Stitching together 2022

 Hello all, and welcome to the yearly wrap-up here at the Academic Quilter! If you've been reading along this year-- thanks! If you're new, welcome! Today's post is the year-end blog wrap-up, inspired by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs and her Best of 2022 Linky Party. It's always a good time to look back and see what happened this quilty year, and look at some fun accomplishments. Come on along with me down memory lane. . .

 

(Clicking on the captions will take you to that post.)

 

Falling stars in spring

For me, 2022 will always be about one non-quilty thing, but I did manage to get quite a lot of quilty stuff done this year. I finished 15 quilts and another seven tops, plus at least nine "other" quilty projects, like table toppers and a scrap basket, and heaven knows I started a lot more. (Why is starting a quilt so much fun?) That's not too bad, considering the last quarter of the year was pretty much a bust. Here are some of the high points from this year:

Biggest project

 

An easy donation quilt pattern

 

This year's biggest project was the Hands2Help donation quilt challenge. Our friend Sarah was unable to do it this year, so I took it over temporarily. It was a big project and ended up with 562 donated quilts! I learned so, so much, and made some new friends, and some great organizations got great donations. Sarah will be back for the next Hands2Help, and I hope everyone will go over and support this great project. It's so much work, so be sure to give her all the support you can!

Free patterns for donation quilts from many bloggers are still available! Check them all out starting right HERE, and follow the links for many great ideas.

Biggest coincidence

In a completely unplanned and surprising coincidence, I both started and ended the year with buffalo plaid quilts! 

A moose on my quilt, Icy and blue

 

I was really surprised when I looked back at my projects this year and found this coincidence. The moose quilt was a gift for someone and was the first post for 2022, and the blue plaid used up some fabrics from an abandoned project and was the last post. Look for more of these buffalo plaids in the future, too. They're fun and easy.

Most satisfying finish, over which many tears were shed

 

The most satisfying finish of 2022 was a scrappy Snail's Trail with a beachy feel:

 

Catastrophe averted

 This quilt turned out great, but the tears were all about what happened when the tension on the longarm I was renting messed up and I ended up having to pick out a LOT of quilting. Several rows were like this:

 

 

Seriously, I almost gave up, but I managed to get all the bad stitching ripped out, remount it on the longarm, and then finish it off. There is a slight disconnect between the two stitching sessions, but no one will notice it but me. A very satisfying finish for sure, almost a rescue, and it used up so many blue scraps.

 

Favorite accident

 

Every quilter has accidents cutting fabric or stitching it, and the quilt above was certainly a very sad one. However, it was somewhat balanced by this happy accident:

Accidentally modern

 

This was an abandoned quilt backing for a quilt that was never finished, and I quilted it up more for practice than anything else. It turned out great! It's now hanging happily in my hallway outside the bedrooms, and it always makes me smile.

Brightest finish

A lot of my quilts use brights, though I've been trying to branch out this year and incorporate more colors and "feelings" in my quilts. I tried to pick the "brightest" quilt from this year, and was tied on these two that I really love:

Dinosaurs on Parade, Bold Choices

 

Looking at that bright, happy collage, you just can't help but be cheerful, can you? The dinosaurs quilt is from the Stay at Home Round Robin, a quilt along by Quilting Gail and friends, a prolific quilter and blogger who makes lots of stuff, and the other was a quilt I made to test the Synergy pattern by Sew Preeti Quilts. I love the pink background! I need to do stuff like that more often.

Donations were a theme

If this year had a theme, it was donation quilts. Between Hands2Help and other things, I ended up giving away a bunch of quilts, including these:

Clockwise from the big photo: Falling into spring, Cactus Flower, Beothuk Star, Cheerful checkerboard, Handsome,  Arabella's Garden

 

Oops, I see that a quilt I made for my sister-in-law snuck into the collage. It's the cardinals one in the lower left corner there. Oh, well! It did get given away, after all. Three of these went to Mercyful Quilts, which you can read more about HERE, and the others went to a couple of different organizations. I really enjoy the process of making quilts, and I'm even happier to give them away to someone who needs a nice quilty hug.

So there are some categories that pretty much wrap up this quilty year! Except I do feel compelled to add just one more:

 

Clockwise from top left: Evergreen, Arabella, Radiating Stars, Sparkly Stars, Black print challenge

Coming in 2023! My only goal for next year is to get these tops quilted up, and maybe to get the sewing room a little more organized. That's the never-ending story, though, isn't it? I'll probably also make a bunch more donation quilts, and I have a few ideas for the RSC as well. Looking forward to some simple projects that are easy to finish!

Chains and waves

This brings 2022 to an end. For me, it's a chance to turn the page and look ahead to better things, since the end of this year has been quite the beating. Here's to all kinds of creativity for all of us in the new year, and a 2023 filled with peace and joy. See you there!

Linking to Cheryl's Best of 2022 Linky Party. Be sure to check out everyone's posts for tons of quilty goodness!