Best (All) of 2024 Linky Party

So here we are again at the end of another year. My quilting was a bit different in 2024--a little here, a little there. We were also away from home off and on, so big projects didn't appeal to me so much after the warmer months arrived. I still want to do a recap, though, so everything is in one place. Let's get to it. I'll be linking this up with Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs for her Best of 2024 Linky Party. 

Thanks, Cheryl for prompting us all to look back at our quilty productivity for the year. 

Links to my posts are in the items below.

1. My biggest project for the year was a Stay at Home Round Robin, hosted by Gail at Quilting Gail during the first three months. I don't usually do "mystery" quilts or group quilt alongs, but this appealed to me because I was in control of the design within the prompts, and I really did enjoy following everyone's progress and seeing all the different interpretations.

2. Another quilt: Checkerboard Chain from Lori Holt's Sew Your Stash You Tube Series Episode #39. I was really drawn to the little nine-patches. I would love to make this again in a more limited palette. 

3. I spent most of the rest of the year making placemats for Meals on Wheels from primarily Bear Paw blocks I made while taking Rachel Hauser's Quilter's Color Quest workshop in 2020 (yeah, that year...). I made a few each month using scraps and other fabric on hand, and focusing when I could on multicolored scraps. There are 15 finished ones in all. I sewed a few at a time and then took them on vacations with me to hand sew the binding. They'll be donated in the spring during the collection at one of my local quilt shops. If you'd like to see them up close, fronts and backs, just check out the placemats label in the sidebar. They are in the first two pages. 

I meant to make three more placemats before the end of the year, and got a good start, and then ULP! A squirrel! I bought a new laptop a few weeks ago. It was time. I was still working off Windows 7, and my Chrome and other things would no longer update. I hated to do it because I loved that laptop. Perhaps, needless to say, the air has been blue around here ever since as I have tried to learn the new computer. I do not want every little thing I do to zoom immediately into the cloud. I have finally eliminated the nosy little program doing that, and I am suddenly a bit happier, although still losing track of icons and photos and other bits and bobs (like my cursor while doing this post). I know pretty soon it will be second nature. I hope. No, the new laptop was not the squirrel. But I suddenly, only a few days before the holidays, I NEEDED a new sleeve to protect my investment. I keep techy devices for many, many years, and I'm pretty sure part of the reason they last is that I coddle them with their own quilts. Since I've been on a scrap kick this year, I went into my biggest scrap pieces and came up with a doozy. A piece of fabric I used in a quilt I started making for our bed nearly 42 years ago!! Think it was time to use that fabric up? Yes, the quilt finally was finished after 13 years and was on our bed for 20 years before it wore out. 

I have no in-process photos of this because...it was a squirrel! Who has time for photos when chasing a squirrel? That's why it does not have its own post but will just have to share with all my end-of-year stuff. If you want to sort of know how I made it, you can check out my Ipad sleeve here because it's basically the same pattern. That project was also a squirrel, so the steps might also be a little hazy. I used the computer itself to figure out sizes of fabric pieces to cut. I used a fusible fleece interfacing to give it body, fusing to both the outside fabric and the lining as well as half of the flap fabric. I quilted both the body and the lining before construction, and the flap after I made that part but before I sewed it into the body. Here's the fabric and quilting:

And the computer slipped in:

And all tucked in:

Well, there you have my finishes. So what's next in 2025? First, there are those placemats that I started but threw aside for the squirrel. I have the fronts, backs and bindings of all three made. Just have to quilt them and sew the binding. 

I have a few more Bear Paw blocks left, so maybe 4 or 5 more placemats to make before the spring collection. After that? Maybe another quilt to donate. But then I think maybe some self-indulgent sewing. I have some new fabric bought on vacations this year to make a Lake Michigan quilt, and I have lots of barn photos taken from the car on our trips that really would like me to make some miniatures (foundation pieced). Stay tuned. I think 2025 will be a year for lots of escapist sewing or sewing to maintain my mental health as we enter a new era of uncertainty in my country and our world. I will try to keep up a positive but realistic attitude of hope for peace, decency, compassion, and maybe even wisdom. 

Meanwhile, Happy New Year! Do go to Cheryl's party (reminder that it's here) and share or see what your quilty friends have been up to.