Wednesday, January 1, 2020

2019 Year in Review

I hoped to officially close out 2019 on my blog yesterday, but with the holidays our usual meeting date for Breakfast Club got switched to New Year's eve. Not good for my procrastinating habit when it comes to blogging.

Maybe one of these years I'll make a cute collage of all my finished projects for the year but this post will have to get done now so I can move on to new plans and projects.

Just a quick note about the unhappy parts of 2019. 
My dad's death in March was tough. We had a close relationship and I miss him. Every time we have a new event with our sons, I think of my Dad and how much he would have enjoyed being a part of it too.

We had a major home repair, our septic tank had to be replaced and nothing seemed to go right in the process. We fixed an issue with the drainage line from the house to the septic tank in the summer but in the fall we discovered we had a hole in our steel septic tank. I'll spare you the details but since we have lots of ground water...it found its way into our tank. The high water alarm was in overdrive!

It was an expensive and nerve wracking process that lasted over two months. 
I didn't blog about it at the time because I was trying not to dwell on it!

By Thanksgiving we were finally back to normal. 
In the process my front landscaping/rock work was torn up so I have quite a lot of work to tackle next summer. It seems really daunting to me right now but I'm sure once I get my hands in the dirt I will get in the groove and probably even enjoy it.

Quilting definitely helped me get through all the rough times.

My goal for every month is to: finish a quilt, finish a Bucilla felt kit, and finish a cross stitch kit. That means 12 of each.

 One of these years I am going to get 12 quilts done...but not this year.

Batiki Argyle II. I have it on my leather couch right now. Love it!


Carpenter Star, a wall hanging made from scraps.


My big endeavor, Sparklers.


A spooky wall hanging.


Two baby quilts with an Alaska theme batik. One gifted to my son already. The other needs to get mailed out for a baby due in February.


And my two tall tree wall hangings.


So far, eight quilts are the most I have gotten done in year. I need to improve on that number because I'm pretty sure I make more quilt tops than that every year.

 I'm just going to list the quilt tops I made this year.

Baby Honu
Gimmie Diamonds in Hawaii
Alaska Baby (X3)
Spumoni Spin (X2)
Patchwork Butterfly
Wandering Bigfoot
Pumpkin Seeds
Brown Bag Debbie Caffrey Mystery
Sweet Christmas Redwork Embroidery
Aurora Nights
Tall Tree Wall  Hanging (X2)
Halloween Silhoutte

16 quilt tops for 2019.

I also finished this major cute pincushion...to include making the pins. These pins have been used on more than one project this year. Very glad I made them.



Only seven Bucilla kits got finished this year.

The 3D Santa got started in 2018. It was wonderful to have in my decorations this year. 


Then I worked on a kit I had opened several years ago and became quickly overwhelmed with and put it in the bottom of a box.

Noah's Animals. 
Twenty-five pairs.


I worked on these animals from the second week of January 2019 until April 30, 2019. 
Wow! And I did work on them regularly in the evenings. I need a sweet, small Christmas tree to display them on next year. The one I used this year is really too small for 50 ornaments!

These Holiday Shopping Spree ornaments were also very time consuming.


No photo but also got a set of three Nutcracker ornaments made.

The stocking kits go much faster. I only made three of those this year.

Santa Says Hello


Snow Princess


Ornamental Deer


Only seven Bucilla kits...very low count for me.
 But that Noah's Animal kit was like four or five kits in one...just saying.

I did great on the cross stitch kits, getting 13 ornaments done. 

South American Santas



Victorian Santas


Christmas Eve Santas


Two more were Skiing and Sledding Santas. 

I also made some of Jim Shore ornaments designs release in 2019.

 I made Snowman with Lights and Snowman Dancing. 
  
I blog because it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment to review my work every year. 
I like to give myself a little pat on the back now and them.

I am officially closing out 2019 and welcoming 2020.

Hope you have a Happy and Productive New Year!

8 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I so feel for you and the septic tank issue - a year ago this past spring we had to have the back yard torn up to replace the lateral lines on ours - the septic tank was ok, but the lines were so blocked up I was terrified every time we had a heavy rain that we would have a back up in the house - luckily it all got fixed before that happened. But the whole back yard was such a mess and we have such clay and small rocks all over the place that it took hubby and I forever to rake it all down and get all the rocks out and as smooth as we could get it again - not an easy job we were both 65 at the time and it wore us out.

Love all your quilts - on your dad - sorry I have been there with the loss of both parents now and know how that goes.

Mary said...

I lost my dad 5 years ago and I still miss him a lot especially when I am doing things with my children that I know he would have loved to have been a part of.
So many beautiful projects you got done over the year. I am looking forward to seeing what 2020 will bring.
Happy New Year.

Sally said...

I love seeing all your work, Debbie. It sometimes intimidates me and sometimes encourages me. Your quilts and stockings come out so lovely. I hope 2020 is a year of many more finishes for you.

moosecraft said...

That was one creative and productive stitching year! :-)
Everyone has good and bad in their lives...and I'm another blogger that chooses to keep the blog focused on the "happy"...our needlework (and gardening) truly is a therapy!
Wishing you happiness and the best of everything in 2020!

Donna quilts said...

Goodness, but you had a very busy year. So many completed projects! Makes me wonder what I do with my time! I look forward to seeing your projects in 2020. Best wishes for a great 2020!

CecileD said...

Oh my... what a busy quilter you are !!
Congratulations !
Happy new year friend with lots of projects for 2020 !
xoxo

Suz J said...

I think you need a great big pat on the back for all you have achieved... that's a lot of progress! Wishing it were possible to send hugs via the internet... ups and downs are part of life... but somethings we could all do without. As fellow septic tank users I can only imagine the stress of that whole situation.

claudy said...

tres beau blog vous avez beaucoup de talent bonne continuation .claudy