When I saw this tag last year I really wanted to participate, but unfortunately I was no where close to providing 9 photos. For me, 2016 was a rough year, filled with new responsibilities, new relationships, and personal and medical issues.
For those who don't know, I ended 2016 by seeking help for crippling anxiety and some depression sprinkled on for good measure. It was a year of surviving and just getting through the day. Now, looking back, 2017 has been the year of healing.
Returning to quilting has been a big part of the healing process and learning to love my craft again. So I'm insanely happy to be able to participate in this year's best 9 of 2017!!
A good chunk of my best 9 has been for various Instagram swaps from the first half of the year. What better way to get your sewjo going again than diving into the awesome, inspiring, and supportive community of Instagram swaps?
I'm so happy for how my swapping turned out (even if some of them were a little late...)! I was even able to cross a bucket list item off by designing a paper piecing pattern! It is far from perfect but hey, I did it!
I'm also very proud of finally getting over my fear of free motion quilting! I had the pleasure of attending QuiltCon in February and taking a class on free motion quilting. There was a lot of teeth gritting and non verbal cursing going on, but I definitely wasn't the only one doing so in the class!
I took what I learned from the class, excited to start a FMQ project and.....didn't touch it for months. But then, after several practice swatches, I used FMQ to complete my classic lit mini quilt! At first all I could see were my mistakes, BUT my partner absolutely loved it and that is what really counts.
And finally, the biggest accomplishment for the year was finishing my log cabin quilt for my friend and coworker. This was a big deal for me and signified a lot. During my office end of year party, there's always a big raffle for various prizes benefiting toys for tots. I raffled off the chance to have a custom quilt made by yours truly. What ever divine intervention happened that made Dave win is more luck than I deserve. Dave and I have worked closely for over 5 years now and he is one of the most chill and relaxed individuals I know. He and his wife were SUPER patient as it took me almost a year to complete this.
This quilt represents a few milestones for me. It represents the journey to overcome my anxiety at each stage of making this quilt. My anxiety kept me frozen and prevented me from doing even simple tasks, so making a custom quilt for a friend was just TERRIFYING! But as I got better and moved further in my healing process, making this quilt got easier and easier.
By the time I was done this quilt, I was in love with it and I had fallen back in love with quilting all over again. I loved each stitch and each mistake that I knew only I could see. And the love I felt from Dave and his wife upon their receipt of the quilt was so gratifying.
At one point, I couldn't help myself, I started to point out some of the wonky bits of quilting. Dave just smiled and said "Those imperfections are what makes it home made." and that really stuck with me. It helped me remember that imperfections are okay, they're what makes you you at the end of the day.
So there you go. My best 9 of 2017. A crafty journey of recovery and healing. I am so blessed to be surrounded by loved ones and supporters who have helped me along this year and I am crazy excited to see what next year brings! I still have more healing to do, but there will be so many more quilting adventures along the way!
For those who don't know, I ended 2016 by seeking help for crippling anxiety and some depression sprinkled on for good measure. It was a year of surviving and just getting through the day. Now, looking back, 2017 has been the year of healing.
Returning to quilting has been a big part of the healing process and learning to love my craft again. So I'm insanely happy to be able to participate in this year's best 9 of 2017!!
A good chunk of my best 9 has been for various Instagram swaps from the first half of the year. What better way to get your sewjo going again than diving into the awesome, inspiring, and supportive community of Instagram swaps?
I'm so happy for how my swapping turned out (even if some of them were a little late...)! I was even able to cross a bucket list item off by designing a paper piecing pattern! It is far from perfect but hey, I did it!
I'm also very proud of finally getting over my fear of free motion quilting! I had the pleasure of attending QuiltCon in February and taking a class on free motion quilting. There was a lot of teeth gritting and non verbal cursing going on, but I definitely wasn't the only one doing so in the class!
I took what I learned from the class, excited to start a FMQ project and.....didn't touch it for months. But then, after several practice swatches, I used FMQ to complete my classic lit mini quilt! At first all I could see were my mistakes, BUT my partner absolutely loved it and that is what really counts.
And finally, the biggest accomplishment for the year was finishing my log cabin quilt for my friend and coworker. This was a big deal for me and signified a lot. During my office end of year party, there's always a big raffle for various prizes benefiting toys for tots. I raffled off the chance to have a custom quilt made by yours truly. What ever divine intervention happened that made Dave win is more luck than I deserve. Dave and I have worked closely for over 5 years now and he is one of the most chill and relaxed individuals I know. He and his wife were SUPER patient as it took me almost a year to complete this.
This quilt represents a few milestones for me. It represents the journey to overcome my anxiety at each stage of making this quilt. My anxiety kept me frozen and prevented me from doing even simple tasks, so making a custom quilt for a friend was just TERRIFYING! But as I got better and moved further in my healing process, making this quilt got easier and easier.
By the time I was done this quilt, I was in love with it and I had fallen back in love with quilting all over again. I loved each stitch and each mistake that I knew only I could see. And the love I felt from Dave and his wife upon their receipt of the quilt was so gratifying.
So there you go. My best 9 of 2017. A crafty journey of recovery and healing. I am so blessed to be surrounded by loved ones and supporters who have helped me along this year and I am crazy excited to see what next year brings! I still have more healing to do, but there will be so many more quilting adventures along the way!
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