2016 in Review

2016 has been a sparse year for crafting but, looking back, I'm surprised by how much I've been able to get done. The biggest reason, of course, for the lack of craft time is this little monster (who is getting less little every day):

My favorite 2016 baby picture, from September

No surprise that kidlet was on the receiving end of a number of handmade items, including a blanket, booties, and some awesome leiderhosen.

I also did a little sewing for myself, in the form of a shirt and pants.

I even fit in a little spinning this year (which  might have been related to my stumble in the Fiber Optic booth at WI Sheep & Wool).

Finally, the thing I'm most glad to have finished in 2016 is a pair of placemats. I still have to complete the set but at least I have something finished after 3 years of this project hanging around.

I have big plans for 2017 that include more crafting. In fact, one of my New Year's resolutions to carve out at least one hour per week to craft. So hopefully I'll have lots of awesome handmade items to show off at this time next year!

Ready for Christmas

It's inevitable that, being a crafter, one will have multi-year projects hanging around the house. Those that start and stop in cycles until many years after one starts the project, it is finally finished. This is the story of one such project, though I'm still working on finishing it.

This project started in 2013, when my mother-in-law bought me a "Table Settings with Charm" pattern at Village Creek in Lodi, WI while on a quilt shop hop. I bought the fabric, 25th and Pine Charm, in 2014. By 2015, I finished the tops for the 4 placemats and 1 table runner.

This year, I vowed to have at least 2 of the placemats done in time to use for Christmas - enough for me and the husband to use. I thankfully made that deadline just in time. It's not my best quilting job (I'm not 100% happy with how I quilted the center) but we will have placemats.

Now I just have to find time to quilt the other 2 placemats and table runner and finish everything. Maybe in time for Christmas 2018?