Recap of 2011

This past year was my start of serious quilting. And my start of blogging.

I made lots of things for just being a newbie!

I ended up with a total of 4 quilts, over 15 pillows, 2 tree skirts, 5 stockings, 3 table runners, a few wall hangings, and other odds and ends like plenty of zip pouches, aprons, and hot pads. In a time period of 5 1/2 months.

The above projects were my favorites of the year!

Notable sewing and life accomplishments for 2011:

• Battled a terrible rental company about a roof leak in the house I was renting, and then finding mold in the walls of said house, making it necessary to immediately vacate, leading to being homeless for about a month and sleeping on the floor at my boyfriend's mom's house while we worried about finding a new home, not getting all the money back that was owed to us
• Taught myself how to FMQ about a month into quilting
• Started blogging. Kept blogging. Enjoyed blogging
• Began serious job hunting early in 2011, hoping to get a job before I finished school. I didn't.
• Had a booth at a craft festival that had approx 60,000 visitors, and did ok in sales
• Installed my first zipper. And then a couple more!
• Participated in 2 swaps. Can't wait for more.
• Finished my graduate program with a 4.0 and received my master's degree
• Cleared out a dedicated sewing space in my apartment, acknowledging that this is a hobby that's here to stay!

Sewing and life goals for 2012:

• Find a job that I love! Or just a job that pays me :) [already got leads and interviews under my belt for this!]
• Be ok with possibly having to move away from family and friends for that job
• Make a king-size quilt for my bed [got some design choices]
• Get better at FMQ other than stippling
• Make some clothing [already have a dress pattern and the Schoolhouse Tunic pattern!]
• Bake more. Not just desserts. Because I do that plenty. Breads and healthier stuff.
• Have a smoothie in the morning at least every other day [almost to this frequency!] And add things like spinach to them.
• I'd love to learn to knit, but have tried many many times, and it hasn't clicked yet
• Purchase all new living room furniture
• Join a sewing bee [this is amusing, because almost every blogger that I've read has said they want to decrease the number of bees and swaps they're in. Makes room for me I guess!]
• Would absolutely love to be able to attend the Sewing Summit. And hopefully by October I'll get over fears of going somewhere to meet people that I've never met in person :)
• Project 365. I've become a lot more comfortable with just pulling out my phone and taking a picture, and the camera isn't half bad, so I'm hoping that a combo of phone and real camera photos will document 2012!

Mostly though, I want to continue being happy with where I am in life, and who I am, and the amazing future I have ahead of me with all the opportunities open to me, the support of family and friends, and the love of an amazing man!

Here's to 2012 being everything we hope, and then some :)