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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

NTT, Reflection, and Best of 2015

Happy New Year's Eve y'all, and welcome back to Needle and Thread Thursday.  I missed hosting last week, but I hope your Christmas holiday was wonderful.  If you're like me, you gave plenty of quilty gifts, and a huge part of the fun of the holiday is revealing the results of those hours of secret sewing to your family and friends.

Before we jump into a brand new year, it seems fitting that I take a moment to reflect on 2015.  I am combining my reflection with my "Best of 2015" to not only include my favorite finishes, but other significant events as well.  So, here's a little recap of this very important year in my quilting journey.  I chose to highlight the quilts, patterns, and happenings that were my own favorites, rather than following the stats.


1.  When I think about the "Best of 2015" as it applies to quilting, this is unequivocally number one- I made quilting my full-time job in May of this year.  This was a huge leap of faith, and it requires some discipline to keep "creative quilting" and "work quilting" balanced (though sometimes they overlap), but I have loved every minute of it.  Besides giving me more time with my family, all of this extra time to quilt has allowed me to...

2.  ...finish 71 quilts this year.  I know that quilting is NOT all about the numbers, but at the end of each year, I can't help but count them up.  Some of these quilts are very small, and not all of these are included on my finished quilts page, so keeping that in mind, here's how they break down-

   *30 quilts pictured on my finished quilts page-  I am including my favorite three finishes, and you can see the original blog posts by clicking on the picture of each quilt.

Take Two-


Shattered Rainbow Encore-
A repeat of the original made in 2014, but I made this one for keeps, so definitely has to be included as a fave.  I would be remiss if I didn't include that I recently learned that this quilt is also a #quiltconreject for next year's show.  I decided to enter this one and only quilt on a whim just before submissions closed, but even though I didn't really ponder over the decision long, I won't pretend that I wasn't disappointed by this news.  After seeing some of the other quilts that were not accepted, I see that Shattered Rainbow is definitely in good company though.


Pop Star-


   *5 preemie quilts- I donated six total to our local children's hospital, but one was actually finished in 2014.

   *3 other team quilts- Since LSU is near and dear to my heart, I included that one on my finished quilts page, but I made three others.  These three rival team quilts were included in blog posts, but not on my finished page.

   *33 memory quilts (from dress shirts and flannel shirts, not T-shirts)- a couple of these sets were included in my posts, but when this side of my business picked up, I made the decision to work on these "behind the scenes" to keep my blog about modern quilting as I originally intended.

3.  9 new quilt patterns released (and one more in the works).  The design process of quilting really fuels my creativity and keeps my love of quilting strong.  Bubble Bath and Baubles are my two favorite patterns released this year (The photos link to the blog posts for these quilts.  If you want to visit my Etsy or Craftsy shops instead, you can find those buttons on my right sidebar).

Bubble Bath-


Baubles-

Although this one is not one of my most popular patterns, it is still one of my favorites.  I am still a curve chicken, so I love quilts and patterns that have the illusion of curves, but without actually sewing curves.  Maybe I should make curve sewing a goal for 2016?  In the meantime, I think I need to make another Baubles quilt soon, and I think I have the perfect fabric in mind.


What an amazing year;  I feel so grateful to have been able to share it with you!  I am looking forward to seeing what 2016 has in store, and to continuing to be inspired by this amazing modern quilting community!

Now, let's get to this week's party.  Since I included my Best of 2015 post in this week's party, I am going to skip the highlights this week.  Instead, I'll feature projects from our last party, as well as this week's NTT in our next link-up.  Happy New Year to you!

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!
2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.
3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  
4. Spread the comment love far and wide!
5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!


20 comments:

  1. I love the new picture of you. If I am not out of place mentioning it, you look like you have lost a bunch of weight! Good for you!

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  2. I hadn't realized that you were quilting full time. How exciting! Congratulations. I love your patterns and your sense of color. Your finishes are always such an inspiration!

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  3. All great projects. Congrats on being able to quilt full-time. It's been a great year. Here's to an even better 2016.

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  4. What a year! Your top five are all so bright and beautiful:)
    Congratulations, and Happy New Year!

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  5. I love Take Two - but I'm so worried that it would look very NOT put together. Your fabrics all go together so nicely without being matchy matchy. How in the world did you do it?

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  6. Lots of beautiful quilts in your favorites list. You've had a really great 2015, hope your 2016 is full of more quilty adventures and successes.

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  7. You have been one busy quilter! Hope your quilting business continues to grow and prosper in 2016.

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  8. All are very pretty. May I ask what you do your quilting on?

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  9. Wow! You've been busy, and that's sooo great!!! Congratulations on a lovely 2015 and I look forward to seeing what you achieve in 2016. Happy New Year!

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  10. Yes, COngrats on your brave leap this year! I'm on year 27 of teaching...and now just think of retiring in 8 years...as my career change. Can you tell I'm on winter break...I had a lot to share this week. YAH!! I'm off to purchase Baubles...as it looks quick and easy, yet will showcase some new fabric I have. Happy New Year and wishes to you for your continued success. :)V

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  11. You have had an action packed year! I hope this new year brings much more success and joy to you!

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  12. Gorgeous finishes! Your Shattered Rainbow Encore is stunning! I love it! :)

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  13. Such a great overview of your year. Happy new year and looking forward to a wonderful 2016.

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  14. What a super productive year, great finishes! Thanks for linking up!

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  15. You had a great year Kelly and inspired us all along the way. I enjoyed linking up over the year too

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  16. 71 quilts, that is incredible! (I think I am going to put Pop Star on my list for this year.) Congratulations on making the leap to quilting full time.

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  17. ooohh...love the curved illusion in you Baubles pattern. And your Shattered Rainbow is gorgeous!!

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  18. Wow, that's an amazing amount of work, great job! Thanks for hosting the linky party also every week. Great year, looking forward to 2016!

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  19. Kelly, I didn't realize you'd stopped teaching to quilt full time! Hats probably a big loss for some little kids but a big score for you and your family. Congratulations! 71 quilts?! You are amazing. And I like your patterns, too. I hope this new job keeps working for you. Lastly, your shattered rainbow quilt is awesome. Don't feel too bad about it being rejected. It's definitely in good company there. So many amazing quilts don't make it in for a variety of reasons. It's definitely not because the judges didn't like this quilt, I guarantee you! There could be a whole show of wonderful Quiltcon reject quilts. Someone should start that up. Lol! Happy New Year to you.

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Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting! I read and appreciate every single comment, and I reply to each one as soon as I can. If you don't hear back from me, you might be a no-reply blogger. :)

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