The Best of 2021 & Goals for 2022

Happy New Year! I for one am very happy to see the close of 2021 and welcome in 2022. The first order of business here is to join Cheryl at Meadow Mists Designs in her yearly Linky Party – the Best of 2021. Some years the bests are all easy; this year was not the case. I did less making of my own designs (although 3 of my bests are my own designs) and more of trying a few new techniques and making some things for a few charity drives (Hands 2 Help and Positivity QAL).

1. Fan Favorite: Ride the Ferry
   My “Ride the Ferry Block” was the most visited post this year and the design I am most proud of for the year. I love that I have made a block that will appear in many Destination QAL quilts.

2. Design Favorite: Cityscapes
I love the design of the Cityscape block, a cooperative design with Karen Thurn (Tu-Na Quilts), again for the Destination QAL. It really is a fun block that gives you building blocks for you to make your own city.

3. Favorite Personal Finish: Dear Compass: Take Me Away
My SAHRR is a personal favorite. I love it for the use of a block I designed for last year’s QAL by the Sea. But even more fun was the time I took to quilt it on my longarm. I spent a fair amount of time in computerized quilting classes in 2020 and 2021; this quilt was the culmination of a lot of that learning.

4. My Favorite Tutorial: Curvy Flying Geese

A little quilt that I made for a Project Quilting Challenge turned into a fun tutorial on making curvy geese in Electric Quilt. It really is pretty easy and so much fun to see where the geese can go on your quilt!

5. New Techniques

Fabric Painting: This is really a two-part favorite. The first technique is from a online class that I took from Helen Godden. This little birdie is so happy and lives near the laundry. Somehow, it makes me smile every time I go by it (a good thing when heading into the laundry room closet. The technique was basically to quilt the outline, then color in using the Derwent Intense Pencils. I hope to make a new project this year with this technique.

Learning to Embroider: There are so many fun projects to make with machine embroidery. I think my favorite is the first little one that I did, just getting the machine to work and making something use was so much fun. I chose to learn embroidery by doing some projects (mostly Kimberbell Fill In the Blanks) and it was a good way to learn some things and to force me to make things with my embroidery unit. I had my machine almost 6 months before I had the courage to start, but start I did.

Last Years Goals and This Years Goals

Yvonne of Quilting JetGirl hosts an annual planning party and this half of the posts will address a look back and forward for my blog.

Last year, I didn’t want to have as many strict goals as I have had other years. In fact, I don’t think I ever looked back to see what I thought I would do. Well, I just did, and here’s the gist of what I committed to for 2021.

Goals 2021

1. 12 original quilts/projects:
   By my count, there were about 6 of these – some are still only blocks, but it was better than I thought.
   
   1. My Cousin’s Quilt
   2. Project Quilting
   3. A Whale’s Tale
   4. Dear Compass: Take Me Away
   5. Blueberries for All
   6. Remembering Avalon
      
      
2. Hops & Sew Alongs: I participated in hops and sew alongs.
   1. Project Quilting SAL
   2. Dust off a Book Blog Hop
   3. Salt and Sand Blog Hop
   4. Stay at Home Round Robin SAL
   5. In the Kitchen Blog Hop
   6. Hands 2 Help SAL
   7. Fairy Tales Blog Hop
   8. Follow Your Own Path SAL
   9. Positivity QAL
      
      
3. Plan some giveaways: This I did not do, but I do have one planned for January.

Part of my thinking last year was little less structure would be good for me. However, I thought some old energy would return but with the continued pattern of living during a pandemic, my sew-jo seemed to slow down. It’s okay, as the commitments are all mine and that is the way I want it to be.

Goals for 2022

I learned I am better with making good deadlines and getting a few more things done. I want to design and make more of my own patterns so that will remain a goal. Here’s what I am thinking for next year:

1. Participate in 6 hops or QALs or SALs.
   I always try to do something original for a hop; my plan is to continue to do that and share a pattern or tutorial with those hopping along. For SALs, I often try to do something already on a list or that will make a charity for one of the groups that I often send quilts to.
2. Continue to host Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd
   I would like to see more participation, so I am challenge folks for linkups in January and there will be a giveawy.
3. Do more design work in Electric Quilt, Prostitcher Designer.
4. Learn more about Embrilliance and Embroidery. Maybe begin to digitize.
5. Use up more of my stash.
   I will participate in RSC and start using those bits I can’t throw out.
6. Plan a QAL or SAL for late ’22 or early ’23

I am sure there are more things that I can think of but right now, that is where I am. Many thanks to Cheryl and Yvonne for prompting us for a good look at our past and maybe into our future!

Coming Up on My Blog:
Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd with Challenge/Prizes
Polar Bear Plunge Blog Hop (1/24-28)

Linking Up With:
Best of 2021 Linky Party
#2022 Planning Party

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