - Again!

I just finished up my final Pay It Forward quilt for the year!

Paying It Forward

Every January, I set out to make several pay it forward gifts throughout the year. I usually post on Facebook looking for volunteers that want to receive something from me. This year, I did it slightly different than in years past. This year, I asked for my friends to nominate other people to receive a gift! One nomination was for a friend of a friend that is a kindergarten teacher.

A palette cleanser

This morning, I shipped off my final four secret sewing quilts for the year. I have had six large secret quilts in the works since September! It's been so hard not being able to share them with you as I finish them up! (One was my Christmas quilt, and I get to share another one in January and the final four in May!) Crossing the last secret quilt off my list was such a relief! I was ready to just do some quick and simple sewing to cleanse my palette before starting in on any new projects.

I Wish You a Merry QAL - A Finished Quilt!

This quilt has been months in the making! Clear back in June, April of JANDA Bend Quilts asked if any participants from this year's New Quilt Bloggers group would want to host a quilt along. The QAL started in August, and twelve quilt blocks later, my quilt is finished! I'm so excited to share my version of the quilt with you!

I Wish You a Merry QAL - Block 12 Tutorial

Today's the day! It's time for the FINAL block for the "I Wish You a Merry Quilt Along!"

Merry Moda Christmas!

This morning while scrolling Facebook, I saw Aurifil's post asking if I had entered the Moda/Aurifil mini challenge. Well, no! I hadn't heard of it until then! I quickly followed the link to read about the challenge. Use a Moda precut and Aurifil thread to make a mini quilt - by the end of today!

The View From Here

It's that time of year again! Time to submit quilts to QuiltCon!

This year's Modern Quilt Guild fabric challenge used Michael Miller's "Our Yard" fabric collection. I received a bundle of four fat eighths from the collection and one fat eighth of a Cotton Couture solid way back in August. However, other deadlines and my indecisiveness of what to create prevented me from getting started. I ordered some Cotton Couture Lipstick and Plum to coordinate, then just stared at the stack for months.