Relax & Rewind: A Year of Quilting

It's almost been a year since I began my quilting journey. What a year! I don't think I've ever had this much fun in my life before. Though I wish I had come to know quilting earlier, I also know it came into my life at exactly the right time. If it came before ... I might not have embraced it.

Last year is probably the biggest progress year I'll ever have, just because it's my first year. From this point on, my skill will probably plateau a bit, or increase on a very slow logarithmic curve, but that's totally okay. They say you start as a beginner quilter, then you make a few quilts and become an intermediate quilter ... and stay an intermediate quilter for the rest of your life.

In the past year, I made a total of:

7 table runners (pieced & quilted. I quilted an additional one that was already pieced by family)

14 lap quilts

2 mug rugs

10 placemats

4 coasters

2 pillowcases

1 wallhanging (which I still haven't hung)

2 bags

It's hard to narrow down my projects to a list of top 5 favorites, but here goes:

#5 Cascading Circles Runner

I'm proud that this runner was more original than some of my other work. I also love the texture the swirls add. Plus, gluing shapes is so much fun.

#4 Phase II

A great fabric pack + really dense quilting = a really great quilt. The quilting of this quilt took much longer than anything else I've done, but it was worth it. I just love negative space.

#3 Rubix Quilt

I honestly didn't expect to like this quilt as much as I do, but every time I look at the colors, it makes me smile.

#2 Phases of the Moon

I didn't want to start this quilt for the longest time in fear of messing it up, because the fabric is pretty special to me. But I really love the end result, especially my decision to quilt with a contrasting thread on the black frames.

#1 Starstruck

A prized fabric bundle + my best quilting yet = my current favorite quilt!

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In addition, I attended 3 quilting conventions, seriously built up my fabric stash, and took so many Craftsy classes that I won't list the actual number here. (Hint: a lot)

This year, my keyword is to relax. Though quilting is just a hobby (an obsessive one at that), I've felt the pressure to produce, and that will quickly lead to burnout. I will probably produce less quilts this year, but I hope each one will be special in its own way.