A quick look-back at my 2012 finishes. Every quilt pictured was hand quilted except for 'Lil Retro Baby. My goal at the beginning of the year was to try and finish one quilt every two months and it looks like I at least accomplished that!
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| Prairie Vine |
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| Be Thankful |
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| 'Lil Retro Baby |
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| Almost Amish |
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| Scrappy Triangles |
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| Little Bow-ties |
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| Christmas Table Runner |
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| Monkey Wrench |
I have lots of ideas for quilts I want to work on in 2013. Mostly I intend to try and work on quilts that speak to me personally through design, set challenges, frugality, and/or color and fabric choice. The last three years have been increasingly tough on us financially and last year was the worst year yet. I
don't want to give up my quilting hobby as I feel that it most definitely helps me to cope with all the difficulties that come from having a sharply decreased income (not to mention the stress of dealing with teenagers). It would be so incredibly self-defeating if I resented not having the wherewithal to continually buy all of the new and shiny! I need to constantly remind myself:
The Internet quilting community is my inspiration, not the dividing line between the have and the have-nots.
I feel that the biggest challenge for me in the here and now is to continue to work at having quilting projects that inspire and propel me towards the next project, without feeling the need to go out and make large fabric purchases to implement them. Concentrating on series work, scrap quilts, and fabric/color play in all my new projects will definitely help in that endeavor. I have already found that buying the occasional new fat quarter or two works wonders at bringing new life to older fabric selections too--positive endorphins! Of course I will probably squeeze what I need out of the grocery money whenever I need to buy a border fabric and I have never been above begging my beloved husband for quilt store gift cards for birthdays etc.*wink
