Wrapping up 2017

So here's the round up for 2017! If you're tired of all these year end statistics and 'Wowsers! Look what I accomplished!, then feel free to check back in a later date. I'm actually sort of blown away by the numbers, but then I was always the person who scoffed just a little at other quilters great big pile of finishes. What are they making anyway? Quilt in a Day sort of quilts?

2017 Finishes

Okay, laugh with me here. We all have the ability to grow and learn! Come to find out, they probably deliberately carved out time for finishing up. Ughh... Not always the fun part for me, especially when it comes to machine quilting! I still almost break out in hives thinking, 'This is it! This time I'm absolutely going to ruin my beautiful quilt top!' 2017 was definitely a finish-it-up sort of year for me though. I had great determination to whittle away at my completed quilt top list, even if only by a little bit.  Just to give you an idea, the beginning of 2016 found me with 28 completed quilt tops, 2017 with 25 and as of today, there are only 22!

2017 Finishes

That never stopped me from starting more projects of course, but it did slow me down a few times. Okay, more than a few times. Starting is so... much easier than finishing up. Probably why I only had a net gain of 3? Oh well. That's the sort of detail that doesn't even make me flinch anymore. I figured out a long, long time ago that when I stop playing with current quilt projects, then the progress on hand quilting or machine quilting slows to a sluggish speed of almost nothing happening. Creativity seems to beget its own sort of momentum around here.

2017 Finishes

It's always fascinating to see every, true-blue finish in one single post. Occasionally a newer quilt, but usually the older, as of course I am always lagging a year, or two {or five?} behind. As I've stated before, this isn't necessarily a bad thing! Stitching those older quilts, while in the midst of putting together the brand new projects, makes for an interesting sort of influence--back and forth. Color palettes, design, technique, it all comes into play. Maybe it helps to nudge me into revisiting an idea that floated off into the ether. Or reminds me how much I love certain color combinations. Whatever. I can't imagine ever doing anything different or trying to be caught up to the point of always and forever finishing a quilt directly after the quilt top is nailed down! Just trying to some day get that backlog down to something that's a bit more manageable!

So, the numbers.... 19 completed quilts this year! Woohoo! One is a little Christmas table runner not pictured above in the collages. Just decided not to try and squeeze it in since it was such a quickie!

• 1 Table Runner
• 1 Comfort quilt
• 10 Lap quilts
• 7 Bed sized quilts
• 9 of those quilts were completely hand quilted
• 6 quilts were a mixture of hand quilting and machine quilting
• 2 quilts were completely machine quilted
• 1 quilt was longarm quilted by a friend
• 1 quilt was a combination of longarm quilting {by friend} and a little bit of hand quilting

As always, I gave a few away too--13 in fact. New quilts and older ones too. It doesn't really matter does it? I talked about making/giving here, earlier in the year so I won't go on and on about how much I loooove giving away my quilts to just the right person.

One of the gifted quilts.....

And because it does sort of melts my heart to see my quilts being loved and appreciated, I thought it would be a nice time to share. I know some of you feel the same way! 

And another one.....

So that's the wrap up for 2017--a very good year! Thank you to everyone who drops by to take a look at the current quilt in the hoop or everyday progress. It's wonderful to be a part of this quilting community and make friends who actually enjoy talking quilty stuff! I'll be diving into the 2018 quilting projects as soon as we clean up the New Years mess, get everyone off to school, work and regular routines. 

Sorry for the quilty posts overload this past week if that's not your sort of thing. Eventually I'll even get caught up on replying to all the comments! Which brings me to another point real quickly. I don't reply here on the blog unless it's to answer a question that several people might be interested in knowing the answer to, such as pattern source etc.  If you have been commenting on my posts and NEVER get a personal reply? Then I don't have your email address and am getting stuck at Google Plus or somewhere without a clue how to reach you! Just drop a line to my personal email {can be found here} or leave an email address in your blog comment. Easy peasy. I promise I'm not ignoring you on purpose!