2014 - A Year in Review

My goodness, where in the world did this year go?    But the calendar clearly says December 31, so it’s time for the year in review.

You all know that I’m a bit (ha!) of a weather geek, and 2014 didn’t disappoint.  We had a cold, snowy winter 2014 … setting a record for the most snow in one day (14”).  I love snow, but even I will admit that is too much.  Thank goodness DH bought a snow blower in November, 2013 … he joked at the time that by purchasing a snow blower, he guaranteed that we wouldn’t be getting any snow the rest of the winter.  ha!

There were a lot of swim meets to attend in 2014.  The Ts swam for the same summer swim team as last year and switched to a new Y swim team this September, one that is a much better fit. They continue to enjoy swimming and continue to do well.  




I didn’t manage to get a lot of quilts finished in 2014.  DD asked me to make a herringbone quilt for their bed.  I admit that I was a little reluctant … she wanted a large quilt in a pattern and fabrics that really aren’t to my taste, and I was afraid that I’d not enjoy the process.  But how could I say no.  I started cutting triangles on April 26 and gifted it on August 18.  I had nothing but trouble with this quilt, which caused the finish to be delayed significantly.  Even with cutting my triangles using my Go cutter, I had troubles with keeping my tips intact (obviously even a cutter can’t help an inaccurate piecer - ha!).  There was a lot of frog stitching … and a few blocks that didn’t make it to the quilt top.  Measuring the top for the borders took almost twice as long as it should have (I don’t have any smooth surface large enough to lay out the quilt to get accurate measurements).  And then there was the backing fiasco, with a considerable delay waiting for the second shipment of extra wide backing.    It turned out that in spite of my initial reluctance and in spite of all the aggravations, I enjoyed making this quilt and was pleased with how it turned out.  Besides, it was worth it all just to see DD’s reaction. 


As soon as I finished up the chevron quilt, I started on T#1’s spiral log cabin.  I began cutting strips on August 17 and gifted the quilt on November 9.  Thankfully this quilt went together more smoothly and finished more quickly than the chevron quilt.


Those two quilts weren’t all that I worked on in 2014.  I started the year with my Storm at Sea in my hoop.  Between the mistake of piecing together the blocks with the papers still on and dealing with the twisting and knotting of my quilting thread, my heart just isn’t in finishing that quilt.  I’m determined, however, to get it finished at some point.

I also did quite a bit of piecing on other quilts as well.  I have all 42 blocks ready to go for a quilt for our bed (the colors are washed out … the blue is more of a navy blue).

I put together a log cabin for DH and have the majority of the quilting done.

I’m also in the middle of piecing together some 14” pineapple blocks. 

And of course there’s my ongoing (never-ending?) hexie project. 

I mustn't forget my leaders and enders project.  I'm piecing together 2-patches from 2.5" squares of Minick and Simpson’s Midwinter Reds (most of which were leftovers from an earlier project).  They’ll eventually be pieced into 16-patches and joined with some strips to form a Primitive Picnic quilt.  I made a small lap quilt in 2012 using Kansas Troubles fabrics … … I’m hoping to be able to have enough fabric to make a large lap quilt this time.


We did a fair amount of traveling in 2014, between traveling to out-of-town swim meets and traveling to our favorite spot in the world.  We spent almost 2 weeks in Hilton Head in May, another 2 weeks there in September, and went back for a week in November. 

Wishing you and yours a very


I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy! Have a great day!
Kathy