A Year in Review // 2011
Year in review posts are kind of like holiday posts--required blogging, as it were. I've thought a lot about 2011 lately (cross country flights are a good time for this, in between coloring and wrestling toddlers), and 1 thing has become clear. I need to read more. I've become a bit unbalanced in my life. My friend Brian told me that if I had ridden my bike as much as I had sewn, I could have ridden to California by now. True.
And yet, I am intensely proud of some of the things I have been involved in this year--State Day of Service projects, 100 Quilts for Kids, 12 Days of Christmas (food) for 50 kids at a local elementary school & the Summer Sampler Series with Lee & Faith. I'm curious to see what 2012 brings...
Top 10 lessons learned from 2011
1. Practice might not make perfect, but man, I am a much more precise and intuitive seamstress than I was 2 years ago.
2. I like learning new techniques. Zippers, linen, voile, paper piecing, bags, etc. seemed so scary and hard a year ago. Next on my sewing to do list--curves & clothing. And finishing projects that. are. so. close.
3.Quilt Market is pretty incredible the first time. Without an explicit reason to be there, I think once is enough.
4. Sewing for others (for commission or publication or bees) can be kind of stressful. I don't do very well under deadlines.
5. I need to travel less in 2012. See next line and laugh.
6. I loved the Sewing Summit. I hope to go in 2012. There is something really wonderful about meeting so many online friends who share the same passion for sewing. It's even better if you go with a few people you already know--it takes away some of the "where am I going to sit on the bus" anxiety. I really love the online community, and I feel like I have many friends there. See next line and laugh.
7. I need to work harder to make local friends, or at least get together with friends more. If they would just stop moving, it would be so much easier.
8. I have participated in a gazillion flickr swaps and virtual sewing bees. I have tried things I wouldn't have otherwise, and I have certainly become a neater sewer. I have made friends and received amazing things in return. I wish I could remake a lot of things I made in the beginning. Bees and swaps take a LOT of time, and I feel like I should make something amazing every single time, and so I procrastinate, because I'm worried it won't be perfect. And of course it never is. I'm going to gracefully decline or bow out of most swaps in 2012 (see next line)
9. I have a quilt I started for my husband 18 months ago that I haven't "had time" to finish. I have a collaborative quilt for a good friend that was started 10 months ago that isn't finished. I gathered fabric for a quilt for my son's "new" twin bed 11 months ago and it is still sitting there... my daughter has a twin bed with no quilt on it (the shame, I know!) I would like to make quilts for my family, including a Neptune string quilt and a Good Folks mosaic quilt for my bed. And finish my quilt from A Notion or 2, and, well, you get the idea! I'd like a few more projects to stay at my house.
10. I love to sew. Which is a relief. Because I have a house full of fabric :) And a lot of ideas for 2012...
