Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

This year was definitely my most awesome quilting year yet. Between leading my local Modern Quilt Guild (CJMQG, represent), teaching a class, booking lectures, and partnering up with Sew Mama Sew twice, I've been happily immersed in this crazy quilting world. I made many more large quilts than small projects this year; I swore off swaps, except for within my guild and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilts bee. I'm actually amazed that I was so productive this year.

*I'm having some problems with my mosaic - sorry it's so small!



1. Postcards in Prague, 2. Tomorrow Night, 3. Shirley's Stars, 4. For Baby Kevin, 5. Breeze, 6. Rainbow Wave - quilt top, 7. "Scatter" - orange peel baby quilt, 8. Sisters' Ten Quilt #2, 9. "By the Sea", 10. "Home", 11. "Plumes of Orchid" mini quilt, 12. "Allons-y, Allonso", 13. "Diamond in the Rough", 14. "Blizzard" string quilt, 15. "Point Me", 16. "Midsummer", 17. Pixie Sticks, 18. Open Wide Pouches - Noodlehead, 19. Purple and blue log cabin pillow, 20. Reversible Table Runner - Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, 21. Wine tote, 22. Gentle Improv Waves Pillow - Cascade Blog Tour, 23. Oakshott Table Runner, 24. Sagittarius Pillow, 25. Pillows for mom, 26. Pillow for a photographer, 27. Charity quilt top - CJMQG, 28. Progressive Quilt top! 
29. Love Someone Mini Quilt, 30. Ashley's Adored

Quilt Stats:
13 large quilts finished
6 mini quilts (if you can call some of them mini! :D)
8 pillows
2 reversible table runners 
And more... these pictures don't even show it all!
(thanks for the data tabulation idea, Michelle!)

For the first time (in forever... who knows the reference?), I really took value of myself as a quilter, went forth, and took a lot of risks. I put myself completely out there in the open, and it's funny how effective and exciting it's been!
  • I inquired about teaching at my LQS and taught my first class! {part 1} {part 2}. That was probably the most fun part of the year.
  • I also participated in the Oakshott Challenge for Sew Mama Sew and Oakshott (and wrote a tutorial! I know, it was a productive year).


 We have another exhibit in 2015!
  • I had the opportunity to demonstrate quilting at our town's Day of the Arts, and have already been asked back for March 2015! 
  • I dove into orange peel making without a second thought, and it quickly became more than just a one-time project. We all made orange peels together in the OPQAL!
  • I wrote a quilt tutorial for the Intrepid Thread. 
  • I partnered up with the amazing Becca of Sew Me a Song, and continued my wonderful relationship with Nicole of 1 Choice for Quilting!
  • I hosted the Sewing With Certainty linky party.
  • I experimented with improvisation and minimalistic piecing. While I'm certainly sold on the former, I'm not sure how much I enjoy the latter, and that's quite okay to me.
 More Highlights:
  •  I helped put together these quilts!

Modern Bracelets: Designed and pieced - blocks are from members of the CJMQG. It's going to QuiltCon for the charity exhibit! More on this one soon.


Pretty Petals: Organized, pieced together, quilted, and bound - blocks are from CJMQG members as a thank you to Jessica Levitt for her two years as President of our guild.

 CJMQG Banner - contributed a block and helped piece. This one is also going to QuiltCon!
  • I helped with our guild's charity initiative for The Center for Great Expectations.


  • I traded Supernova blocks with Karin! This one will also get finished in 2015!


  • On a non-quilty note: I read more for fun than I ever have in my life, and came away from this year feeling so much more relaxed and fulfilled (one of my goals from 2013 was to find other forms of relaxation). Among the highlights were The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, all the John Green books, all the Rainbow Rowell books (Fangirl is my favorite), the Outlander series (I'm in the middle of book 5), and the Divergent series. I wish I had kept track of all the amazing books I read this year.

Things I'm really looking forward to in 2015:
  • QUILTCON! It's 7 weeks away! What?! I can't wait to meet my quilty friends and take one of Anna Maria Horner's classes, among many other things!
  • Mid-Atlantic Mod in April - hanging out with my MD-PA-NJ quilty people and teaching my sold out Orange Peel class!
  • Lecturing in Cape May in May, and hopefully in other places!
  • Teaching more classes at my LQS!
  • Leading my guild for a second year - elections are in a couple of weeks, and I'm currently running unopposed. If I am not elected, I'll definitely look forward to the 4th year of the CJMQG with similar gusto!
  • Sorry for the abundance of exclamation marks - I'm just way too stoked!
2015 Goals:
  • Finish my Supernova quilt and my Sisterhood quilt
  • Finish my epic medallion quilt, and then start another long-term project (possibly x-pluses?)
  • Learn how to read a pattern and sew at least 3 garments. Guess what? I'm going to start this weekend!
  • Learn to cross-stitch - Liz, please help me!
  • Make another Disney mini quilt for my sister, based on the movie Frozen
  • Make a wedding quilt for my BFF and her fiance for their October wedding (we are all so excited!)
  • Finish my Doe scrap quilt.
  • Participate in our guild's quilt-a-long for the year every month

 And I end all this by thinking... really, how boring would my life, would any of our lives, be without quilting?! :)

Thanks for a great 2014. Happiest of New Years!

10 comments:

  1. What a wonderful summary for your 2014! So many wonderful milestones this year. I am really excited about 2015 (QuiltCon!!!) and I look forward to seeing what you create. :)

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  2. FYI, your mosaic is throwing an error, the block says "bighugelabs.com Do not direct link to images here, save a copy instead" :(

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  3. You sure had an awesome year, I knew you were productive but I realize how much until this post. Channel some of that productivity my way, OK? I'm really looking forward to seeing what you accomplish in 2015 and I most certainly will teach you how to cross-stitch, it's super easy, I promise :) Happy New Year, friend!

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  4. Wow! You've had an amazing year indeed! I look forward to seeing all the fun and beautiful things you do in 2015! See you at QuiltCon!

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  5. Wow, super busy, productive and rewarding! Happy New Year :)

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  6. Wow you are just so busy and productive!

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  7. You had a great year and you have a lot ahead, I'm sure! All the best for 2015!

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  8. Truly, all I can think of to say to all that fabric goodness is "wow"!
    Happy New Year to you both.

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  9. What a year you have had Jess. I really love your style and your love of quilting. Can't wait to see what you do in 2015 :-)

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  10. Wow! Just WOW! You have been a whirling dervish this year. You have grown so much as a quilter and as a person. I don't know you in person, but I can tell by the pictures of you and your writing. You just exude confidence. And congratulations on the full-time job! That is terrific. I always enjoy your posts. Keep up the good work, and for jumping into new things with both feet!

    xo Linda

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