So much to celebrate!

Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping by today!  It's a great day here, and we have much to celebrate.  First, our daughter's wedding was amazing.  It snowed, it rained, it snowed some more and no one cared because it was such a great day.  There may or may not be a picture at the end of the post--you'll have to look and see! Thanks so much to everyone who sent good wishes.  They are much appreciated!

The second thing we're celebrating is my blogiversary!  Last Friday was actually the anniversary of this blog, but I was a little busy with other things.

[All quilts in this post are from this year! Some of them I forgot about!]

I can't believe it's been two years!  This has been a challenging year, and it shows in the quilts.  We moved 900 miles, sold our house, started a new job, and settled in to a new area.

I really miss having my sewing room so I can leave all the mess out, but I think I've made the best of it.  I'm still sewing!

There have been some lovely things this year, and I continue to learn new things.  Just wait until you see what's coming up!

I am grateful to all of you who have visited, left comments, quilted along with the BOMs, sent pictures of your quilts, and generally been extra encouraging through the tough times.  You've been amazing, and I appreciate you so much!

One of my goals for the next year is to try even more new things and to do more of my own quilting.  I'm already planning a sewing room where I can leave at least 2 machines up all the time.  Three would be even better!

One really good thing about moving was that I got to meet some blogging friends:

Believe it or not, I'm already planning a couple of meet ups with others as well.  So looking forward to it!

I feel optimistic about the future and I look forward to sharing it with you!




The giveaway is now closed!  Congratulations to Elaine M!

As a small thank you for everything that you've given me this year, I'm offering a small giveaway:

These are 6 Kona fat quarters and a half yard of Kona white, along with some fun cotton thread.  To enter, just leave a comment on this post.  You can live anywhere, and you don't have to be a follower or anything.  I'll pick on Sunday night, using the random number generator.

Thanks so much again, and now here's the picture everyone has been waiting for:

Their photographer was Photography by Brea in Maryland.

Aren't they sweet?  It was a beautiful, happy day.

Have a wonderful weekend, and here's to another fun year covered in thread.

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Finish it up Friday. 

Backward and forward

Hello again, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday.  I did almost nothing for the last week, and it was heavenly. My son did a lot of cooking, we ate in a bunch of restaurants, I did almost no laundry or cleaning, and I stayed away from all things shopping related.  I also got to see my family, including my parents and some of my (many) brothers and sisters, plus I went to my niece's basketball game.  Oh, and I also bought a new car and drove it back here from Wisconsin, but my husband had more to do with that than I did.  It's been great!

So, now here we are at the end of 2015 and it's time to look back and see where we've been, and also look forward to see where we're going.  A bunch of bloggers I follow have been doing "best of" posts, but I can never pick a favorite or a "best."  Instead, here's some highlights from the past year:

Burgoyne Surrounded!  Such a fun quilt to make.

Odd Fellow's Gathering!  I know I just said that I can't ever pick a favorite, but this is a quilt that I truly love.

Summer Picnic!  A  UFO for many years, finally finished up and cuddly.

Mutant Elephants, complete with legless bird.  This was a really, really fun quilt to make, and is going to stay at my house forever.

And, of course:

Sewing Lessons!  Now off being quilted, and soon to be ready for snuggling up on the sofa.  I'm pretty proud of the tutorials and directions that I wrote for this project, since I had never done anything like that before, and I hope it turned out well for everyone who tried a block or two.  I learned a lot and I hope you did too.

Of course, there were a lot more quilts and smaller projects throughout the year, and I truly enjoyed (almost) all of them.  The quilts were all great, but the BEST things from this year are the friends I have made and the things I have learned.  I truly appreciate all of you and I am grateful for all the things I have learned from you.  Thanks so much for reaching out, for teaching, and for sharing your talents with all of us.

(I may be tearing up a bit!)

So, that's looking backward!  Looking forward, there are a lot of fun things coming up in 2016, and even more changes for our family.  First, I started a new BOM for RSC16, which I think will be challenging for me and will turn out to be an awesome quilt.

I also have several projects that I'm still working on, including two unfinished quilts from RSC15.  Sometimes I can hear them calling to me from their storage boxes.  First to be finished (I hope) is the Paper Dolls quilt:

Those ladies want to come out to play!  I also need to finish the Framed quilt:

There are only 3 big blocks left to make for this one, and it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it.  Since I already have the stars, they would go pretty quickly, so I'm hoping to knock this one out pretty soon, too.

And then there's the Roman Floors quilt, also partway finished:

This quilt is turning out so great, but I got really, really bored with making half-square triangles, so I put it away for a while.  I think I could pull it out and work on it a little at a time now, though.

In addition to the unfinished projects, I also have three big new projects to work on in the new year.  First, our daughter is getting married in April, and that means a wedding quilt!  I let them choose (from a list I made--I'm not crazy!) and they picked the Eureka quilt in green and aquamarine.  I think it will be striking--and a LOT of work.

Our older daughter has requested a "Paris" quilt.  Her only color direction was "calm."  The biggest thing, of course, is that she would like it to be finished before her sister's wedding quilt, thank you very much.  Sighhh.  Anyone else out there have two daughters who could not be more different?  I'm planning to use the neutrals from the scrap bags to make Bonnie Hunter's Strip Twist pattern.  That should look good and go together fairly fast.

Finally, I am making Lorna's Forest Friends quilt in a baby size for a very special baby.

Picture from Lorna McMahon at Sew Fresh Quilts.  Go there and buy the pattern!

Our son and daughter in law are expecting a baby in February!  We are so excited!  And if you think we're excited, you should see my Dad.  He's ready to burst over his first great-grandchild.  Everyone is doing well, and we're just looking forward to a lot of happiness this spring.

Of course, my big goal for this year is to keep on enjoying stitching and blogging, and to keep on enjoying YOUR stitching and blogging.  It's been great to have a community, and I'm happy to be a part of it.

Hope you all have a safe New Year celebration, and a happy beginning to 2016!  See you next week!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social, Val's 2016 goals linkup, and also at the Best of 2015 Linky Party at Meadow Mist Designs (great idea!), and the 2016 Planning Linky Party by Yvonne at Quilting Jet Girl. 

It's a celebration!

Hi all {waving wildly}! Today is a very happy day here at The Academic Quilter. Yesterday was my 112th post and my one-year blogging anniversary! Plus, spring is popping up all over. Flowers are on the way! On top of that, we had Opening Day for the Milwaukee Brewers. Looking forward to going to the stadium soon. Add in some leftover Easter chocolate and we can really call this a party!

Mary's Linens

So much has happened in the last year, almost all of it good. I have learned so much and done a lot of things I never thought I would. Most importantly, I have made some good friends, and wouldn't you know--they all like talking about fabric, thread, color, and quilting!

Vin du Jour

Happy things from this year:

** The incredible creative people I've met and learned from.

** My sewing in general has become more organized and more focused. Planning for blog posts tends to focus the brain on what needs to be finished!

** Discovering new blogs from all over the world through link-ups and seeing projects from many different perspectives.

** The comments I've gotten, most of them very positive and encouraging. Thanks everyone!

** New pattern designs I would never have heard of without blogs.

** Same with fabric! Plus, I've found out about many great new places to shop for this fabulous fabric.

**Trying new things, like crumb blocks and walking-foot quilting.

**Inspiration and motivation from the quilting community every day.

**The quilts! (All photos in this post are quilts from the past year.)

Afternoon on the Porch

And some challenges:

** Photos. This has been the biggest challenge for me in writing this blog. A new camera might help (mine is from 2004), but in reality I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to photos.  Happy to take any advice!

**Spam commenters. Go away!

** The whole 'no-reply' thing and other computer issues. I thought I was pretty computer savvy, but some things have truly stumped me.

** Hmmm, I can't really think of anything else that's negative!

Fiesta Pinwheels

So, let me say thank you to everyone for stopping by to read this little blog, leaving comments, and making me feel like cutting up fabric, playing with color, sewing every day, and having strange threads on all my clothes is totally normal and even something to be encouraged. I can't even tell you what that's meant to me. You've made my day!

As a more tangible thank you, how about a fun giveaway?  I have these to give away to TWO lucky winners:

Sorry, this giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to Barb and Viridian!

Aren't these gorgeous? This is two different sets of 6 fat quarters of Paradiso by Kate Spain for Moda, so TWO winners! (Let's keep the sets just as shown, one on top and one on the bottom.)  I am willing to send these pretty much anywhere in the world. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post (and only this post) with your best blog tip or photo tip.  If you don't have a tip, how about a suggestion for something to do in the next year of this blog? No need to be a follower or anything--everyone is welcome to enter.  I will use the random number gadget thingy (that's its technical name) to draw TWO names on Sunday, April 12, around noonish Central time. Remember to leave an email if you are no-reply so I can notify you.

Again, thanks to everyone for this past year. I've been both humbled and gratified since I first pressed that "publish" button a year ago, and I certainly plan on continuing for a while. (And we'll remain a 'non-profit,' too! No ads!)

Happy sewing everyone!

Linking with Let's Bee Social and WIP Wednesday.