2021 Recap and 2022 Planning

Another year is done!  It's time to take a look back at what I've accomplished and start planning for 2022.  I finished 22 quilts this year and only left 3 hanging (one is a stalled out quilt-along, one is an active quilt-along, and one is at the quilter's right now).  I also exceeded my goodreads reading goal, used my season pass to our local amusement park a dozen times, and my family played all 167 board games we own over 1,000 times (every person didn't play every time).  So it's been a great year for hobbies!

2021 Goal Recap

1. Quarterly Pattern Releases.  I came pretty close on this one!  I released three patterns and wrote three tutorials.

2. Quarterly WIP Goals.  I ended up skipping this one.  Oops.  I decided I liked working more free-style and have no regrets, especially since I did finish a large number of old and new projects.

3. Untouched in 2020.  I had four WIPs that were untouched in 2020 and I wanted to touch each of them this year.  Two of them are now completed quilts and two of them are still untouched.  One of them I would still like to finish, but the other might be a permanent UFO.  Time to make a decision!  In addition, I did touch every single other WIP I have in progress at least once this year.

4. Monthly Recap Posts.  They are all here.  I still love writing these!

Notable Accomplishments
  • Three pattern releases!  Chalk Stars was published in Make Modern Magazine (affiliate link) and Bernie's Mittens and Zephyr were self-published.  I'm very proud of all of them!  I don't often repeat patterns, but I made these three quilts seven times.
  • My oldest finish was a quilt started in 2016.
  • I finished twenty-two quilts this year; seventeen of them were started and finished in 2021.
  • I hosted my first quilt-along!
I have 12 projects on my WIP list (down from 14 at the end of 2020):
  • One is an active QAL and two are ongoing scrap projects
  • Two have not been touched since before 2020
  • Two are paper-pieced tops that only have a few elements left
  • Two are kid sewing projects; one is a finished top that he has deemed "too small" so it needs some extra borders but is so close to being done!
  • One is a mystery QAL that stalled out because appliqué was introduced - ugh!
  • One is a 2019 QAL that has 15/20 blocks done.  No reason this one is not done!
  • One is currently being quilted - almost done!
Non-quilted things I sewed this year:
  • Face masks (38) - my kids keep wearing them out
  • Elements for four different guild projects
  • Nine origami coasters - one of my favorite tiny projects
  • Six cross-stitch projects that were turned into mini quilts when they were finished
Top 5 from the year:
  • My most popular post of the year was the Brown Bagging Tutorial I wrote last December.
  • My proudest moment of the year was the end of the Bernie's Mittens Quilt-Along.  I love seeing what other people make with my patterns and chatting with all of you as you do it!
  • My favorite pattern release was hard to pick, but I'm going to give the edge to Zephyr.  It's so simple and fun to make!
  • There was a tie for most popular finish that wasn't my own pattern: Morewood Mystery Quilt (in which I took a chance with changing the color scheme and it turned out amazing!) and Sparrow Party (crazy birds having fun!).  It's probably not a coincidence that both of these are finished quilt-along projects.
  • Biggest growth for me was working on my quilt photography.  I still have some misses, but I've really been working on trying to get nice photos and there are some that I am really proud of!  My kids are such troopers and helped me go out on at least five occasions to try and get the best photos of Zephyr!
Thanks for reading this far!  Here's a gallery to see my finishes, listed by date started:


Sudoku Quilt

Started April 2016
Finished November 2021

Gypsy Wife Sloth

Started August 2017
Finished February 2021

Forgotten Fat Quarter

Started December 2019
Finished May 2021

Animal Almanac

Started January 2020
Finished February 2021

Plaidish Moths

Started June 2020
Finished May 2021

Camelot

Started August 2020
Finished February 2021

Morewood Mystery Quilt

Started September 2020
Finished March 2021

Wreath Pillow

Started November 2020
Finished December 2021

Giraffe Love

Started January 2021
Finished January 2021

Bernie's Mittens

Started January 2021
Finished February 2021

Minnesota Mountains (2)

Started February 2021
Finished February 2021

Cool Mittens

Started March 2021
Finished April 2021

Hello, Petal

Started March 2021
Finished June 2021

Sparrow Party

Started March 2021
Finished July 2021

Scrappy Diamonds

Started April 2021
Finished July 2021
(picture/blog coming soon!)

Garden Stars

Started May 2021
Finished July 2021

Shades of Summer

Started May 2021
Finished May 2021

Summer Scrap 2021

Started June 2021
Finished October 2021

Challenger Quilt

Started June 2021
Finished June 2021

Trinket Remix

Started June 2021
Finished July 2021

Here Comes the Sun

Started July 2021
Finished August 2021

Little Fox

Started August 2021
Finished August 2021

Pink Zephyr

Started August 2021
Finished October 2021

Rainbow Zephyr

Started September 2021
Finished September 2021

Spot On!

Started September 2021
Finished October 2021

Sew Happy

Started September 2021
Finished October 2021

Flannel Bernie

Started October 2021
Finished November 2021

Looking ahead to 2022:
  1. Be mindful in the projects that I start.  My loose mantra is "don't start it unless you want to finish it."  I did a good job with this in 2021 and found that "start to finish" quilts can be just as fulfilling as year-long quilt-alongs!
  2. Three more pattern releases - this was a manageable number in 2021.
  3. Finish the Harry Potter Project of Doom quilt.  I enjoy working on this every time I pull it out, but it always gets pushed back for other things.  I have 7 blocks left to piece and then I want to custom quilt it, so lots and lots of work to go, but I believe that by this time next year it can be hanging in my upstairs hallway.
  4. 2022 Personal Project - This is another leaders and enders quilt, but I'm giving myself a year deadline to finish it.  It's also easier than my other leaders and enders project because I can use any color of fabric scrap in it!
  5. Monthly recap posts because I enjoy them - I actually start one at the beginning of each month as a plan for the month then update it as the month goes on to show what I actually accomplish.

Comments

It sounds like you had a productive and lovely 2021. I especially like that you realized that the quarterly WIP goals did not work for you so you moved on to a plan that did. I wish you all the best in 2022 and hope you have a lot of quilting fun as you work toward your goals. Happy New Year!
Kris said…
Wow is all I can say. So much! Congrats on the publication pieces. You have made some wonderful quilts.
Cheryl said…
Congrats on a wonderful 2021, such great finishes and pattern releases! Happy New year and I hope 2022 is wonderful for you!
Allison said…
Great post! So interesting reading about your projects and the motivation/lack of motivation associated with each. I'm a 'bright shiny objects' type of quilter - very quick to start, very slow to see a quilt through to completion. And yet I know that finishing one quilt often gives me the momentum to push another through to a finish!
I like the way you have evaluated your many achievements in 2021 to set yourself realistic goals for 2022. I hope you have another successful sewing year :-)