2015: A Good Year!

2015 is almost over. I kind of can't believe it. This has been a happy year for me, a good year. I rediscovered my love of quilting, I read lots of books. I spent lots of time with friends and family, especially during our balcony parties throughout the summer.

2015 wasn't an especially memorable or exciting year but upon looking back, I realize that I've actually accomplished quite a bit, at least by my standards and especially compared to other years.

For example, I was shocked when I realized that I had finished 15 quilts this year! Before 2015, I hadn't finished a quilt since the summer of 2012!

This year I finished 10 lap/bed sized quilts and 5 baby/“balcony” sized. 8 were finished tops or nearly finished tops at the beginning of 2015 but 7 were completely new start-to-finish quilts. I gave away 10 and kept 5.

On another topic, I didn’t keep track but I think I read about 25-30 books this year. I had SO much fun reading, especially this summer on my walks to/from work. I read all kinds of books and below is a short list of my favorites (in the order that I read them):

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I can't remember if I read this one in 2015 or late 2014 but either way, it was amazing and I highly recommend it!

All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr. Also so amazing!!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is one of my top 5 desert island books, I reread this one all the time.

A Good Year by Peter Mayle. If you want to feel like you’re vacationing in France, read any of Peter Mayle’s books. They're light and feel like an instant vacation.

The Martian by Andy Weir. A perfect science fiction read, more science than fiction and a lot of heart and humor.

November 9: A Novel by Colleen Hoover. A neat love story, totally could not put this one down.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. This book has inspired me to paint again! I just took this Craftsy class and it was very good for what I'd like to try.

So, what will 2016 hold for me?

First, obviously, I'd like to start painting again. What, I don't know...but there will be painting!

Also, I'd really like to use all this quilting momentum to finish up some of my many, many wip's.

And lastly, and this will sound like a jerky kind of goal, I'd like to stop making things for people. Wait, let me explain! Usually I see something and think "oh, this person would like that!" and I drop everything and start making it and then when I realize what I've done, I have this half finished thing that I don't actually want to be working on. And then, since I've started it, I feel obligated to finish it and when I don't, I feel bad.

So, instead, I'd like to make things that inspire me and as I'm working on them, if they strike me as something someone would like, I'll just give it to that person when I'm done. I think that's the much better way to go about making things for people.

Making things shouldn't be about obligation. It should be about creativity and expressing myself and feeling proud of and satisfied by my work. And I want to remember that this year and not get distracted by projects that don't inspire me.

So, here's to 2016, a year of possibilities, a year of dreams.