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That was fast...
That was fast...
Published:
Jan 5 2016 - 14:02
It's been a year. Fifty-weeks yesterday - 365 days today.
It flew by. Since I moved to Dallas last December, there have been earthquakes and all sorts of weird weather - snow, ice, too much rain, plenty of heat and humidity, and a tornado or two. (Based on all that, I'm a bit surprised I haven't been asked to leave.)
The biggest challenge has been learning the pace - I was shocked the day I realized I was "over" a gorgeous fabric collection a few weeks before it was shipping to stores. I was already waiting for the "next collection" and had been seeing the "new" collection for months. I know... your heart is just breaking for me. First-world-problems, right?
As I wrote in January, the best thing about being at Moda is the people. I figured that out early on and it's been confirmed on a daily basis. I have figured out the voicemail - mostly - and I know at least five ways to get to and from work. Susan doesn't panic when I open inDesign files anymore and I'm not looking for pails on the floor every time someone mentions buckets.
It has been odd getting used to drawing up a quilt design and having someone else draw diagrams and do most of the pattern writing. Odd - but really good. Lisa C. is wonderful and on many occasions, her way of making the quilt was better than mine. It's been a gift to have a right-across-the-hall pattern proofreader, one with an engineering, number-crunching mind - that's Tammy.
Even though most of the quilts I drew up for patterns and project sheets were made by others, I did do quite a bit of sewing last year - what I can only call "playing with the fabric. I made quite a few quilts and I became obsessed with bags - mostly bags with zippers. I also made quite a few pillows.
I started three sampler quilts - not my best idea this year. The blocks and flying geese for the Sampler Shuffle are done but I haven't decided how I want to set them so that's officially a WIP - work in progress - or PIB - project in bin/box. So are my Farmer's Wife blocks - I have made 27 of those. The Maker Blocks for the Frivols are almost done and since that's a priority, that will get finished first.
Pincushions! I forgot those - I made five of those.
Quilts? In addition to the three sampler WIPs, I still have to finish the pink-and-yellow X-Plus blocks and the Barbara Brackman Stars in A Time Warp blocks. The X-Plus is completely cut out but I've only made 3 of a planned 36 blocks. I've made more star blocks - 37 - but I want to make 100. Aim high, right? Go big or go home, right?
The Log Cabin swap blocks are done - except I want to trim them down a bit and add another row of strips so technically, they're not really done. WIP. There's also the Block of the Month I signed up for and received kits for. Does reading the pattern and fondling the fabrics qualify as a "start"?
Still, when it comes to quilts, I have more finishes for 2015 than UFOs. I finished twelve big quilts. (At least that's the count based on the pictures on my phone.) (And no, I'm not counting the two new quilt projects I started over the holidays.)
So what's up for this year? In addition to finishing my WIPs, I'd like to make this Chic Country quilt using curved piecing and the Quick Curve Ruler from Sew Kind of Wonderful. I've always liked curved piecing but it's been awhile.
And bags - I want to make more bags. A Catch-All Caddy and something from Sara Lawson's book, Windy City Bags. Those might have to wait though as I've got a few blog-hops on my schedule... and a sew-along or three. And yes... I'll just put it out there, the "M" word is already being spoken. But the "Q" word will come first - QuiltCon. See what I mean? The pace is crazy - in a seriously good kind of way.
What about you? Did you have more "starts" than "finishes" in 2015? Is there something on your to-do list for this year - a class, a show or a technique you'd like to learn?
A friend asked if I had a "word for the year" - my theme. I thought about it and started making a list of possibilities, and I stopped when I had to start a second column. I'm still working on it so I think that makes my "word for 2016" a WIP too. I'll make a decision by next week and I'll let you know which one I've chosen.
Just so long as my word for 2016 isn't "pacemaker", I think I'll be fine.
Happy 2016!
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